copenhagen

’ t panic roll ,” says Gray ,

a teacher at Copenhagen Cooking Class , just as I try to squash a sheet of butter into an unwilling square of dough . I ’ m learning to make pastry as the Danes do , but my unseemly hurry gives away the fact I ’ m a visitor . This is a meditation on sweetness , designed to help us relax into the moment . Gray , like all Danes , knows you can ’ t rush the good life .

Danish pastry is a national institution , despite the fact that in Denmark , it doesn ’ t really exist as a concept . Ask for a Danish in the U . S . and you ’ ll get a standard , glazed pastry with jam or custard in the center or maybe a raisin swirl , thanks to the Danish immigrants who brought the styles to America in the 1900s . In Denmark , ask for a Danish and you ’ ll get a quizzical look as they try to work out what you ’ re actually

requesting — the Danes call this kind of layered pastry wienerbrød or ‘ Vienna bread ’, and it has myriad incarnations .

Wienerbrød itself can be traced back to the 19th century when Viennese pastry chefs were drafted to replace Danish bakers during a national strike . Since then , this tradition has become incorporated into Danish society , as a sister ethos to ‘ fika ’, the Swedish imperative to take refreshments with friends and colleagues . Danes just refer to this daily pause as ‘ kaffe ’ ( coffee ) though , with pastries always included somewhere along the line . Little wonder Denmark routinely tops the rankings of the annual World Happiness Report .

It ’ s worth trying to make your own wienerbrød to appreciate just how much effort goes into each tucked , twisted and folded parcel . Copenhagen Cooking Class

Previous pages : Semla , also known as fastelavnsboller , a traditional sweet roll eaten around Lent , on display at Rondo bakery

Clockwise from above : Højbro Plads ( High Bridge Square ); carousel at Tivoli Gardens ; a sightseeing boat with Copenhagen Børsen in the background ; a selection of pastries on a tray on their way to be baked in the oven

images : awl images ; alamy ; getty

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