Cheese Danish Bread - Recipe/Walk-Through

So my neighbor's wife had a birthday and her request to me was to make a cheese danish. I love to bake and I've made cheese danish for my neighbors a number of times. But I was growing bored of my normal go to recipe. So I fired up Google and searched for a "Cheese Danish Bread". One of the top results was from King Arthur Flour - Cheese-Filled Sweet Braid (link in the resources below). The pictures of their bread looked great and the recipe looked much simpler than my go to recipe. So off we go!

Dough

First things first I assemble all the ingredients to begin making the dough. This included putting the yeast in warm water and measuring out the flour, sugar, salt, butter, milk and vanilla...I use this Madigascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste which completely rocks in vanilla flavor. You use it just as you would the extract. I also have a large egg sitting out to get acclimated to the room temperature. If I learned anything in my baking it's if the egg is uncomfortable with the room temperature he will not perform well. Primidona!

I soften the butter in the microwave so it will blend into the dough well.

The flour gets added last so I can add it in smaller amounts. I put about a cup in at a time and mix it a bit before adding the next cup. In case you need some high tech visual stimulation here's the mixing in an animated gif!

Oh, forgot to mention that I'm listening to a heavy metal channel on Pandora while all this is going on. It's a Gojira channel. While this is not a prerequisite for a successful pastry making...I don't think it could hurt. Pastries love METAL! Here's the dough mixed...in a METAL BOWL!

Cheese Filling

While the dough is rising in a dark corner of the kitchen with a cloth over it I start making the cheese filling. I measure out the sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and crack the egg. There's a few tablespoons of flour in this as well which was a bit of a surprise but I'm not one to fiddle with a good thing.

I mixed the cheese filling by hand. Which, in hindsight, I probably should've used the blender to really work out the smaller chunks of cream cheese. Using a blender might have incorporated the chunks more and made the overall filling a little thicker. Oh well. You live and learn. After it was mixed I put it in the refrigerator to chill and then I went over a friends house to watch a movie.

Construction

The first step in cheese danish construction is don't talk about cheese danish construction. Ok, little throw back to Fight Club. Of course you want me to talk about cheese danish construction. After a few hours of rising, the dough is ready to be worked with. Cut the dough in half so you can make two danishes. I have a small digital scale that I used to make sure the halves were relatively equal.

Using my hands I push the dough out to resemble a rectangle approximately 8 inches by 12 inches.

I then spoon half of the cheese filling into the middle third of the flattened dough. My next step was to take a scraper/chopper and cut the dough on either side of the cheese filling.

Before it's ready to sit for another round of rising I fold each 'slice' of the dough over the center at an angle. When I did this the damn cheese filling started oozing out all over the place. I was pissed. I also did a sort of shitty job folding the slices over on the first danish but think I redeemed myself on the second. I mixed the yolk of an egg together with some water and brushed it over the dough then sprinkled some sparkling sugar over everything.

I let the danish rise for the allotted time covered with some other baking trays. When it arose I threw it in the 350 degree oven for a half hour. I ended up pulling them out a little early because they were getting a little dark for my taste but they still came out looking beautiful.

Comments

The danish was delicious. People started stock piling it once I cut it into 1 inch slices and it got rave reviews immediately. Unfortunately, a lot of the cheese filling was squeezed out between rising and baking so I will look at making a thicker filling next time. I think if you can keep the cheese inside the pastry this will be your way into many people's hearts.

Recipe

(King Arthur Flour - Cheese-Filled Sweet Braid Recipe)

DOUGH

• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

FILLING

• 1 cup (8-ounce package) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla or 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia

GLAZE

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water
• 4 tablespoons sparkling white sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

• Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them together — by hand, mixer or bread machine — until you've made a soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until it's puffy.
• Filling: While the dough is rising, prepare the filling by mixing all of the ingredients together until smooth. Chill until ready to use.
• To assemble the braid: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and divide it in half. Roll each half into a 12" x 8" rectangle. Spread half of the filling lengthwise down the center third of each rectangle. Cut 1" wide strips from each side of the filling out to the edges of the dough. Fold about an inch of dough at each end over the filling to contain it, then fold the strips, at an angle, across the filling, alternating from side to side.
• Transfer the braids to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Allow the braids to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy but not quite doubled.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Whisk together the egg yolk and water, and brush over the risen loaves. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar. Bake the braids for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
• Bake the braids for 35 to 40 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack.

Thanks for going on this journey with me.

Resources

• King Arthur Flour - Cheese-Filled Sweet Braid Recipe
• Madigascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste