You know that craving you get when you want that perfect bakery danish?  Flaky and filled with sweet cream?  I am sad to say we don’t have many bakeries here filled to the brim with scrumptious pastries.  Luckily I do have the patience to make them myself.  They aren’t hard – just a little prep work involved – but so worth it. You could fill these with a variety of fillings – fruit or chocolate.  My favorite is the cheese version.    Check out these easy steps to making these yummy danish!

First you start with a box of frozen puff pastry.  Let it defrost and then roll it out to a 10″ x 10″ square.   Then cut it into 4 squares.

Then put a dollop of cheese mixture in the middle of each square.

After you put the egg wash around the edges – fold one edge to the middle.  Then the other edge to the middle.

Then I carefully scoop them off the board with a metal spatula and place on silpat or parchment paper on my cookie sheet.

See?!  You can so do that too!!

Cheese Danish Recipe

{printer friendly version}

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2  egg yolks, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted
• 1 egg beaten with few drops of water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or silpat.

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined.

Roll out 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board to a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a pairing knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 corners to the center, one at a time. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm or room temp.  Based on recipe from Ina Garten.

Enjoy!

For years I have wanted to make my own pastries at home. But just the look of a cheese danish seem so complicated.   So I went without them, as where I live we don’t have any good bakeries that sell pastry.   Then I was inspired by an Barefoot Contessa episode and then shortly after that I read a recipe for them in Every Day with Rachel Ray magazine and I said I can do that too!

The recipe is so easy thanks to using frozen puff pastry and a few simple ingrediants!   You can alter the filling as you see fit – add in different flavors – almond paste, lemon zest, cinnamon…..and for the fruit – same thing, choose what flavor you like.  Next time I am going to try them with some fudge sauce for a chocolaty danish!  Just make sure the jam is not to thin as it will spread too much.

Homemade Cheese Danish

4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar (separated)

1 egg yolk at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Zest  of 1 lemon

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (defrosted in fridge overnight)

4 teaspoons jam (blueberry, raspberry, etc.)

1 egg beaten with a little water for egg wash

2 tablespoons cream or milk

1. Preheat oven 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.  Put the cream cheese and 1/4  cup of the sugar in mixer and beat on low until smooth.  Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, salt and lemon zest.

2. Unfold puff pastry on lightly floured work surface, and roll out to a 10″ x 10″ square.  Using a sharp knife cut into 4 squares.  Evenly place dollops of the cream cheese mixture into the middle of each square.  Top each with 1 teaspoon of jam.  With a pastry brush, spread the egg wash around the boarders of the pastry, and fold two opposite corners together so they overlap and pinch lightly to seal together.  Brush the tops of pastry with egg wash.  Using a metal spatula transfer the pastries to the prepared baking sheet.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Bake pastries about 18-20 minutes until puffed and lightly brown.  Cool completely.

3. In a small bowl combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cream.  Place in a ziplock bag, cut small hole in one corner to make a pastry bag and drizzle over pastries.

Again you can experiment with this recipe.  To double use 8 oz. cream cheese, 2 egg yolks and 2 sheets puff pastry.  My family loved them, and wanted to know when we were going to have them again!

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