While my first Daring Bakers Danish Braid was proofing, neatly tucked away, I decided to do something a bit more subtly flavoured and less sweet for the second one. And although most people liked the lemon one best, this one was my personal favourite as I’m a big fan of poached pears.

The recipe for the Danish Braid can be found on Kelly’s post.

Here’s my filling:

Almond Paste, aka Frangipane

2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup ground almonds
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Cream the butter and the sugar with a whisk, and beat in the egg and the vanilla extract. Add the ground almond and the flour, and whisk until smooth.

Poached pears

2 pears
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Water to cover

Place the pears in a small saucepan with all the ingredients and add water until about 2cm of the pear top. Simmer on a medium heat until the pears are soft, but not mushy. You might have to keep checking by inserting a knife, as it depends on how ripe they are.

Remove the pears from the liquid, and after cooling a bit, halve them, remove the core and then slice them thinly and strain them carefully. When preparing the braid, lay the almond paste in the center rectangle, and on top, the fanned out slices of pear.