Cheese Danish – absolutely love how quickly they can be made and delicious they are! One of my go to when unexpected party arrives in minutes notice.
Frozen puff pastry 1 sheet (9-inch-square), thawed in fridge overnight (cover in clear plastic wrap to prevent pastry getting hard)
Filling:
– 1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
– 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (3 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
– 1 egg yolk, room temperature
– 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
– 2 ½-3 tbsp granulated sugar
– 1 tsp lemon juice (or ½ teaspoon lime juice)
– 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
– 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
– 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
– 1 tbsp sugar
Decoration: Powdered sugar
Icing decoration: powdered sugar, lemon juice, hot water
Almond nuts: sliced almonds
Egg wash: Beat with fork 1 egg and 1 tsp milk or 1 tsp water or heavy cream
Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Filling:
In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, egg yolk, flour, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt until smooth.
Roll out puff pastry sheet and with pizza cutter cut into 9 equal-sized squares. Flip each piece and place it on prepared baking sheet. Spoon about 2 to 3 teaspoons of the filling into the center of each piece of pastry. (Optional: here sprinkle chocolate chips or fruit on top of cheese). Fold 1 corner of the pastry diagonally over the filling to within ½ inch of the opposite corner. Using a pastry brush, brush the folded-over section lightly with the beaten egg. Fold the opposite corner over the egg-brushed pastry to form an open-ended Danish.
Brush the tip of pastry with beaten egg, sprinkle with sugar and/or sprinkle with toasted almond slides.
Place in fridge for 10 min to get cold.
Bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Glaze with icing or sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Optional:
Try filling: cream cheese (4 oz), 1 tbsp sour cream, 1 egg yolk, lemon zest, 3 tbsp sugar, ½ tsp vanilla extract. Mix until creamy.
Try filling: ricotta cheese, 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp soft butter.
