Lemon Cream Cheese Danish

I love me some Cream Cheese Danish. This recipe calls for store bought puff pastry and if you have never used it you will want to give it a try. It is very simple to use and makes for an easy recipe. This time I added some lemon zest to the cream cheese and it made for a light lemon flavor, yum. I really don't like a heavy lemon flavor so this was just right. 

Ingredients:

one sheet of puff pastry

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

zest of one lemon (very fine with no white, a microplane is best to use) (the larger the lemon the more lemon flavor)

parchment paper

large jelly roll pan

Egg wash: 1 egg, 1 tablespoon water

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2  teaspoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and zest of lemon until smooth and creamy.

2. Roll out puff pastry. It usually comes in a square so just flour a surface and roll it as even of a square as you can. Visually divide into thirds and them cut sides into strips one inch wide or so leaving equal space in the middle for filling. See picture below.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly down the center of the pastry. Fold the sides like you would when you braid hair, one strip then the other side strip and so on. Place on pan lined with parchment paper.

Use a pastry brush and gloss the top with egg wash.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit until completely cool or more. I really think the flavor is better when cool, that means the inside filling also. At least a couple hours.

Make glaze and drizzle on top of pastry braid.