Barefoot Bloggers Bonus: Easy Cheese Danish

As I mentioned the other day, I didn't make it to the farmers market or even the regular market last weekend so I am improvising this week. I decided to make this bonus recipe for Barefoot Bloggers with things I had in the kitchen already so I subbed mascarpone for cream cheese and left out the ricotta. These were really easy to make, but I probably should have double checked how tightly I sealed them. A little over 10 minutes in to their baking time, I noticed that my apartment was beginning to smell lovely and lemony and mascarpone-y. I flicked on the oven light and saw that mascarpone was leaking all over the baking sheet and under the parchment paper (probably would have helped to read the directions and seal the edges with egg wash instead of just brushing the egg wash on the top of the pastries). I quickly removed the Danish because I wasn't interested in cleaning off burning cheese from the baking sheet. They puffed up while baking, but quickly deflated when I removed them and became a little soggy from the leaking mascarpone. Despite my blunders, these still tasted great and I would definitely try the recipe again in it's original version. Once again, the pomegranates have nothing to do with the recipe, but they sure do look pretty don't they? Visit the Barefoot Bloggers blogroll to see if others were more successful with their Danishes. If you're interested in signing up for Barefoot Bloggers, follow this link. Many thanks to Val of More Than Burnt Toast for picking the recipe!


Easy Cheese Danish
(Adapted from Ina Garten)

Makes 4 Danish

6 tablespoons mascarpone cheese at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg yolk at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Cream together the mascarpone and sugar until mixer. With an electric mixer on low speed, add the egg yolks, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!

Unfold one sheet of pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it‘s a 10x10 inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold two opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.

Bake the puff pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.