Raspberry and cheese Danish pastry

Work about 30 grams of the butter into the flour with your fingers like a pie dough.

Whisk in the sugar and instant yeast.

Add the lukewarm water, cold milk, vanilla extract, eggs and kosher salt and mix about two minutes until just combined with no dry spots; cover and rest.

Pound the remaining butter between parchment into two rectangles about one to two centimetres thick, folding and re-pounding four times until it bends like play dough.

Roll the dough to about three times the width of the butter rectangle; lay the first slab in the centre, fold one side over it, lay the second slab on top, dust off excess flour and fold the last third over, pinching the edges shut.

Laminate: roll back out to the original size, brush off excess flour and fold in thirds like a pamphlet.

Wrap in plastic and chill 20 minutes, then roll and fold in thirds twice more for 54 layers of butter.

Wrap and rest in the fridge four to 16 hours.

For the twist, cut a 13 by six inch rectangle, cut three one inch strips, brush them with beaten egg and lay one down the middle and two flanking it.

Set on a rimmed baking sheet, cover with greased plastic wrap and proof one hour.

Combine the cream cheese, ricotta, whole egg, sugar and a generous pinch of salt for the filling.

Pipe the cheese mixture and the raspberry jam into the channels and brush the whole thing with beaten egg.

Bake at 400 F for 15 to 18 minutes, not on the top rack.

Make a glaze of confectioner's sugar with a little skim milk and pipe it on.

Variation, the Danish braid: roll half a batch to about one centimetre, trim to a rectangle, cut two centimetre diagonal strips down both sides leaving a centre gap, pipe the filling down the middle, fold the top down and interleave the branches alternately left to right.

Cover with greased plastic wrap, proof one hour, brush with beaten egg and bake at 400 F for 15 to 18 minutes on the middle rack.

Variation, individual squares: roll out and slice into even squares, then fold -- diagonally with two side cuts for the pointy twisty, four corner cuts folded inward for the pinwheel, 90 degree corner cuts folded to the centre, or each facet folded in.

Fill with dollops of the cheese mixture and raspberry jam and bake at 400 F for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown and puffed.

Cool completely on a wire rack for crispness, then drizzle with a slightly thicker glaze.