Christmas Danish Pastry

Read and Follow Carefully! Pastry: Place butter and sugar in 4-quart bowl, pour heated milk over fat. Let stand while yeast dissolves in 1/2 cup water and 1 tbs sugar. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes. When yeast is dissolved and bubbly, add eggs and beat well. Add yeast/egg mixture to cooled milk mixture. Add salt to flour in sifter and sift in to bowl of above ingredients. Beat with a spoon until all flour is added to make a soft dough. Let rise until double. Custard: Heat milk. Mix sugar, salt and flour together and stir into hot milk. Stir until thick, beat egg yolk and gradually add hot mixture TO YOLK until hot and then add back to original mixture. Cook 1 minute more. Let cool. Almond Filling: Beat all ingredients together with mixer. Crumb Mixture: Combine flour, sugar and walnuts; mix in the 1/2 cup butter until well mixed. Assembly: Divide dough into 3 portions, or, make up to 12 small pastries. Roll out to about 1/4 to 1/2 thick rectangles, long side perpendicular to you works best. Place fillings down center of rectangle in this order: Custard, almond filling, crumb mixture. Cut equal number of slits on both sides of rectangle, leaving the center 1/3 of dough intact with fillings. Braid the strips you just cut over the fillings. Place pastries in foil lined pans, brush with egg white beaten with 2 tbs water. Place halved maraschino cherries, like buttons, down the top and sprinkle with more crumb mixture. Bake at 350°F for 20 min for small pastries, 30 minutes for medium, and 35-40 minutes for large.