Fear not the pastry.

A couple of you have been asking why it is, since layered doughs are the very foundation of the pastry arts, we don’t see more of the kind of instruction I’ve put up this week in cookbooks and on TV. The only answer I have is that the people who produce TV shows and write cookbooks don’t think Billy and Sally Lunchpail are up to the task. Which personally offends me since for years I lived across the street from the Lunchpails, and found them to be remarkably capable people. Their daughter Margie used to babysit for us, and was a wonderful girl.

But I strongly encourage any and all of you who are even remotely curious about Danish dough (or any other kind of laminated dough) to dive on in and try it. You might not make it perfectly the first time, but then again maybe you will. And while I’ve said it before it bears repeating: with this much butter there’s no such thing as failure. Anything you come up with will be usable either as an “easy” Danish dough (which employs all the same ingredients but without the folding technique) or a simple flaky pastry that you can use for turnovers, galettes, even cookies. So go on, get yourself a pile of expensive butter and have at it. I promise won’t be sorry.