It's Danish Day!
Well, maybe not officially according to all National “Fill in Your Favorite Food” Day calendars. A quick search showed that today could be both “National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day” and “National Raisin Bran Day” which are both exciting days, I’m sure, but I’ve got you covered if you are craving actual deliciousness, because today on this site we’re on Day 2 of the Gilmore feast menu and I have Cherry Cheese Danishes right here for you!
I’m pretty sure there was only one reference to Danish Day in the entirety of Gilmore Girls, but it was clearly a big deal in Stars Hollow, the happiest of all days, a day for making up your worst Sid and Nancy fights and posing the eternal question, “What is a danish without coffee?” (“Delicious,” is the real answer but shh, don’t tell Lorelai and Rory).
Since Rory orders two cherry danishes to go, I opted for cherry here as well, though I added cheese too because I’m always looking for ways to add more cream cheese to my life. And you know what? These danishes could not be simpler to make. You basically just fold up some store bought puff pastry dough, fill with jam and cream cheese, and bake! Next thing you know, you’ve got some warm, homemade danishes. Copper boom!
Easy Cherry Cheese Danishes
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup cherry jam
- 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
- 1 egg + spash of water
- Combine cheese, sugar, lemon zest, and egg yolk until smooth and well incorporated. Spoon into a piping bag (or sealable plastic bag with the corner snipped off). Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together egg and splash of water to make an egg wash. Roll 1/2 of the dough into a 12-inch square, and cut into four, 6-inch squares. Brush with the egg wash, fold in the corners to the center, and brush tops with egg wash.
- Fill center with 1 tsp of jam, and pipe a swirl of about 2 tbs cream cheese on top.
- Bake 20-22 minutes on center rack, and repeat with other half of dough and remaining filling.
Notes:
- To make smaller danishes, cut dough into nine, 4-inch squares and fill with 1/2 tsp jam and 1 tbs cream cheese mixture.