Danish the Way to do It

A popular staple at breakfast buffets across the world, thank the Viennese bakers for the Danish

- TEJA LELE

Think Denmark, think Danish pastries. Buttery, flaky, light-as-air, a Danish is a multilayered, laminated sweet pastry in the viennoiserie tradition. Typically pigeonholed into a small slot across the world, a Danish pastry seems synonymous with the custard-filled spandauer—a staple at breakfast buffets across the world. But a recent trip to Copenhagen revealed that there's more: kanelsnegle (cinnamon snail), kanelstang (cinnamon stick), tebirkes (pastry with poppy seeds), brunsviger (topped with caramelised brown sugar), and hindbærsnitte (raspberry slice) are among some of the Danish pastry varieties available.