Delicious CheeseCake Danish
I really enjoy a fine danish with a cup of tea or coffee now and then. I have skills in the kitchen to share with you that can give you the ability to make some really great pastries right in your home and catch the attention of those munching on your menu items. Let’s Make Some great CheeseCake Danish.
Making a delicious pastry dough is key to being able to complete this sweet baked delight. This portion of the recipe is offering you a great dough you can use for many pastry items. It is a base to lots of classics.
Pastry Dough for Danish
1 1/2 cups All Purpose flour
2 tbsp Granulated sugar
2 tsp Active dry yeast
1 Egg
1 tsp Cardamom
3/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, cold (cut into small cubes)
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp water,cold
Combine the flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom and salt in a mixing bowl with your whisk attachment on your mixer.
Remove bowl from mixer
Add the butter and cut into the flour to combine. The process of cutting butter into flour mix is made so much easier with a pastry blender . You literally cut the cubes of cold butter into the flour until you have a pea sized coated lumpy butter mix.
Place egg in a small mixing bowl
Add milk and water and whisk
Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and fold together with silicone or rubber spatula until you form a working dough.
Shape dough into a rectangle, and wrap well with a piece of plastic wrap.
Place in refrigerator and chill for at least 3 hours
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to an 8-by-15-inch rectangle, using a floured rolling pin.
Folding and rolling dough
Fold the dough in thirds like a letter
The dough will be rough and lumpy; We are going to roll and fold the dough several times and it will relax and become smooth Keep the surface lightly floured as you roll out the dough. Keep rolling it to an 8 x 15 rectangle and fold it again.
After three folds wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
After the hour rest remove dough from the refrigerator and repeat the entire rolling and folding process for a grand total of six turns. The dough might become stiff almost too stiff to work just place it in the fridge for another hour.
Finally, wrap the dough and refrigerate overnight.
The Cream Cheese Filling
8 oz cream cheese
1 ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg yolk
Pinch of salt
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp milk
Place cream cheese, 1/4 cup confection sugar, egg yolk, salt and vanilla in a large mixing bowl
Beat until smooth
Set aside
Putting together the pastry
1 large egg, lightly beaten
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 12 1/2-inch square
Trim 1/4 inch off each edge.
Cut the dough into nine 4-inch squares
Brush the corners of each square with a bit of the beaten egg
Fold each corner into the center and press down gently
Transfer the squares to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets
Place some of the cheese filling onto the center of each dough square
Loosely cover the pastries with plastic wrap and let proof until slightly puffed (takes about an hour and twenty minutes)
Preheat oven to 400F degrees
Brush the top and sides of the danish with the beaten egg wash, using a pastry brush
Bake pastries for about 16 min until puffed and golden brown
Remove from oven and cool on rack
Pastry Glaze
Place 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and the milk in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth
Drizzle onto cool danish
This is a recipe filled with technique that will be a great asset as you make other pastries. I am glad that I had opportunity to share the description of the techniques with you.