Recipe Review: Cherry Cream Cheese Danishes

Introduction

This recipe is a lot of work, but definitely worth the effort. Once you’ve had enough practice making the flaky pie dough and rough puff pastry this shouldn’t be too difficult. This recipe is all about preparation and precision, plan ahead. You can use just about anything you want for the filling, just be careful any berries you use aren’t too large. Regardless of what you do for the filling though, the end product will be incredible.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Cherry Cream Cheese Danishes	Special Equipment: None
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 7 Hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 5/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★★★★

Making The Dough (First Proof)

Making The Butter Block

Tip: First get the butter into a rough square and then create a package with the parchment paper (tape to seal and flip over). To get it into a perfect square, simply hold one corner and roll into the opposite corner using the rolling pin.

Making The Puff Pastry

Tip 1: Use this video as a helpful guide (note that the sugar layers are omitted from the video for reasons unbeknownst).

Tip 2: Try to have straight edges from the start. This helps ensure that you end up with a nice rectangle before needing to cut out the 24 squares.

Baking The Filling

Tip: The top bowl in the final photo shows the ideal level of reduction.

Baking The Danishes

Tip: Bake until a deep golden brown. It’s a bit hard to over bake, so go for a deeper golden brown.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

Watch the video multiple times and make a time chart to plan everything out in advance.
Feel free to substitute other berries. Be careful to not get berries that are too large or you will only be able to fit one or two, as was the case here.
A wheel-cutter and chilled rolling pin will help significantly.
Final Score: 5/5 – This is one of the most difficult recipes in the book, but not without good reason. When done right, the result is hard to describe — it’s amazing. Claire describes it best in the video, to the effect that – “the best danish you’ll ever have is probably homemade”.