Danish pastry is made of yeast-leavened dough of wheat flour, milk, eggs, sugar and large amounts of butter or margarine.[2]
A yeast dough is rolled out thinly, covered with thin slices of butter between the layers of dough, and then the dough is folded and rolled several times, creating 27 layers.[3][4] If necessary, the dough is chilled between foldings to ease handling. The process of rolling, buttering, folding and chilling is repeated multiple times to create a multilayered dough that becomes airy and crispy on the outside, but also rich and buttery.[4]
Butter is the traditional fat used in Danish pastry,[5] but in industrial production, less expensive fats are often used, such as hydrogenated sunflower oil (known as "pastry fat" in the UK).