Fruit and cream cheese danish

Ingredients

Check items as you go.

• 6 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsps lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 ½ cups fruit
• 1 large egg
• Sanding sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the cream cheese with the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract until creamy

3. Unfold the pastry sheets onto a lightly floured work surface. Lightly roll the pastry with a rolling pin to seal the perforations. Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out four circles from each sheet of puff pastry

4. Transfer pastry circles onto baking sheets. Lightly score a circular border ¼ inch from the edges then prick the centers of each pastry with a fork. Spread a portion of the cream cheese mixture inside the border of each pastry then top the cream cheese with fruit

5. In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tbsp of water. Brush the edges of the pastries with the egg wash then sprinkle them with the sanding sugar. Bake the pastries for 15-18 minutes or until golden and puffed

6. Remove the pastries from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely