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Easy Cheese Danish

Source of Recipe

From "Barefoot Contessa at Home" by Ina Garten


Recipe Introduction

"We made these Danish for years at Barefoot Contessa and I thought I'd lost the recipe. I came across it recently among some old papers and I was so happy to have it again. You can assemble these the night before and bake them before breakfast."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
â—¦ â…“ cup sugar
â—¦ 2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
â—¦ 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
â—¦ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
â—¦ 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
â—¦ 2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
â—¦ 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water, for egg wash


Recipe

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

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 x 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife.

Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the four squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold two 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.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.


Makes 8 danish



• If you make these in advance, reheat them in a 350-degree oven for 5 minutes.