Danish Pastries! This is my new favorite recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen! The steps are easy to follow. You just need time to make it, but they are so delicious, so fresh tasting, and fun to make. And they look great too! One bite and you will taste the amazing freshness unlike any bought Danish pastry you have had!
The three toppings pictured are a fresh strawberry, almond pastry filling, and raspberry pastry filling.
When I make these, I top some with whatever fresh berries or fruit I have, and some I top with something sweeter like: pastry filling, pie filling, preserves, or jam (not jelly!). My favorite topping for these is Solo pastry filling. Then you just swish an egg wash around the pastry, bake, cool, glaze, and eat!
You can reheat any leftovers in the microwave for 15 seconds.
For a little bit of history on these well-loved pastries: Danish pastries, also known as wienerbrød, originated in Austria and were brought to Denmark in the mid-1800s. Lauritz C. Klitteng popularized Danish pastry in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. He made Danish pastry for President Woodrow Wilson’s wedding in 1915.
See how I make it in the slideshow below and/or you can watch a great video of it by Natasha on Natasha’s Kitchen!
Enjoy!
Cheese Danish Pastries
Equipment
- parchment paper
- 1 Large Cookie Sheet
- 1 Pastry Brush
Ingredients
- 1 pound puff pastry dough 2 sheets, thawed
- FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- FOR THE TOPPING:
- 1 ½ cups berries your choice
- FOR THE EGG WASH:
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 tablespoon water
- FOR THE LEMON GLAZE:
- ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest or vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 ℉. Put the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING: With a mixer at medium speed, combine cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Set aside.
- FOR THE DANISH: Unfold one puff pastry dough sheet and roll it out to a 10-inch square. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry. Cut each pastry sheet into 12 even strips.
- Take two strips of pastry dough and pinch the ends of two strips together to make a long 20-inch strand. Hold the strand at each end and twist it in opposite directions to create a swirly strand. Press one end of the strip on the parchment paper. Loop the twisted strand around it, working from the center outwards. Pinch the end to the pastry.
- Flatten the center slightly with your finger and then prick the center with a fork. Repeat for the remaining eleven pastries.
- Drop one tablespoon of the filling in the center of each pastry.
- Press about three berries halfway into the filling.
- FOR THE EGGWASH: In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and water until well-mixed.
- Brush the outside edges of each pastry with the egg wash.
- Bake at 400℉ for 20-22 minutes.
- Remove the pastries to a wire rack to cool.
- FOR THE LEMON GLAZE: Mix the confectioner’s sugar with the lemon juice and lemon zest. You can substitute vanilla extract for the lemon juice and zest.
- Generously drizzle the glaze over the cooled pastries.
- Store the pastries covered at room temperature.
- Best served the same day. Or if leftovers, reheat in microwave for 15 seconds.