This flaky, delicious Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish is made with a puff pastry base and topped with a sweetened cream cheese layer and fruity strawberry layer. A drizzle of icing and sprinkle of almond slivers make these danishes completely irresistible!
What better way to start off the day than with a flaky, delicious danish! This easy recipe for Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish makes it possible to whip up a quick breakfast treat that is sure to please the whole family!
Flaky pastry, a lightly sweetened cream cheese layer, strawberry jam and almond slivers all come together to create a flavourful pastry treat that pairs well with your morning coffee. This delightful puff pastry breakfast is great for weekend brunching, but we also love to enjoy this treat with an afternoon coffee.
This recipe is made easy by using puff pastry to form the base. No fussing around in the kitchen necessary here – I mean, who wants a lot of fuss in the morning? Just roll out a puff pastry sheet, slice, and start topping! All of the steps for making homemade strawberry danish are simple to do and I’ve included step by step photos to help guide you through the process!
So what are we waiting for? Let’s get baking!
Ingredients in Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
- Puff pastry: thawed. Using store-bought puff pastry makes this whole recipe possible in just 35 minutes!
- Cream cheese: Use softened cream cheese to ensure this layer blends well with the other ingredients and spreads nicely.
- Sugar: used to sweeten the cream cheese layer. I only add a little sugar to the recipe as the jam is sweet enough.
- Lemon juice: adds a nice citrusy zing to the cream cheese layer
- Almond extract: used in both the cream cheese mixture and the glaze for added flavour. You can omit this if you do not have it on hand.
- Strawberry jam: you can substitute raspberry jam or any other jam you like! If you are using homemade jam, just be sure it is thick in texture so that it does not get watery while baking.
- Strawberries: Fresh, sliced strawberries are added on top of the jam for added fruitiness and texture. You can easily leave these out if you don’t have any on hand. I don’t recommend using frozen as they will release water and ruin the topping of your beautiful danish.
- Egg: An egg is whisked with water to make an egg wash for the border of the puff pastry. This helps to give the edges a nice golden colour but is not necessary and can be omitted.
- Almond slices: add a nice crunch to the top of the danish!
- Powdered sugar: used to make the icing.
- Milk: used to make the icing.
How to make Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
The full details for how to make Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish are in the recipe card below. Essentially, this recipe comes down to these easy steps:
- Prepare the puff pastry: Roll out the puff pastry sheet and slice it down the center, lengthwise to form two long rectangular danishes. [You can slice the sheet into smaller portions for individual servings]. Using a sharp knife, score the puff pastry to form a 1/2 inch border all the way around, careful not to cut all the way through the puff pastry. Using a fork, poke holes in the center portions of the puff pastry.
- Make the cream cheese layer: In a small bowl, mix the softened cream cheese, sugar, almond extract and lemon juice to create the cream cheese layer. Use the back of a spoon, spread the cream cheese mixture into the center of both puff pastry danishes.
- Top with the strawberry layer: Dollop the strawberry jam into the center of the cream cheese layer and gently spread it with the back of a spoon. Don’t cover the cream cheese layer completely, allowing a border of cream cheese to create a border around the strawberry layer. Top the jam with sliced strawberries.
- Egg wash (optional) and bake: In a small bowl, whisk the egg and water together to make an egg wash (if using) and brush the border of each puff pastry danish. Bake the danishes for 25 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.
- Top with icing and almonds: Allow the danishes to cool on the baking sheets for about 15 minutes. [Optional: while they are cooling, you can brush them with fresh strawberry jam for a prettier, brighter colour]. To make the icing, mix the the icing sugar with the milk and almond extract. Drizzle it over top of the danishes and sprinkle each danish with almond slivers.
Tips and variations
- Egg wash: The egg wash is optional but if you are not serving this to anyone with an egg allergy, I recommend adding this extra step. I brush it along the edges of the pastry only to help it get a nice golden colour while it bakes.
- Use thick jam: Store-bought jams work great with homemade danishes. They tend to be nice and thick, meaning you won’t end up with a water looking fruit layer. If you are using a homemade jam, just be sure it is thick. If it isn’t, consider mixing in some cornstarch.
- Extra jam: Reserve a little jam to use after the danish is taken out of the oven. Depending on how it bakes up, sometimes the jam layer could use a little extra jam to bring the colour back to life and make the danish look a little prettier. While the danish is cooling, just brush a little more jam on top of the strawberry slices to add more sheen.
- Substitute vanilla for the almond extract: If you do not have almond extract or are catering to a nut allergy, you can leave the extract (and the almond slivers) out of this recipe entirely. You can simply omit the extract or consider replacing it with vanilla extract instead, for more flavour.
- Reduce the sugar: If your strawberry jam is quite sweet, you might want to consider reducing the sugar (or omitting) it in the cream cheese layer to prevent an overly sweet danish.
Storing leftovers and reheating
These danishes are at their best when served fresh since the puff pastry will be extra flaky. That said, it is still possible to reheat and enjoy these the next day too. To store leftovers, place the danishes in an air tight container and store it in the fridge. Since the danishes contain cream cheese, this is the safest way to store leftovers. You can store them this way for a few days.
To reheat the pastries, place them on a lined baking sheet and pop them back in the oven at 325F until they are warmed through. This is the best way to reheat them as it will retain a little crispness in the pastry, but it won’t be as flaky as they are when they are freshly baked. Puff pastry will absorb the moisture in the cream cheese layer and in the fridge, making it less flaky.
I love to enjoy this strawberry danish with a side of fresh fruit and a hot cup of coffee! It definitely beats a the standard bowl of cereal or buttered toast breakfast!
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
-Cathy
Wondering what else to do with puff pastry? You may also like these sweet and savoury recipes:
Puff Pastry Tomato Tarts
Tiropita with Puff Pastry
Asparagus Puff Pastry Tart
Puff Pastry Apple Tarts
Portuguese Custard Tarts (Pastéis de Nata)
Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed
For the cream cheese spread:
- 8 oz cream cheese (1 brick or 250g), softened
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Additional toppings:
- 1/2 cup strawberry jam (or similar)
- 1/2 cup strawberries sliced
- 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water (egg wash, optional)
Icing:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk (use more if needed)
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/3 cup almond slices
Instructions
- Arrange the racks in the oven to the middle positions and preheat oven to 400F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out the puff pastry sheet and slice it down the center, lengthwise to form two long rectangular danishes. [Alternatively, you can slice the sheet into smaller portions for individual servings].
- Using a sharp knife, score the puff pastry to form a 1/2 inch border all the way around, careful not to cut all the way through the puff pastry. Using a fork, poke holes in the center portions of the puff pastry.
- In a small bowl, mix the softened cream cheese, sugar, almond extract and lemon juice to create the cream cheese layer. Use the back of a spoon, spread the cream cheese mixture into the center of both puff pastry danishes.
- Dollop the strawberry jam into the center of the cream cheese layer and gently spread it with the back of a spoon. Don't cover the cream cheese layer completely, allowing a border of cream cheese to create a border around the strawberry layer. Top the jam with sliced strawberries.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg and water together to make an egg wash (if using) and brush the border of each puff pastry danish.
- Bake the danishes for 25 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Allow the danishes to cool on the baking sheets for about 15 minutes. [Optional: while they are cooling, you can brush them with fresh strawberry jam for a prettier, brighter colour].
- To make the icing, mix the the icing sugar with the milk and almond extract. Drizzle it over top of the danishes and sprinkle each danish with almond slivers.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
The sugar in the recipe. Regular sugar or powdered sugar?
Hi Linda! There is both types in the recipe. Regular sugar in the cream cheese layer and powdered sugar for the icing.
Hi Cathy, I’ve just stumbled across your site. I like the simplicity of this Danish tart + how you present the instructions – step by step photos are very appreciated by me as I’m not a particularly confident cook / baker. I will certainly give the Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish (SCCD) recipe a go, both one as is + one without strawberries on top. I am a big apple pie fan so I am wondering if the SCCD could be interchanged with apples. Would the apples end up complimenting the jam + cream cheese or would that be a bizarre flavour combination. Would perhaps jam + apple work or just apple be best. Looking forward to sifting through your recipe index to see what else might tickle my taste buds.
Thanks.
Hi Anneissa! So glad you found my site! You could absolutely use apple for the danish- apple danishes are so delicious! You can make them any way you prefer too. I have a Puff Pastry Apple Tarts recipe on the blog that uses sliced apples (https://herbsandflour.com/puff-pastry-apple-tarts/) but you can even use a canned apple pie filling for this recipe in place of the jam. It’s up to you if you want to use the filling directly on the puff pastry or include a cream cheese layer. Both ways would be delicious, I think! Happy baking!
Hi! Love the recipe and can’t wait to try it out, I was just wondering if they still taste good out of the fridge without having to reheat? I have a lot of food to prepare for a party and want to make two of the danishes and then just set them aside before hand. I plan on making them the day of but while they’re out of the oven is it better to refridgerate or just leave them out at room temp?
Hi! If its for a short amount of time, I prefer leaving them out of the fridge. Once they get refrigerated, the puff pastry absorbs some moisture and isn’t as crispy (though they still taste delish).