Cheese Danish

Cheese Danish. Yum!

On Sunday mornings I make French press coffee. My husband looks forward to it every week. I usually get up before him, putter around in the kitchen, then bring him a cup in bed. When he hears me next to his bed he gets a big smile on his face. Ahhhh.....the coffee has arrived. It's one thing I do to spoil him because he gets such a kick out of it.

We have had this June gloom weather the past few weeks so last Sunday I decided I needed to make something special to go with the gloomy weather. I made these cheese danish and boy am I happy I did. Not only were they really easy but they were delicious. And it turns out, they are my husbands favorite danish. (I knew that!)

You can make these for your family next Sunday. I am giving you a recipe for a very small batch, it makes 4. Which is plenty for us two, we had one on Sunday and then again on Monday with our coffee. But if you want to make more just double it. That will give you eight. I cheated and used frozen puff pastry because making danish from scratch is a long and time consuming process. Better left for another day. The danish need to be eaten pretty quickly, they will not hang around the house for days on end, because the puff pastry gets stale.

The recipe: (makes 4)

• 4 ounces of cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed and ready to use
• 1 egg white (for egg wash)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In an electric mixer place cream cheese and sugar and blend until smooth. Add sugar, then the egg yolks and mix well. Add the ricotta, vanilla, salt and lemon zest and mix only until incorporated.

Lay the puff pastry sheet out and cut into four sections. Place the four pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling on each puff pastry piece then fold 2 edges towards the center to slightly overlap. See photo. Brush the edges with egg white to hold together. Brush the entire surface with the egg white to get a nice golden brown finish.

Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the pan and bake another 10 minutes. The result be a light flaky dough and a creamy cheesy lemony center.

If you want to get fancy you can add fruit. Strawberries or blueberries would be great.

I hope you spoil someone in your family with these. Even if it is only you.