Thursday, October 16, 2008

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.

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15 comments:

Becka Robinson said...

OOOOO! Great post. I have a pom I've been trying to find a creative use for! Thanks!

chocolatechic said...

They look great!

Suzie said...

You've got to laugh when something like that happens - and at least it all still tasted good. Your picture looks lovely regardless.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Well despite all the trauma they look beautiful--especially with the red of the pomegranate seeds!

Anne said...

That sounds wonderful with mascarpone and the pomegranate seeds are gorgeous! Great job!

Erica said...

Hey girl! Looks good. I haven't ever made anything with mascarpone cheese before! I purchased it one time to make a Giada recipe and never got to it. Is it like sweet cream cheese or?

Heather said...

how lovely! these look so flaky, light and beautiful! yum :)

NKP said...

That's the great thing about puff pastry - it is very forgiving. I pulled mine out a little light because I was afraid of burning the bottoms - they still tasted great. I love the pom seeds sprinkled on them, great touch!

Debbie said...

They look delicious. I am having breakfast right now and wish I had one of those on my plate!!!!

Natalie Que said...

Why does this SO sound like something I would have done! Sorry about the deflation, but they actually still really look and sound delicious!

webbie said...

Love pomegranite. I start buying them this time of year and then sit down on an old sheet in old clothes to eat them.

Your danish look tasty.

Dee said...

I'm bookmarking this! I'm like you in that I'm always missing out vital bits of information *grins* Your danish turned out delicious enough to rouse hunger pangs at midnight :)

Anonymous said...

That looks delicious. I've never made danish, but this recipe seems doable.

Arika
My Yummy Life

test it comm said...

Cheese danish is my kind of danish and using frozen puff pastry makes it so much quicker to make.

Anonymous said...

I love pommegrenate and everything that has cheese in it (sweet or not)...