cream cheese Archives • Cook Til Delicious

Laminated dough is the perfect blank canvas for a baker. It can go sweet or savory, and you can shape it in so many ways. I’ve used this sourdough danish dough previously to make these delicious morning buns, and in this post I’m giving just a couple more ways to put this pastry to work.

While there are a ton of ways you can shape danishes, I’m partial to the pocket and diamond shapes because they accommodate a good amount of filling. I almost always fill my sweet pastries with either cream cheese filling or frangipane — both are simple to whip up and complement any number of fruits. I like using cream cheese with berries (or a dollop of jam or lemon curd) and frangipane with plums, pears, rhubarb, and apples — but experiment with what you have and come up with your own favorite combos! Enjoy!

A few notes:

The proofing time for these danishes can vary quite a bit depending on the temperature of your kitchen. For me it usually takes about 2 hours at warm room temperature (about 80F). Proof them until they’re double in size, very puffy, and jiggle when you shake the pan. The oven with the light on and a pan of warm water is a great proofing spot — just make sure to take the danishes out when preheating the oven!
To make sure the bottoms of the danishes don’t get too dark before they bake through, I bake these pastries on a two baking sheets stacked right on top of each other. If you like the bottoms extra crisp, this isn’t necessary.
I like finishing fruit danishes by brushing the fruit with a bit of simple syrup right after the danishes come out of the oven. It gives the fruit a little bit of shine and your pastries that special little bakery touch.

Sourdough Fruit Danishes

Makes 6 danishes

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe sourdough enriched danish dough
1 recipe cream cheese filling or frangipane filling (see below)
Fresh fruit such as berries or plums — depending on type/size of fruit, you may need several berries or several slices of fruit per danish; can also use a not-too-runny jam/preserves
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp milk or water and a pinch of salt for egg wash
Turbinado sugar, optional
Simple syrup, optional
Powdered sugar, optional

For the cream cheese filling:

113g cream cheese, softened (about half a block)
2 Tbsp sugar
Dash of vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
Squeeze of lemon juice

For the frangipane filling:

100g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g almond flour
15g AP flour

Method:

For the cream cheese filling:

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (a hand mixer also works). Mix on low until smooth. Scrape down the sides and add lemon juice a tsp at a time to taste. Transfer to a pastry bag. Filling can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before piping onto danishes.

For the frangipane filling:

In a small bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the egg, salt, and vanilla, and beat until combined. Add the almond and all purpose flour and fold in using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Transfer to a pastry bag. Filling can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before piping onto danishes.

For the danishes:

On a lightly floured surface, roll the danish dough into a large rectangle about 10″ x 14″. Trim the edges so you have a neat rectangle measuring 9″ x 13.5″. Cut dough into six 4.5″ inch squares. Stack, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 10 minutes to relax the gluten.
Stack two large baking trays together (see notes above) and line the top tray with parchment paper. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator (I like to work with 2-3 squares at a time, leaving the rest refrigerated). Shape into pockets or diamonds as desired and transfer to prepared baking sheet. (See below.)
Brush the shaped pastries with egg wash and cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Place in a warm area of the kitchen (around 78-80F — no hotter than 80F or the ) to proof until doubled in size and layers are very visible — about 2-3 hours. Prepare your filling of choice while the pastries proof, if you haven’t already.
When the pastries are nearly finished proofing, preheat oven to 425F with a rack in the middle. Pipe desired filling into the center of the pastries, about 1-2 Tbsp each. Top with fruit, pressing lightly to adhere. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar if desired.
Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375F and bake for another 10-20 minutes, or until well risen and browned. Brush the fruit with simple syrup after removing from oven, if desired. Cool for about 10 minutes before dusting with powdered sugar and serving. Danishes are best eaten the day they’re baked, but reheat well the day after in a 350F oven for 5-10 minutes.

For shaping:

For the “pocket” shape, dab a little filling or egg wash in the center of the square. Fold the two opposing corners into the center, pressing fairly firmly to stick. Repeat with the opposite corners. If the corners pop open during proofing, gently press them back down before adding filling.
For the “diamond” shape, gently fold the pastry square on the diagonal to form a triangle, making sure the corners line up. Using a sharp knife, make two cuts parallel to the sides of the triangle, leaving about 1/4″ of pastry on the edges. Don’t let the cuts meet or you will end up with two pieces of pastry! Unfold the dough and orient the square so it is like a diamond. Fold one edge over so it meets the cut you just made. Repeat with the other edge to form a diamond. You can watch me forming this shape in my Instagram stories — look for the Diamond Danish highlight.

fall cliche cake

About this cake.

We were faced with a fridge full of stuff people enamored with fall buy: canned pumpkin, apple cider, cream cheese. Meanwhile, I was in a baking mood but couldn’t decide what to make: apple cider donuts? Pumpkin bundt cake? Cream cheese danishes? Well, yes to all, but my waistline doth protest.

So one evening, in a rare burst of spontaneous baking, I set out to make a cake using only what we had in our fridge. Normally my layer cake baking is a 2+ day affair, mainly because I have an active toddler who only naps once a day. But fueled by coffee and inspiration from a little too much Great British Baking Show, I was determined to churn something out.

The result? I present to you the Fall Cliche Cake: pumpkin spice cake layers glued together with maple cream cheese frosting, drizzled with mulled apple cider caramel sauce. This is the cake version of what you order when you can’t decide between a Pumpkin Spice Latte and a Caramel Apple Cider and you hope your significant other orders one so you can actually have a bit of both. This is what you want to eat while admiring the fall foliage and wearing your boots and chunky sweater. All in all, this took me about 4 hours start to finish (not including the scrub-down of the kitchen, sadly), and I couldn’t be more pleased with the result. In fact, this cliche may become our new tradition.

inside3

This cake was also created with a party in mind — a Virtual Pumpkin Party hosted by bloggers Sara at Cake Over Steak and Aimee at Twigg Studios. It’s an honor to be able to participate in this take-over-the-internet-with-all-things-pumpkin recipe extravaganza with so many talented bloggers. I just wish the party were in person so I could try all the amazing dishes. Please check out the entire recipe list at the bottom of this post!

A few recipe notes:

If you don’t have mulled cider sitting around in the fridge, you can make this with regular apple cider. Or, steep your cider with a cinnamon stick, a few cloves, a couple star anise, a few cardamom pods, and a chunk of nutmeg for as long as you can, then proceed with the recipe. Alternatively, you could add a pinch of cinnamon to the caramel when you add the vanilla.
Use COLD cream cheese for the frosting. I know, I thought the same thing…room temperature everything! But the cold cream cheese actually doesn’t take that much longer to incorporate, plus it helps the frosting keep its body a bit better instead of becoming a soft, unworkable mess.
Layer cakes are much easier to assemble when the cake is completely cooled, preferably chilled. Normally I make the layers a day ahead and chill them overnight, but in this case I just stuck them, uncovered, in the freezer for about 10 minutes after they’d come to room temperature. Worked great.
There is enough frosting here to scantily ice a 3-layer, six inch cake. If you want to go fully frosted, double the recipe.

Fall Cliche Cake

Makes one 6-inch, 3-layer cake | Cake adapted from Sweetapolita / Frosting adapted from Call Me Cupcake

Ingredients

For the pumpkin spice cake:

1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup (180 ml) grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) pumpkin puree (I used canned)
2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the maple cream cheese icing:

150 g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c (180g) powdered sugar
200 g cream cheese, COLD and cubed
1-2 Tbsp maple syrup

For the apple cider caramel sauce:

2 cups apple cider (preferably mulled)
1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp corn syrup
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 generous pinch sea salt

To finish:

Chopped pecans
Pumpkin seeds
Fresh thyme branches

Method

For the Pumpkin Spice Cake Layers:

Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Spray and flour the pans.
In the large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the oil and vanilla and beat on medium until combined, about 30 seconds.
Add the pumpkin and mix until combined, about another 30 seconds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and salt, and with the mixer on the lowest speed, gradually add to pumpkin/egg mixture.
Evenly distribute batter into the prepared pans (weigh them if possible with digital kitchen scale for about 370 g per pan), smooth with a small offset palette knife and place in the center of the middle rack of the oven, about 2 inches apart. Bake until a knife or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
Let pans cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack and cool them completely.

For the Maple Cream Cheese Icing:

Beat butter until pale, about 2 minutes.
Add powdered sugar and continue beating until frosting is very pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
Add cream cheese and beat until just smooth. Beat in maple syrup a tablespoon at a time, tasting after the first to check the flavor. Add the second if necessary. Use immediately.

For the Apple Cider Caramel Sauce:

Add the apple cider to a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Allow the apple cider to cook down to about 1/3 cup.
Add the brown sugar and corn syrup and stir just until the sugar is dissolved. Heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 240F on a candy thermometer.
Remove from heat and stir in butter, heavy cream, and vanilla. Return to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Remove from heat and add a pinch of sea salt; stir to combine. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before transferring to a heat-safe jar.
Store at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for several weeks.

To assemble:

Level your cakes (this is easiest to do when they’re completely cool; I like to stick them in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes right before assembly). Choose a layer for the bottom and put bottom-side down on a cake board.
Spread about a 1/2 cup of icing evenly over the layer, followed by a generous drizzle of caramel sauce. Repeat with the next two layers, ending with just a layer of frosting on the top. Add a thin layer of icing over the entire cake. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes to set.
When the cake is chilled and the caramel is your desired drizzle consistency (test a drip on the side to see), drizzle the caramel on the sides and spread a layer on top. I like to use a squirt bottle for the side drips, but you can use a spoon or just pour over the top and nudge it to the edges with a palette knife if you’re brave.
Decorate with chopped pecans, pepitas, and thyme branches, if desired.