This is an easy recipe that makes delicious and impressive looking strawberry danish breakfast pastries.
I love socially acceptable dessert for breakfast: croissants, cinnamon rolls, French toast – any delicious dose of sweetness to start the day and these perfectly fit the bill! These strawberry danishes are buttery flaky pastry balanced with a sweetened cream cheese filling and a fruit puree all baked up quickly for breakfast or brunch.
This easy strawberry danish recipe with puff pastry is great for Sunday brunch at home for 2 plus just enough leftovers to make Monday breakfast a bit special.
I bake for just myself and my husband and always struggled with making full size recipes meant for a big family or party of 10 which left us with leftovers for days- either things go bad on the counter or we’d get sick of eating the same thing for days on end. That led me to creating Petite Batcherie so I can bake and enjoy the results without dealing with all the leftovers or all the math trying to divide other recipes in half or quarters. My husband used to invite friends over to “get rid of the calories” when he’d had enough of something I’d made but now we have just enough to have a taste and enjoy it. Whether you’re new to baking and just want to try something small to start or you’re baking for a small family: you, your partner, small batches are a great way to bake and enjoy it worry free.
Equipment Needed
- Sheet Pan: This recipe is small enough for a quarter sheet pan but can be made on any baking tray
- Parchment Paper or Silicon Mat: line the baking tray with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat to avoid sticking
- Bowl & spoon: This recipe is very simple so it does not require a mixer.
- Scale: the most accurate method of measuring- I use this OXO scale
- Pastry Brush (or large spoon): A pastry brush is the easiest way to spread the egg wash, but the back of a spoon works fine
Ingredients
- Frozen Puff Pastry: This recipe is quick and easy because it uses frozen puff pastry that you buy from the frozen dessert section of the grocery store. The Trader Joe’s version is very affordable or I also use Pepperidge Farms brand!
- The Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheet comes as one big folded piece, which means you can easily break off just part of the sheet to use for this recipe and keep the rest frozen to be used for something else. Just remember to put the now open dough into a freezer safe bag before putting it back in the freezer so it doesn’t dry out. Some brands come in 2 rolls of dough, again try to take out and defrost only what you need so the rest stays frozen.
- Strawberry Jam: If you’re not going to cook down your own fruit, use your favorite, high quality jam for these, since it’s the main ingredient you’ll taste the difference. I love Bonne Maman!
Tips & Tricks
- Defrosting Puff Pastry: You’ll need to take it out of the freezer and defrost it before using it, you can do this slowly by leaving it overnight in the fridge or quickly by leaving on your counter for about 1 hour. You want it to be cold while you’re working with it, too warm and the layers of butter will squish together and the end result won’t be as flaky.
The Filling
- You can swap out the strawberries for any fruit you’d like fresh or frozen: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, even stone fruit like peaches. I like to use frozen since we’re cooking down the fruit and there are other uses for fresh fruit like tarts that lets the freshness shine more
- Make sure you let your fruit mixture cool to room temperature, if you put it onto the puff pastry warm the heat will melt the butter in the pastry and ruin the separated layers of butter which make the end result layered and flaky.
- You can use jam instead of homemade fruit preserves. Use about a tablespoon of filling, making sure it’s not too much that will spill over the edges.
Recipe FAQ
Can I skip the egg wash?
The egg wash helps make the dough golden brown and shiny as it bakes. You can skip it as it will not effect the flavor of the dish but you pastries will look more dull or rustic.
Can I use a different fruit?
Yes, you can use any fruit you like, just make sure to cook it down and add cornstarch to thicken the mixture, you may need a different amount of cornstarch to get to the right thickness. You want the fruit mixture to be thick enough that it will not run over the edges of your pastry.
Strawberry Danish
Ingredients
- 1 Sheet Puff Pastry (defrosted but chilled)
- 275 g Frozen Whole Strawberries (~2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons Water
- 4 oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
- 15 g Granulated Sugar (1 tablespoon)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Strawberry Puree
- Put frozen strawberries directly into a small pot over medium heat. Cook down into a liquid which should take about 10 minutes. Stir frequently to ensure it does not burn around the edges.
- Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and mix until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch into 4 teaspoons water, mix until smooth.
- Pour the cornstarch mixture into the fruit mixture and let it gently boil for 2 minutes to thicken. Once thickened, take off the heat and let the fruit puree come to room temperature.
Cream Cheese Filling
- In a separate bowl, mix with a spoon softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. You could do this in a mixer or a food processor but neither are really necessary.
Assembly
- Pre heat the oven to 375°F Convection setting (400°F Standard)
- Ensure your puff pastry is defrosted but still cold. (Leave in fridge overnight or on the counter for about 1 hour.)
- Unroll the sheet of pastry, with a rolling pin gently roll over the full sheet of dough to smooth out any pre-made seams. You can also use your fingers to pinch together the seams and then squish down with your thumb. You will now have 1 continuous sheet of dough.
- With a pizza cutter, or a knife, cut the sheet in half lengthwise and then into thirds the other way, you will now have 6 equally sized rectangles.
- Gently- so you don’t cut all the way through- trace a rectangle a few centimeters inside the edge of each rectangle, making a frame.
- Using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon, brush on the egg wash on just the frame of each pastry.
- Spoon equally divided portions of the sweetened cream cheese onto each pastry. Using the back of the spoon, spread it evenly out to the edge of the egg wash, not overlapping the egg.
- Spoon equally divided portions of the strawberry puree on top of the cream cheese. As you spread the strawberry don’t go all the way to the edge of the cream cheese, you want a bit of a boarder of cream cheese on the outside so some bites have just cream cheese and some have both fruit & cheese.
- Bake at 400°F (375° F Convection) for 20 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the bottom is evenly browned.
- Store at room temperature for up to 2 days
