The house smells like a bakery and these cute little pastries are so delicious! I was watching Barefoot Contessa the other day and Ina was trying out different variations of her recipe. When I heard her say that her original recipe called for citrus flavors to be combined with the cheese, I HAD to make this! I love the balance of lemon and delicate cheese flavors. Very light, but very tasty! Its one of those things that cures a sweet tooth, without making you feel sick from loads of sugar lol.
Ina's original recipe can be found here-
Cheese Danish
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature (I used 3 regular egg yolks)
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature (I used 3 regular egg yolks)
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
Juice from half of a lemon (I added this to the original recipe)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Parchment paper to line baking sheets
Original recipe says this makes 8 danishes, but I had enough filling left over to make about 4 more, you would just need to open another box of puff pastry.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl, mix and cream them until smooth. Mix in the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix until just combined.
Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. (If knife sticks, put flour on it and continue to cut)
Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. DO NOT spread out or it will run off the sides when baking. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. 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.
Some reviews that I read said that their filling was too runny so they refrigerated just the filling for an hour, then put it on puff pastry, then put everything into the fridge to chill again. Mine did not come out runny, so I did not do this, but just a heads up.
Bake the pastries for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm and enjoy!
These turned out so yummy! I definitely think the added lemon juice kicked up the flavor just a bit. If you like the sugar frosting that you see on pastries at bakeries, you can mix powdered sugar with a little milk until it reaches the consistency that you want. Add this to the danishes once they are cooled. I didn't do this, but if you like a more sweet pastry, you will probably want to do this.
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