Danishes are some of my favorite breakfast pastries! These strawberry Danishes are super simple to make and require minimal ingredients (and store-bought puff pastry!). Finish off with a drizzle glaze for the sweetest breakfast!
Strawberry and Cream Cheese Danish
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed in the fridge
- 1 cup thinly sliced fresh strawberries
- 4 oz full fat cream cheese, softened at room temp
- 1/4 cup mixed red fruit jam try to find a high quality one that is more whole fruit chunks and less added sugar, like the Bonne Maman INTENSE series of spreads
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp whole milk
Icing
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- First, make the cream cheese filling. In a small bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. You'll probably need to use a fork to mash up the cream cheese at first, but as it comes together, switch to a whisk and whisk together until completely smooth.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the fruit jam, sliced strawberries, and cornstarch. Mix well with a spoon and set aside. NOTE: You may need to adjust the cornstarch here, depending on how much liquid the strawberries and jam are giving off. You don't want everything to be too runny, so if it seems like there's a lot of juices in the bowl, add more cornstarch 1/2 tsp at a time and mix until you've got a good consistency that's fruity and juicy, but not runny.
- Lightly flour your work surface and then unfold the thawed puff pastry out on top. Lightly flour the top of the pastry, and then gently roll it out. You're not trying to increase its dimensions, but rather just roll out the seams from being folded up in the box. Once it's nice and smooth (or as smooth as you can get it, it's not an exact science), Cut it cleanly in half lengthwise with a pizza cutter or very sharp knife. Slice each of these long halves width-wise into 3 equal pieces, which should give you 6 total pieces of pastry. Add these sheets to your prepared baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk to make an egg wash and set aside. Using a very sharp paring knife, score a line 1/4" in from the edge of the pastry all the way around; the result should look like a smaller rectangle set inside the pastry. This helps the edges rise in the oven and also a guide on where to put the filling. Once all the pastries are scored, lightly brush the edges with the egg wash.
- Add 1 tbsp of cream cheese filling to middle of all the pastries. If there is any leftover in the bowl, separate it evenly among all of the pastries. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the filling out to those scored lines. It's ok if it's not exact, just make sure it's somewhat close.
- Once all the cream cheese filling is done, scoop a spoonful of the fruit filling on top, keeping to the center of each pastry (don't worry, it will spread). Same as with the cream cheese, if there's any left, spread it out evenly among the pastries. Once the Danishes are prepped, bake them for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely puffed and golden brown around the edges.
- Remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. When they're just about done cooling, in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and milk (you can use the same volume of lemon juice instead if you want a lemony icing!). I prefer a thicker icing for drizzling like this, but if you don't like the consistency, simply adjust the sugar/milk ratio as necessary. Be careful though, a little extra splash of milk goes a LONG way, and you may find you need to add back more sugar. Once the icing is to your liking, use a small spoon to drizzle it over top of the Danishes. Serve fresh or refrigerate.
- Enjoy!
