Savory Danish with Brie and Mixed Greens

Melted brie crisp on the bottom is a real treat

The idea of a savory danish is tempting. The recipe is adapted from the veggie danish recipe found on the online site Weekend Bakery, through Avid Bakers Challenge (ABC), which I’ve participated from time to time. I bake on weekends, weekdays and odd hours. It’s more of an obsession. For this recipe, I only made half of it. (See the cheat sheet below for details.) This recipe provides ingredients in weight which makes it very user-friendly to scale, halve or double the recipe amount. When it comes to bread baking, I like to measure the ingredients with accuracy. Another obsession?

Putting a requisite guilt-reducing, healthful spin on the danish, I used a mix of 20% sprouted spelt flour and 80% bread flour, in the final dough. I use spelt flour often as a whole grain option. Sprouted spelt tends to add a slight sweetness, which I adore. It serves as a counterpoint in a savory dough. Just what I needed in this recipe. Don’t think I can add more sprouted spelt flour without reworking the entire recipe.

Sprouted flour is a new territory in many ways. These days they are much easier to find; many whole food markets carry them. The biggest benefits of using sprouted flours have to do with flavor and nutrition. Sprouting softens the bran of the wheat grain, reduces its phytic acid and renders it less bitter. Sprouting also makes the grain easier to digest. The natural sweetness and tenderness of the sprouted spelt obviates the need to add sweeteners or oils to whole-wheat doughs. There is no sugar in this recipe; that’s fine. Don’t know whether I should lower the amount of olive oil in it? Something to experiment with. (Try 20gm in stead of 23 gm/25 ml of olive oil in a half recipe next time.) The dough felt stiff and may have benefited from a little more water.

For the vegetable fillings: I went for brie, homemade white peach chutney and mixed greens of chard, kale and spinach. Sprinkled some fresh thyme on top. Things that I love to eat with bread and crackers. These fillings combine to produce an unusual and delightful sweet and savory note to the danish.

Anything goes here with this savory danish. Feel free to experiment with the fillings. The combination with mozzarella and tomatoes is a popular one. You may also experiment with other cheeses, sun dried tomatoes and different kinds of greens, herbs and seasoning. Olives, mushrooms, garlic, peppers, artichokes are choices suggested by Weekend Bakery. Really, anything you love to put on a pizza or focaccia would do. You can’t go wrong.

Please check the blogroll at ABC to see what other interesting savory danish options are offered. The range of options may surprise you.