Danish Puff

Danish Puff For the base dough: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup flour 2 Tbsp. water For the pâte à choux layer: 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 cup water 1 cup flour 1 and ¼ tsp. almond extract 3 eggs Glaze: 1 and ¼ cups powdered sugar (you can use more, but I generally like my glazes with less than is usually called for) 2 Tbsp. butter, softened 1 and ¾ tsp. vanilla (I use a lot of vanilla since we love the flavor--certainly reduce amount to suit you) 2 Tbsp. warm water sliced almonds, optional (I toast the almonds in a dry skillet for a couple of minutes) Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, place 1 cup of flour and cut in ½ cup butter with a fork or pastry blender until butter pieces are the size of peas. Add 2 Tbsp. water and mix with a fork. Form mixture into a ball and cut in half. Place the halves on an ungreased cookie sheet and form them into rectangles about 12 x 3 inches. They don't need to be perfect, but should be fairly thin. In a saucepan, bring ½ cup butter and 1 cup water to a boil. Take off the heat and stir in 1 cup flour and almond extract. Return to low heat and stir until constantly until it forms a ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs to the mixture one at a time, stirring quickly (to be sure not to cook the eggs) until smooth. Spread half of the pâte à choux over each rectangle. Bake the puffs for about 1 hour--topping will be lightly browned and crisp. Let cool. Then top with glaze and almonds. For glaze: Mix all glaze ingredients except for almonds in a bowl. If need be, warm in microwave for a few seconds to get a smooth consistency.