Artisian Danishes without the hassle of homemade dough. Delicious cream cheese-filled pastries topped with a short-cut compote and a vanilla glaze.
There is no pastry more satisfying than an easy-to-make pastry. Using only six ingredients you will have four delicious raspberry Danishes filled with cream cheese. Pillsbury crescent rolls offer the perfect base for this pastry, you simply unroll the tube and pastry, cut the dough into 4 long strips, brush each strip with softened cream cheese, top with sugar, twist up, and roll into a snake for the perfect Danish base. Top with fresh raspberries and raspberry jam to add fresh flavor, then bake. Make a simple glaze to finish or eat as is. Breakfast has never been simpler.
The first step is the most important one and that’s rolling up the dough. You start by folding the dough like a book over the cream cheese to lock in that flavor. Starting one end at a time, slowly twist each dough strip to create the braid-like pattern, then simply coil it up into a round pastry and tuck in the tail underneath to prevent the pastry from uncoiling. Brush the pastry with a simple egg wash for maximum golden browning.
The next step is adding the filling. This is the time to get creative with your fillings. Use a fresh berry compote or those frozen berries you picked over the summer. The simplicity lies in what you have around your house and how much time you’d like to take to make this. I went with a simple store-bought seedless raspberry jam with fresh raspberries folded into it. You can do the same with blackberries, blueberries, or even strawberries. I like this step because it especially makes the final Danish taste particularly homemade.
After these pastries are baked you can whisk together your glaze. This is my go-to buttery vanilla glaze, but any royal icing recipe will do. Make sure to drizzle the glaze over while it’s hot to ensure the glaze hardens to the Danish. This not only locks in the moistness of the pastry but also helps to evaporate moisture from the glaze to let it harden on top. The glaze is the first sweet vanilla flavor you taste as you take your first bite.
Bring these to your next brunch or bring these home for the holidays, people will be begging for the recipe. If you’re serving a crowd, cut the strips width-wise and make mini-versions of this pastry to share. The cream cheese filling can be substituted with mixed berry, strawberry, or even jalapeno for an added spice. I can’t wait for you to try these and let us know which combinations you like the most.
