Lemon Cream Cheese Danish Pastry

As of recently, I have reconnected with my love of reading! My sister is an avid reader. I think she can actually read a whole book in a single day… Anyways, because of the mini-library hiding in my sister’s office, I have been able to discover how peaceful reading is! I used to read a lot in school, but after reading multiple textbooks in college, reading had lost its flair. However, now that I have graduated and am looking for a relaxing hobby, reading has come bouncing back into my life! The good news is that my sister and I have very similar tastes in books, typically wonderfully cheesy romance books that leave everyone feeling warm and happy at the end!

While reading, I noticed that I really enjoyed having a hot cup of tea sitting nearby. I have always loved tea, but having a cup of tea, while reading, seems like the fanciest thing in the world to me. I feel like this is what every sophisticated person does in their free time, I mean what else would they be doing?! However, while the tea is nice, and the reading is wonderful, I feel like the only other thing I need is a yummy snack I can eat while reading!

It couldn’t be just any snack, it had to be something sweet, not too messy, and definitely something that goes with tea! My Lemon Cream Cheese Danish Pastry is exactly the tea treat that I want! First of all, it’s super easy to make, and it makes 8 servings, depending on how big you make your pastry. Second, I love that the filling is sweet, but tangy from the cream cheese. I add heavy cream to my recipe, which mixed with the cream cheese creates this delicious, fluffy filling that I could eat all by itself! Oh my gosh, I’m hungry just thinking about it!

This snack would be perfect for a brunch, an afternoon tea, a girl’s night with the ladies… Seriously, the options are endless! I might be slightly biased, but this has to be one of the best pastries I’ve had! I almost wish it was harder to make, and then maybe I wouldn’t be as tempted to make them as often… Oh, who am I kidding? I don’t think anything could stop that.

Ingredients:

One package of cream cheese

Half a tablespoon of lemon juice

Half a teaspoon of lemon zest

3 tablespoons of sugar, plus more to sprinkle on the pastry

1 tablespoon of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 whole egg, plus 1 egg yolk

1 package of frozen puff pastry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Then, in a stand mixer with the whip attachment, combine cream cheese, lemon juice, plus the zest, sugar, heavy cream, vanilla and the one egg yolk. Whip together until nice and fluffy.

Next, whisk the one whole egg with a splash of water. This is going to be used to seal together the pieces of the puff pastry. Roll out a piece of the puff pastry, and cut into four even squares. Egg wash around the edge of each square. Then, fold over each of the corners to create more of a diamond shape.

Scoop a dollop of the cream cheese mixture into the middle of the pastry pieces. You can do this with either a tablespoon measure, two spoons, or a small cookie scoop. I prefer to use the cookie scoop because I think it’s just a little easier to use, but use whatever you have around! Then, lightly flatten the scoop of cream cheese, so it’s more even.

Egg wash around the edges of the puff pastry again, and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Then, place on a non-stick cooking mat and put in the oven. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, depending on your oven and how big your pastries are. You’re looking for them to be golden brown and puffed! They will come out of the oven very large, but, don’t worry, they will settle as they cool!

The hardest part of this recipe is waiting until they cool before devouring!