Cheese Danish Pastry

 

This Cheese Danish pastry is so flaky! When combined with the lightly sweetened, lemony cream filling this becomes a treat worth going off of one's gluten free diet for! Ask me how I know. ;)

Cheese Danish Recipe

Pastry Dough

4 cups Flour

1/2 cup + 2 TBS. Cold Water

1/2 cup + 2 TBS. Cold Milk

1/4 cup + 2 TBS. Sugar

3 TBS. Soft Butter

1 TBS. + 1/2 tsp. Yeast

2 tsp. Salt

Butter for Laminating:

1 1/2 cups Butter (2 1/2 sticks)

Cream Cheese Filling:

2 8oz. Blocks Cream Cheese

2 Egg Yolks

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tsp. Lemon Juice

1 tsp. Vanilla Flavoring

1/4 tsp. Lemon Oil (optional)

 

Combine ingredients to form a dough. Knead briefly.

Refrigerate over night in airtight package.

The following day, cut the butter lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick strips. Arrange these butter pieces on a large section of wax paper. Cover the butter with another section of wax paper. Using a rolling pin smash the butter together and roll the piece into a 7 1/2 inch square. Chill this butter square in the refrigerator while you prepare the dough.

Take the dough from the refrigerator. Roll it into a 10 1/2 inches square.

Retrieve the butter from the refrigerator and position it, at an angle, onto the dough.

Fold the extending corners of dough over the butter. Pinch the seams together, encasing the butter in the dough. As illustrated in the picture.

Roll the dough/butter package into a 8×24 inch rectangle.

Fold 1/3 of the dough over onto itself.

Fold the other end of the dough over the center layers.

Wrap the dough of plastic and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Repeat this rolling, folding, and resting twice more. Wrap in airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

The following day mix the cream cheese filling ingredients by first beating the cream cheese until smooth and then adding the rest of the filling ingredients

Take the dough from the refrigerator and press it in several places with the rolling pin to "wake up" the dough.

Roll the dough into a very long and narrow rectangle about 44×10 inches. 

Cut a couple inches off of the ends to square up the ends. 

Cut the rectangle into two even pieces. As shown.

Dollop half of the cream filling down the center of each piece of pastry.

Spread out the filling, leaving about a 1 inch space from the ends. 

Using a sharp knife cut 1/2 inch wide strips all along each edge. As shown.

To make the woven top of the pastry; 

Take a dough strip and stretch it (stretching it is supposed to help the layers flake better).

Fold the strip over the cream filling. Repeat with each strip, alternating from one side to the other side, all the down the the end.

Place each Cheese Danish on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.

Make an egg wash with the egg white left over from the filling. Mix the egg whites with 1 TBS. of water and brush each Danish with the egg wash.

Let the Danishes rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Before the Danishes go into the oven give them another egg wash.

Bake 25 minutes, rotating half way through the baking time.

Cool until warm. 

Enjoy!