Easy Cheese Danish for the Barefoot Bloggers

Easy Cheese Danish

The Barefoot Bloggers are an industrious group of bloggers who "love all things Ina". We would like to share our admiration for Ina Garten with everyone. I joined this group only recently to share my love for the Barefoot Contessa herself and to challenge myself to prepare more of her delicious recipes. I have never come across an Ina recipe that is not perfection itself. We roll up our sleeves and test and retest. The group chooses two recipes per month to be posted...but there is also a bonus recipe. This month I was given the opportunity to choose the bonus challenge because I brought the most traffic to the Barefoot Bloggers. Yay me!!!!!!!!!!



The recipe I chose is one of my favourite "go to" recipes of Ina's. These Cheese Danish are perfect for company but easy enough to make for every day breakfasts as well. They come together so quickly it is just too easy. How can something so simple be so good!!!!!!! We were given leeway to use our imagination and make additions, but I think simple is best.

I am posting this a day early because tomorrow is WFD and there will be an inspired post coming your way with our conga line of dishes including our efforts to raise awareness for the worlds hungry.

TIDBIT:Along with her friend and business partner, Frank Newbold, Ina has launched an exciting line of products for breakfast, lunch, and dinner called Barefoot Contessa Pantry that is available for sale in stores throughout North America.

So far the Barefoot Bloggers have made 36,926 Friday night dinners for Jeffrey..........

**Easy Cheese Danish**

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 - 1 tablespoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place the cream cheese & sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don’t whip!

Unfold one sheet of pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it’s a 10×10 inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold two opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan.

Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.

Bake the puff pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

Makes 8 Danish

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