This flaky LEMON CREAM CHEESE DANISH is an easy breakfast or brunch recipe made with puff pastry and filled with a creamy, sweet, and tart filling!
Spring is in the air and lemon flavored everything is on the menu. I love it! Lemon is one of my favorite ingredients whether it is in a savory dish or a sweet dish. It adds a brightness to Spring soups like asparagus soup or carrot, and it gives just the right amount of tartness to a sugary dessert.
When it comes to sweet lemon recipes nothing is better than lemon curd. It is sweet and tart and there are so many delicious recipes you can make with it. I like to make my own but if you are short on time I’ve even started seeing it in stores. It comes in pretty handy for whipping up a quick last-minute dessert like our citrus cheesecake.
To make this danish I kept things simple and used a sheet of puff pastry dough. I rolled it out, cut strips the sides into strips, and then spread a layer of sweetened cream cheese and lemon curd down the center of the puff pastry and braided the puff pastry closed. Don’t let the braid intimidate you, it looks complicated but it really isn’t. You just fold up the end piece at the top, then fold a strip of dough in from the left, cross over it with a strip from the right, and continue alternating back and forth all the way down the puff pastry.
When you reach the end fold the end piece in before finishing up the braid. Before putting it in the oven brush the puff pastry with an egg wash then bake it until it is golden brown.
While it is baking make your drizzle. It is a simple mixture of milk and confectioner’s sugar. When you danish has finished cooking and cooled pour your drizzle over the danish and then serve.
Ingredients
Danish
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed
- 4 oz. cream cheese softened
- ¼ c powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 c. Lemon Curd
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- ½ tsp Vanilla
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Mix cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest together until thoroughly combined.
- Unfold thawed puff pastry sheet and roll it out into a rectangle that is ¼ inch thick.
- Cut 1 inch strips down the left and right thirds of the puff pastry, leaving the middle section untouched.
- Add cream cheese mixture to the middle of the puff pastry and then spread the lemon curd over it. Fold the end of the puff pastry up and over, then fold the top strip from the left in towards the middle. Fold a strip from the right inwards to overlap the left strip. Continue alternating left and right down the length of the puff pastry.
- Make a simple egg wash by mixing the egg and water and brush the egg wash over the puff pastry.
- Place in a 400 F oven to bake for for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- While the pastry bakes make the glaze by mixing the confectioner’s sugar, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest together in a bowl.
- Once the pastry is cooked and has cooled to room temperature drizzle the glaze over and enjoy!
Mary Jonas says
Yes it does…
Pat says
How much lemon curd do you use? The recipe doesn’t say.
Thanks.
Lynne Marshall says
Hi, this looks amazing! I am just wondering if the drizzle would set like icing if put onto a cold Danish. The reason I ask is that it looks nice to make as a plate to take to an afternoon tea etc as I think it is one of those dishes that would be delicious cold as well as warm. If the milk drizzle doesn’t set, I will just use a traditional glaze icing out of icing sugar and water and drizzle that over 🙂
Kat & Mel says
Hi Lynne, the glaze we used is exactly what you are talking about, we just used milk instead of water. It does firm up and this is an easy dish to carry with you to a party.