Lemon Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe
Lemon Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe is very easy to make with crescent dough, ready in 30 minutes, with a delicious lemon and cherry flavors! Watch the short video tutorial attached below and learn to quickly make it on your own.
Danish is simply delicious and is very creamy! My other Danish hits with beloved readers are Peanut Butter Nutella Danish and Apple Pie Danish.
Easy Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe
Lemon Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe is one of the easiest recipes you will ever try! This Lemon Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe is made with crescent dough, so you don’t have to worry about rolling any dough.
You will end up with a soft pastry, filled with perfectly baked sweet cheese, cherry filling, and an amazingly fresh lemon flavor. The Danish is topped with sweet Lemon Icing, which gives it a perfect citrus balance.
Why you’ll enjoy this Lemon Cheery Cheese Danish Recipe:
- It is super easy and quick to make with just a few ingredients.
- The Danish braid is packed with delicious flavors.
- Ingredients are very affordable and easy to find, so it’s basically cooking on a budget.
- It is perfect for brunch and breakfast or to bake for a crowd.
- Easy to transport you can take it as a gift to family and friends.
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What is a Danish Pastry?
A Danish is a multilayered sweet pastry originating from Denmark by Austrian bakers and has since developed into a Danish specialty. Like other pastries, such as croissants, it is a variant of puff pastry made of laminated yeast-leavened dough that creates a layered texture.
Lemon Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe Tips:
- Please watch the recipe video attached to better guide you through the cooking process.
- First, don’t skip the lemon zest! It will add so much flavor and it compliments the cheery filling nicely.
- Also, don’t substitute the lemon extract with lemon juice, the lemon extract has a more pronounced flavor.
- Use freshly squeezed lemon juice as it tastes so fresh and citrusy.
- You can use a more or less cherry filling, I like mine bursting with cherries so I used 1 cup of cherry filling.
- In addition, the cherry filling can be substituted with raspberry preserves, or even fresh cherries, blueberries or blackberries.
- Use crescent dough sheet not croissants or biscuits as it will ruin the Danish.
How to make lemon zest in 4 steps?
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- Rinse the lemon.
- Set your tool over a cutting board. A Microplane produces a very fine zest, perfect for baking and cooking. If you don’t have a microplane, use the smallest holes on an ordinary grater.
- Grate the yellow skin of the lemon only. Grate just enough to get through the yellow skin, this way you can avoid the bitter white pith underneath.
- Rotate the lemon and repeat. Once the white pith is exposed, rotate the lemon and zest the next strip of peel. Repeat until most of the peel is removed, or until you have enough zest for your recipe.
Tools/Ingredients I used to make this Lemon Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe:
- Cherry Pie Filling – I love this one! It’s so perfect in this recipe, also you can use it to make cherry cheesecakes and cherry pies.
- Lemon Extract – if you are looking to make a lemon dessert that is bursting with lemon flavor adding lemon extract is key.
- Baking Sheet – a sturdy baking sheet will serve you years, I am very happy with this one, I use it to bake pastries and cookies.
- Parchment Paper – in this recipe I prefer to use parchment paper to bake the danish and not baking spray, I like this brand and always have some in my kitchen.
- Crescent Dough Sheet – endless possibilities to create recipes and my first choice when it comes to homemade danishes.
Lemon Cherry Cheese Danish Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tube crescent dough sheet
- 8 ounce cream cheese room temperature
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 3/4 cup cherry pie filling
- Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 - 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
- Top a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add the softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest and lemon extract to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fully combined and smooth. Stop once to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure the mixture is fully combined.
- Unroll the seamless dough sheet onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Spread the lemon cream cheese filling down the middle of the dough sheet.
- Spread the cherry filling on top of the lemon cream cheese layer. You can use more or less cherry filling, I like using 1 cup so the danish is bursting with cherry filling.
- On each long side of the dough, left and right from the filling, make 2 inch long cuts about 1 inch apart. Check the photo at the end of the recipe.
- Starting at one end of the dough sheet, fold the strips over the filling from one side to the other, if you want on an angle.
- Bake the danish for 15-20 minutes, or until it is golden brown. Check at 15 minutes as it is probably ready.
- Remove the danish from the oven and let it completely cool before icing, around 20 - 30 minutes.
- Lemon Glaze:
- Add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl, add two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and mix until fully combined with no lumps. If the mixture is too thick add one more tablespoon of lemon juice. I like the glaze on the thicker side, yet pourable, so it will look white and shiny on the danish, not transparent.
- After the danish has cooled, use a fork or spoon to drizzle the lemon icing over the danish.
- Slice the danish and serve!
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