Fruit and Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish

Sweet cream cheese and fresh fruit is nestled into a buttery, flaky puff pastry for a perfect fruit and cream cheese danish! Use your favorite fruit - raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, or peaches to create the best combination. 

Why You'll Love this Recipe

Simplicity - this fruit and cheese danish breakfast pastry is so easy and simple to make, yet makes a big impact. These will be on your table in about 45 minutes, and can make a weekend breakfast feel a bit more special. It would be perfect to make for house guests, and they'll be so impressed!

Texture - biting into the fruit gives you a burst of juice, then you go into the creamy cheese, and finish with the flakiest pastry of all time. It's soft and crunchy all at the same time, and revs all of the senses!

Flavor - the tangy cream cheese paired with sweet, juicy fruit and buttery pastry is a combination made in heaven. Use your favorite fruit, or a combination of a few different fruits so you can have the best of all worlds.

My favorite is the raspberry cream cheese danish. Serve the danish alongside these strawberry almond croissant bostock or pistachio muffins!

Ingredients

• Puff pastry. Frozen puff pastry is perfect for this recipe, which you can find frozen in the grocery store. Only one sheet is required for the recipe (makes 6), but you can easily double it to make more. Be sure to put it in the fridge overnight so it's thawed and ready to use!
• Cream cheese. Full fat cream cheese is best. I recommend Philadelphia brand, brick-style cream cheese.
• Fruit. A variety of fruit can be used in this recipe. 
• Sugar. Granulated sugar is used in both the fruit and cream cheese.
• Cornstarch. This is necessary to thicken the fruit juices that release during baking. This should not be omitted.
• Vanilla.
• Egg. To egg wash the edges of the pastry. This helps with browning, and is completely optional.
• Jam. An optional step to add a bit of sheen to the tops of your fruit after baking. It's best to pair flavors (i.e. strawberry jam for strawberry cream cheese danish). 

See the recipe card for full ingredients list and amounts.

Fruit Toppings for the Cream Cheese Danish

Here are some of my favorite options, but you could really do this with any soft fleshed fruit:

• Strawberry
• Raspberry
• Cherry
• Blueberry
• Blackberry
• Peach

A raspberry cream cheese danish may be my favorite, but cherry is a close second. Some in-season peaches also get me really excited. How great does a peaches and cream danish sound?!

How to Make this Recipe

One: Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until very smooth.

Two: Slightly roll out the puff pastry until it's about ⅛" thick. Keep it in a rectangular shape. Cut into 6 even pieces.

Three: Use the tip of a paring knife and score a 1cm border in all of the rectangles. Take care not to pierce the whole way through the pastry.

Four: Add a heaping tablespoon of cream cheese into the centers of the borders. Use a spoon or spatula to smooth it to the border markings.

Five: Add the prepared fruit to a bowl(s), then mix with sugar and cornstarch.

Six: Spoon a heaping ¼ cup of fruit onto the cream cheese, keeping it inside the borders.

Hot tip! Be very gentle when mixing the fruit and adding it to the pastry so you don't break it up too much.

Seven: Brush the edges with egg wash with a small pastry brush or your finger. Bake the pastry until golden and bubbly.

Eight: Brush warmed jam over the fruit to make them glisten and add an extra pop of sweetness. Mix together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and drizzle over the glaze (optional)

Hot tip! Take care not to let the egg wash fall over the edges of the cut pastry (or else that will seal them and prevent the flaky layers from rising).

Expert Tips

• Use a large knife to cut a very thin amount off of the edges that weren't cut. Freshly cut edges lead to the flakiest layers. Don't saw, just cut down then lift up.
• Brush off any excess flour from the pastry before adding the cream cheese.
• The fruit danish bakes best when very cold. It's best to refrigerate the pastry with cream cheese while you prepare the fruit. 
• Eat the fruit danish warm. This is when they are flakiest and most flavorful.

Substitutions & Variations

• Double the recipe to make 12 fruit and cheese danish. Using store bough puff pastry will provide you with two sheets of pastry, anyway!
• Use a heaping ¼ cup of various fruits and split up the remaining ingredients accordingly to toss the different fruits. Or, mix a few fruits you enjoy together.
• Use a cookie cutter to create any shape of pastry. Don't turn the cutter - just press down and then pull straight up. This will lead to the flakiest layers.
• Use frozen fruit by thawing completely, slicing if necessary, then toss with the sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. For frozen fruit, use 1 tablespoon of cornstarch instead of ½ tablespoon. 

Making the Danish with Rough Puff Pastry

While this recipe calls for store-bought puff pastry, which makes this recipes ultra easy, you can also try making your own rough puff pastry if you'd like to try more of a project.

Rough puff pastry is basically a cheat version of puff pastry that produces practically identical results. You can make your own rough puff pastry for the fruit and cream cheese puff pastry danish from my Rough Puff Pastry Recipe. It takes a bit of time, but only because most of it is time resting in the fridge! Active time is only about 30 minutes. 

You can also watch my video on how to make the rough puff pastry.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

Store the cooked fruit danish at room temperature for one day (add them to a paper bag if you have one), and in the fridge (covered) for an additional day. Note that the pastry will lose its flakiness. They can be re-crisped in a 400℉ oven for 5-7 minutes.

To freeze the pastry, wrap each one is plastic wrap, then add them to a zip top bag and freeze for one month. Unwrap completely, then bake from frozen in a 400℉ oven for about 10 minutes.

More Easy Breakfast Recipes

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📖Recipe

Fruit and Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish

Callan Wenner

Sweet cream cheese and fresh fruit is nestled into a buttery, flaky puff pastry for a perfect fruit and cream cheese danish! Use your favorite fruit - raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, or peaches to create the best combination.

4.88 from 8 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, Danish, French

Servings 6 servings

Calories 355 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  Rolling Pin
• ▢
  Paring knife
• ▢
  Pastry brush (optional)
• ▢
  Rubber spatula

U.S. Cups vs MetricUse the metric toggle to convert the measurements

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 oz full fat cream cheese room temperature
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 sheet puff pastry or homemade rough puff pastry
• ▢ 1½ cups fresh fruit strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, cherry, peach are good options
• ▢ 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ tablespoon cornstarch
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 egg for egg wash
• ▢ jam, jelly, preserves optional, for glaze

Vanilla Icing

• ▢ ½ cup powdered sugar 60g
• ▢ 1-2 tablespoons milk or water
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400℉/205℃.
• In a small bowl, mix together the soft cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with a spoon or small rubber spatula.
  4 oz full fat cream cheese, 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Roll out the dough to ⅛”-¼” thick. Cut the pastry into six desired shapes. Rectangles and squares work well and cookie cutters can be used to make circles.
  1 sheet puff pastry
• Transfer the cutouts to a parchment lined baking sheet. Take care not to touch the sides too much or it will seal the edges and prevent flaky layers.
• Lightly score a ½” border on the inside of the pastry with the tip of a sharp knife, careful not to cut through the dough completely.
• Add a heaping tablespoon of cream cheese to the center of each piece of dough, and spread evenly to the scored border.
• Add the pastry (on the pan) to the fridge while you prepare the fruit. The colder the pastry, the better it bakes.
• Prepare whatever fruit you want to use. If using strawberries, cherries or peaches, hull/pit, then slice - leave blueberries and raspberries whole.
  1½ cups fresh fruit
• Add the fruit to a bowl, then sprinkle on the sugar and cornstarch and carefully mix to combine.
  1 tablespoon granulated sugar, ½ tablespoon cornstarch
• In another small bowl, whisk together an egg and a splash of water.
  1 egg

Assembly

• Add a ¼ cup of fruit to the top of each area of cream cheese.
• Using a small pastry brush or your finger, rub the egg wash on all exposed sides of the dough. Try not to let the egg wash fall over the edges or it will seal the layers and prevent them from puffing up.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the exposed edges are golden brown and flaky.
• While the danishes bake, heat a few tablespoons of jam in the microwave for a few seconds until loosened.
  jam, jelly, preserves
• Note: Try to pair flavors appropriately (i.e. apricot or peach preserves with peaches, strawberry jam with strawberries, etc).
• When the danishes are done, brush the jam over the fruit. This step is not required, but add a nice sheen and a touch of extra flavor.
• Mix together the powdered sugar, milk (start with 1 tablespoon), and vanilla, then drizzle on top of each danish.
  ½ cup powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons milk or water, 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Store the cooked fruit danish at room temperature for one day (add them to a paper bag if you have one), and in the fridge (covered) for an additional day. Note that the pastry will lose its flakiness. They can be re-crisped in a 400℉ oven for 5-7 minutes.

To freeze the pastry, wrap each one is plastic wrap, then add them to a zip top bag and freeze for one month. Unwrap completely, then bake from frozen in a 400℉ oven for about 10 minutes.

 

Show Nutritional Information Hide Nutritional Information

Calories: 355kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 7gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 249mgPotassium: 146mgFiber: 2gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 233IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 1mg

The provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.

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