Cheese Danish Recipe

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So we were on vacation in Clearwater Florida and went to Lenny's for breakfast one morning. Lenny's is known for their breakfasts and some would say the best breakfast available in Florida (or the world). The best part about the breakfast is that you are treated to a nice basket of homemade pastries when you order your food! OMG they are delicious! One of the pastries in our basket was a cheese danish. I decided it was about time for me to try my hand at making them so I went to Ina Garten (she's my go to when it comes to sweets) and got a recipe. I adapted this version a bit from hers...

8 Oz. Cream cheese, at room temp (that's one large box)
1/3 Cup + 2 Tbsp Sugar
2 Extra-Large Egg Yolks, at room temp
2 Tbsp Ricotta cheese
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp Lemon zest, grated (about 2 lemons) you can use Penzey's lemon zest reconstituted
2 Puff pastry sheets, defrosted
1 Egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water

Put the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and cream them together gently until smooth. You do not want to do a fast whip on anything here! You can use a mixer to do this or by hand. Once they are creamed nicely, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix just until combined - do not over work the mixture.

Unfold one sheet of the puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10" x 10" square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling into the middle of each square. Brush the border of each square with the egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center - overlap the fold a bit and pinch together well. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash. Repeat this step with the remaining pastry sheets. Place the pastries on a parchment lined sheet pan and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

While the pastry is in the refer, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Banking!

~Nikko

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