Cherry-Cheese Danish
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • (2) ¼ oz packages of active dry yeast
  • 2 cups warm milk
  • 6 cups all purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup cold butter, small chunks
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 egg yolks
  • ½ cup cherry preserve
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp butter, melted
  • ¼ tsp vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 5-6 Tbsp milk plus a little more as required
Instructions
  1. Prepare the dough the night before baking. Dissolve yeast into ½ cup of the warm milk and set aside to proof for 5-10 min. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter to flour mixture and use a pastry cutter to cut butter into flour until crumbly...or until your arm is sore and you give up.
  2. Add yeast mixture, rest of milk, and egg yolks to the flour mixture. Mix dough until everything is incorporated. The dough will still be sticky. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Next day, remove dough from bowl and drop onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces.
  4. One at a time, roll each piece into an 18"x4" rectangle....or something that looks close. Cut each into 1" strips. Take two strips and twist together, then roll the twisted pieces in a pinwheel kind of shape, and pinch the ends together. (The picture helps with this.) Set on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat. When all dough is shaped, set aside and let rise for 30-45 minutes.
  5. While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Whisk together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg yolks until smooth.
  6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make an indentation in the center of the shaped dough. Drop about 1 Tbsp of the cheese mixture with about 1 Tbsp of cherry preserve in the center of the dough. Use a toothpick to swirl the two together without damaging the dough.
  7. Bake the filled danishes for 15-17 minutes or until slightly golden brown along the edges. Place baked danishes on a cooling rack to cool.
  8. While danishes are baking/cooling, prepare drizzle topping. Whisk together powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, and milk. If mixture is not smooth, add a little more milk, 1 Tbsp at a time. When danishes are cool, drizzle mixture over each one. I would suggest having something underneath the danishes when drizzling for easy clean up.
  9. When drizzle is set, enjoy one for your hard work. Since there was a cheese filling, I stored them in the refrigerator just in case. It didn't affect the texture.
Recipe by Learn by Cooking at https://www.learnbycooking.com/cherry-cheese-danish/