Easy Cheese Danish

Show: Barefoot ContessaEpisode: The Magic Factor

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (87)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(87)

Cook Time:
20 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
8 Danish

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: 15 min
Cook: 20 min
Total:: 45 min

Recipe Tools:

Select a Card Size

Add To My Recipe Box

Success

This recipe was added to your Folder_Name folder.

Do not show this message again

Add To My Recipe Box

Please sign in to add this recipe to your Recipe Box.

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 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 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. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. 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.

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

Next Recipe

More recipes? Try these recommendations:

Similar Recipe

Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake

Photo: Easy Cheese Danish

Similar Recipes

Recipes Like This

All About…

Comments & Reviews

recipe Easy Cheese Danish
null null, null 03-16-2010
Flag

No ricotta? No worries.
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Had a couple of New Yorkers for breakfast [and who knows more about cheese danish?] and they loved them. I up the... lemon zest, and sprinkle the egg wash liberallywith raw sugar. Adds a nice dimension. Try it, Houston. Read more
recipe Easy Cheese Danish
Akilah Houston, TX 03-07-2010
Flag

Lacks flavor and sweetness
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

I love to bake and am preety good at it. so, I was looking forward to making this and oh boy was it a disappointment. It was... not sweet and lacked any real flavor. the puff pastry came out great and had a beautiful color due to the egg wash but the filling was a major disappointment. It was so bland! I will not be making this recipe again. what a waste!Read more
recipe Easy Cheese Danish
cyndi mountain city, TN 02-21-2010
Flag

Tasty Danish!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I work as a nurse and was in a patient's room while she was watching your show the other day and we ended up watching this... segment of your Easy cheese danish together. It looked so good when I got home from work I looked it up on the Food Network website and made them the next morning for my family. Thanks, I've been experimenting with the puff pastry! Read more
recipe Easy Cheese Danish
Marcia Lanham, MD 02-21-2010
Flag

Easy like Sunday morning
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Thanks to Ina, I have now conquered my fear of puff pastry. I put too much filling in the first four, almost didn?t have... enough for the second four, forgot to chill for 15 minutes before putting in the oven, used lemon juice because I didn?t have any lemons to zest, and didn?t have ricotta on hand. First four and second four were both good. (Don't tell anybody, but I ate one from each pan. Barely let the cheese filling cool enough not to burn my mouth.) These will be excellent next time, when I do use lemon zest and ricotta (and maybe a little strawberry filling), because they were pretty doggone good this time. And unbelievably easy. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!Read more
recipe Easy Cheese Danish
Carolyn Augusta, GA 02-17-2010
Flag

Easy
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Very easy and good!
recipe Easy Cheese Danish
Sherry Boynton Beach, FL 02-08-2010
Flag

Rock Star!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made these the night before and popped them in the oven in the morning for breakfast. My husband was so impressed. He... pigged out! Thank you Ina for making me look like a rock star to my husband!Read more