Description
Danish pastry perfection emerges with this cherry cream cheese danish, blending sweet cherries and tangy cream cheese in a flaky, golden-brown pastry. Delicate layers promise a delightful breakfast or dessert you’ll savor with each delectable bite.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 sheets puff pastry (frozen, thawed)
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese (softened)
- 1 can 21 oz (595 g) cherry pie filling
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 2 tbsps (30 mL) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp (5 mL) almond extract
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) water
- Confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Set oven to 400°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper, creating an ideal baking environment for delicate pastries.
- Shape and Portion: Unfurl puff pastry sheets on a floured surface, dividing each into 6 precise rectangular segments, ensuring uniform size and structure.
- Ventilate and Prepare Base: Puncture pastry centers with a fork, establishing strategic air channels while maintaining elevated outer edges, then arrange on prepared baking sheets with adequate spacing.
- Craft Cream Cheese Mixture: Blend cream cheese, sugar, and almond extract until achieving a silky, homogeneous filling that promises rich, luxurious flavor.
- Assemble Danish: Deposit a generous dollop of cream cheese mixture into each pastry center, then cascade cherry pie filling atop, distributing evenly to create a vibrant, appetizing topping.
- Finish and Glaze: Whisk egg with water to create a luminous coating, meticulously brushing pastry borders to encourage beautiful caramelization and glossy appearance.
- Bake and Transform: Slide baking sheets into the preheated oven, allowing pastries to metamorphose for 15-18 minutes until they reach a stunning golden-brown complexion.
- Garnish and Serve: Dust warm danishes with confectioners’ sugar, creating a delicate, sweet finale before presenting these elegant pastries.
Notes
- Precision Matters: Use room temperature cream cheese for smoother, lump-free filling that blends effortlessly and spreads evenly across pastry.
- Pastry Performance: Keep puff pastry chilled until ready to use, preventing butter from melting and ensuring flaky, crisp layers during baking.
- Spacing Strategy: Allow adequate space between pastries on baking sheet to promote even air circulation and prevent edges from sticking together.
- Glaze Technique: Apply egg wash carefully around pastry edges to create a beautiful golden-brown shine and help seal the danish’s delicate borders.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Snacks, Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Danish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 9
- Calories: 305
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 250 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 60 mg