easy cheese danish

i love cheese danish.  this is a great breakfast on the weekend with a nice hot cup of coffee.  they are really super easy to make....... especially since we are using defrosted puff pastry dough from the grocery store.   i think this is a fun project to make with your kids!  thank you ina garten for giving us so many ideas to create fantastic savory, sweet and delicious things to make with puff pastry.  this recipe is from ina's barefoot contessa at home book.  i make only 4 at a time and i changed the cheese filling. 

defrost one sheet of puff pastry dough
3 oz cream cheese
1oz mascarpone cheese
1/6 cup of sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon of lemon zest
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water for the egg wash

recipe continues after the jump

preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  line a sheet pan with parchment paper.  to make the filling 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.  keep the mixer on low and add the egg yolk, mascarpone cheese, vanilla, and lemon zest mixing just until combined.....set aside.

unfold the pastry sheet onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it is about a 10 inch by 10 inch square....don't worry if it isn't perfect. cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife.

put a cut square on your sheet pan and place a heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture into the middle of the square.  brush the border of the pastry square with the egg wash and fold the opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they stick together.   (repeat for the next three squares) then brush the top surface of each danish with the egg wash.

place the pan of danish in the fridge for 15 minutes to set a bit.  then put them in the oven and bake them for 20 minutes at 400 degrees rotating the pan once half way through.  they will be puffy and light brown.  i had mine warm (who can wait?) with some stonewall kitchen wild maine blueberry jam.  while i was eating my danish i had the food network on and the dessert first host used puff pastry to make chocolate croissants.....OMG i will be trying that one for sure.  enjoy!