Quick Cheese Danish (with variations)

Photo by lamiacuchina, Flickr

Dont you just love those cloudy, cool, overcast days in summer when you can fire up the oven without overheating both yourself and the house? I've just had a few mornings like that and started some experimenting with puff pastry...and look what I've discovered! Ten different kinds of Braided Danish Pastry! TEN!!

This is so much easier than it looks! You can buy frozen puff pastry in the super market (not phyllo dough...completely different thing) and stirring up the filling only takes a minute or two...in fact, this goes so quick, you might even have trouble getting your oven up to temperature in time. And this is sooo good! Give it a try...you will be glad you did!
 

Ingredients

1 packet (two sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed and chilled in refrigerator

Sliced almonds (optional)

Cheese Filling

8oz (224g) full or medium cream cheese, room temperature

1 egg yolk

¼ cup granulated sugar (or equivalent sucralose)

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp vanilla

Glaze

⅓ cup icing (confectioners) sugar (or equivalent sucralose)

1 tbsp milk

¼ tsp vanilla

(if using sucralose, you may have to heat this on the stove to get it to fully dissolve)

Method

Preheat oven to 350F (180C) and lightly oil (or spray) a large baking sheet.

Keep dough refrigerated until ready to use.

Prepare the filling: Combine cream cheese, and egg yolk in a bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat until thoroughly mixed.

Remove first sheet of dough from packaging, keeping the second refrigerated while you work with the first.

Lay out pastry dough on oiled baking sheet (leaving room for the second sheet of dough). Using a dull knife, gently mark (do not cut) the dough into thirds. Onto the centre third spread half the filling.

Now, using a sharp knife, pastry wheel, pizza cutter or kitchen scissors, snip the dough on either side of the filling as shown in the photo. Work quickly because you don’t want the dough to get soft or sticky. Now, turn up the ends of the centre section and begin braiding by alternately folding one snipped piece of dough over the filling. When you get to the middle, stop and begin braiding from the other end. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired.

Repeat this process with the second sheet of pastry. Put baking sheet in top third of preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top of the pastry begins to brown. If you live above 5000 feet, as I do, the baking time may be extended by as much as 10 minutes. When pastry is done, remove baking sheet to a cooling rack.

While pastry cools, prepare the glaze by stirring all of the ingredients together. When the pastry has cooled for about 1 minutes, drizzle the glaze lightly over the pastry. Best served warm.

Variations:

Almond Danish:

Substitute almond flavouring for the vanilla in both the cheese filling and glaze. Sprinkle the top of the pastry generously with sliced almonds before baking.

Almond and Cherry Danish

Substitute almond flavouring for the vanilla in both the cheese filling and glaze. Spread a can of cherry pie filling over the cheese filling before braiding. Sprinkle the top of the pastry generously with sliced almonds before baking.

Apple Danish

Before braiding, spread a can of apple pie filling on top of the cheese filling. Dot with raisins if desired. Braid and finish as usual.

Chocolate Chip Danish

Before braiding, sprinkle the cheese filling with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Braid and finish as usual.

Cinnamon Danish

Mix ½ tsp of ground cinnamon into cream cheese mixture during preparation.

Lemon Danish

Substitute lemon flavouring for the vanilla in the cheese mixture. Once cheese mixture is spread onto dough, spread a layer of lemon curd on top. Braid and finish as usual.

Berry Danish

Generously sprinkle top of cheese filling with fresh blueberries, raspberries or black berries (or a combination of them). Braid and finish as usual.

Jam-filled Danish

Reduce the amount of sugar in the cream cheese mixture by at least 50% if using jam in the filling, otherwise it will be too sweet. Spread a layer of your jam of choice (apricot jam and pineapple jam are especially good) over the cream cheese filling, then braid and finish as usual.

Savoury Danish

Do not add sugar or sweetener or flavouring to the cream cheese, although you may add a teaspoon of herbs, finely minced. Beat it well with the egg yolk and lemon juice, then spread onto the pastry. Make savoury fillings such as herbed mushrooms, chopped spinach, caramelized onion (with a little garlic in the cream cheese), sundried tomatoes and olives (with some basil in the cream cheese), smoked salmon and capers (with some dill in the cream cheese), or even your favourite paté. Braid and bake, but do not glaze. Serve hot.

PIE!!

Photo by DailyInvention, Flickr

Who doesn't like pie?? Whether one-crust or two, fruit or custard or something more exotic, nothing pleases like pie!

But even the best fillings are diminished if the crust isn't perfection. Here in South Africa I have found that dessert pies (called "tarts" here, no matter their size) are made on what is called a "short crust" base, something I have found at best to be crumbly and messy, at worst to be hard as a stone and impenetrable even with fork and knife (no kidding here!). Nobody, it seems, has even a passing acquaintance with traditional American pie crusts, those lovely, flaky, tender morsels of deliciousness that define a "good pie."

Herewith, my grandmother's recipe (which she got from her mother, making this more than 100 years old!) for the flakiest, most tender pie crust you will ever taste!

CAVEAT: you absolutely must use lard to make this come out right. If, for whatever reason, you cannot use lard, you can substitute vegetable shortening, but nothing else. Even with shortening, it doesn't come out quite right, but pretty close.

Gramma’s Pie Crust

2 ¼ cups sifted flour
1 tsp salt
¾ cup lard
5 tbsp ice water

Mix flour with salt. Cut lard into flour using a pastry blender or two knives cutting in opposite directions, scissor-fashion. Do not use a food processor or other electric appliance as this pastry must be handled as little as possible to retain its flaky texture and prevent toughening.

When flour/lard mixture is the texture of coarse meal with lumps no bigger than peas, sprinkle with 3 tbsp of the water and pull together with fork. Add more water as needed until the mixture holds together (use fingers if fork is not doing the trick). It should not be sticky and all of the flour mixture should be rounded up from the bottom of the bowl.

Shape into a flattened ball. If the day or kitchen is particularly warm, allow dough to rest, wrapped in foil or plastic, in the fridge for up to 30 mins.

On floured pastry board, cut dough in half. Shape each half into a ball. Starting centre, roll first ball out into a circle with a well-floured rolling pin. If dough cracks, seal cracks with a dab of ice water. Lay first circle of dough into a slope-sided pie dish.

Baked pastry shell:
If you are making a baked pastry shell for a pie that will not require baking (like a slipped custard or pudding/mousse pie), trim the edges of the crust, then prick all over with a fork and bake for 10 minutes at 450F (230C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Check after 5 minutes and if the crust has bubbles, prick them with a fork. Makes two pies.

Cool pastry shell on a wire rack before adding filling.

One crust pie:
If you are making a one crust pie that requires a baked filling (such as Dutch apple, pumpkin, or melktert), do not prick the crust. Trim the edges, add filling, and bake according to directions for baking the filling. To prevent the crust edges from over cooking, lay strips of foil over them, removing during last 5 to 7 minutes of baking. Cool on wire rack. Makes two pies.

Two crust pie:
For a two crust pie, such as a traditional fruit pie, set the pie dish aside and roll out the second ball of dough until its diameter is at least 1 inch (2.5 cms) larger than the top diameter of the pie dish.

Fit the bottom crust into the pie dish and do not prick it. Fill with desired filling, heaping it if using fresh fruits, such as sliced apples, as they will compact as they cook. Moisten the top edges of the crust with ice water. Carefully lay the top crust over the filling (folding it into half or even quarters makes handling easier) and press the edges together to seal the top pastry to the bottom. Trim edges. Cut vent holes into the top of the pie with a sharp knife. Bake according to instructions for the filling. Cool on wire rack. Makes 1 pie.