Cherry Danishes

Surprise! Remember in the last post when I said that I would be using the puff pastry for a secret special surprise? Well this is it!

I love a good can of cherry pie filling. I mean, it's sweet, gooey, a little tart, and all around good. Who doesn't like it! I also love a good cherry danish. When I go to Panera, if I'm getting a pastry, 9 out of 10 times it's going to be the cherry pastry. It's just so good!

These danishes from Country Cleaver are somewhat similar to the Panera ones in that they have the cream cheese and the cherries but it's definitely a different dough used. I used puff pastry while a traditional danish uses a danish dough. But hey, I didn't want to mess with yeast and rising and waiting for all of that so I went with an easier recipe. But was it that much easier if I had to make my own puff pastry? To be determined.

Once you have your puff pastry ready to go (or bought), it's very simple. Roll out and cut the dough into 6-8 even pieces depending on how big you want them, and score a border around the edges. Then dock the centers a few times with a fork so that they don't rise as much.

Mix up your cream cheese filling (is it really a filling if they're open?) and spread a nice bit of that over each pastry. Then top with 6 cherries from the pie filling and brush the edges with an egg wash. Then pop them in the oven and voila! Once they're cooked and somewhat cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and you're done! It's quite an easy recipe if you aren't making your own puff pastry.

I would like to make these again but with a traditional danish dough. Oh well, that's a task for another day.

Recipe (from Country Cleaver): 

1 sheet puff pastry dough

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 tbsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 cup canned cherry pie filling

1 egg plus 2 tbsp water, whisked for egg wash

Shaved chocolate or powdered sugar, optional

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

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out thawed puff pastry into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut into thirds or fourths crosswise to yield 6 or 8 pieces. With a knife, score 1/2 inch border around the edge of each piece of puff pastry. Use a fork to make five or six pricks into the dough within the border of each piece.

3. In a bowl, stir together softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of mixture into the middle of each piece of dough and spread evenly, ensuring it stays within the borders.

4. In the middle of the cream cheese, add about 6 cherries into the middle.

5. Brush the egg wash around the edges of puff pastry.

6. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or shaved chocolate before serving.

Enjoy!