Strawberry and Rhubarb Cheese Danish

You can never go wrong with a strawberry and rhubarb cheese Danish for an afternoon treat or breakfast pastry. The combination of cream cheese and mascarpone filling with rhubarb curd and honey-roasted strawberries just can't be beaten!

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Recipe

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Strawberry and Rhubarb Cheese Danish

6 pastries

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: pastry

Servings: 6

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Rhubarb curd

• 6 ounces rhubarb chopped
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar divided
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons butter

Mascarpone filling

• 2 ounces cream cheese softened at room temperature
• 2 ounces mascarpone softened at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Remaining ingredients

• 6 ounces strawberries fresh
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 sheet puff pastry thawed
• egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water)
• 2 tablespoons apricot preserves

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Make the rhubarb curd. Combine the chopped rhubarb with 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and continue to cook until the rhubarb is soft. Remove from heat and puree the mixture until smooth. Let cool.
• Whisk together the rhubarb puree with ¼ cup sugar, 2 egg yolks, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small pot. Heat the mixture over low heat and continue to cook until the curd has thickened, stirring frequently. Make sure to constantly stir the curd to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Once the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from heat and add the butter, stirring until it's melted. Transfer the curd to a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top, touching the surface of the curd. Let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the mascarpone cream filling. Whip together the mascarpone with the cream cheese, egg yolk, vanilla, and sugar until well combined. Set aside.
• Slice the strawberries into ⅛-inch thick slices. Drizzle 1 tablespoon honey on the strawberries and let them sit for 10 minutes.
• Lightly dust a clean work counter with flour. Unwrap the puff pastry and cut it into 6 equal rectangles. Use a knife and score a ¼-inch border on each rectangle, making sure not to actually cut the pastry. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of the cheese filling in the center of each pastry, making sure not spread it outside of the border. Place 1 tablespoon of the curd on top.
• Arrange the strawberries on top of the curd, about 2 strawberries per pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and bake them for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
• Microwave the apricot jam for 10 seconds or until warm. Brush the apricot jam on the strawberries. Let the pastries cool completely and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Notes

This recipe makes enough rhubarb curd for 12 pastries. If you would like to make 12 pastries, double the amount for the remaining ingredients.

You can make the rhubarb curd up to 3 days in advance.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Make the fillings

These strawberry and rhubarb cheese Danish pastries have a little bit of everything. There's the flaky, buttery puff pastry, cream cheese and mascarpone filling, rhubarb lemon curd, and roasted strawberries - everything good in life.

Even before I tried them, I knew they would be delicious.

To create this dessert, first, make the rhubarb curd. Cut the rhubarb into small chunks, discarding the leaves (they're poisonous!). Then, simmer the fruit with sugar and water until it's softened.

Once the fruit has broken down, puree it in a blender and let it cool. If you add the cold eggs to the hot rhubarb puree, it can cook the eggs.

Heat the curd mixture over low heat, stirring frequently, and simmer until the curd has thickened. If you want to be extra cautious, cook the curd in a double boiler.

When I was working as a line cook at a restaurant in Los Angeles, we always used a double boiler when making lemon curd. Using this method helped ensure that the eggs wouldn't scramble.

Let the rhubarb cool completely before assembling the pastries. You can also prepare the curd several days in advance.

Meanwhile, make the cheese filling by beating together the mascarpone and cream cheese with a whisk or stand mixer with the egg yolk, vanilla, and sugar. Make sure the cream cheese and mascarpone are soft so they'll be easy to mix.

Step 2: Fill puff pastry

Next, slice the strawberries into thin slices and drizzle the honey on top. If your berries are especially sweet, you can omit the honey.

I like to arrange the berries on a plate and drizzle the honey on top rather than tossing them all together. This way, you can shingle the berries on the pastries in a pretty pattern.

Now it's time to assemble the strawberry and rhubarb cheese Danish pastries. Although I'm a professional chef, I like to use store-bought puff pastry rather than making it from scratch. It saves so much time, and the store-bought version is perfectly fine!

Use a sharp knife and score a border ¼ inch from the edges of each portion of puff pastry, but don't cut all the way through. Scoring the pastry will help keep the filling in the center and prevent it from overflowing to the edges.

Place a heaping tablespoon of the cheese filling in the center and spread it inside the border. It may be tempting to place more filling, but it can spill over if it's too full (I speak from experience).

Top the cheese filling with the rhubarb curd, then place the strawberries on top. You'll have extra rhubarb curd, but that's never a bad thing!

Step 3: Bake and glaze

Brush the edges of the danishes with egg wash and bake them until golden brown.

Finish the pastries by brushing the apricot jam on the berries. This will give the berries a lovely shine and just an extra hint of sweetness.

Dust the strawberry and rhubarb cheese danish with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and these babies are ready to be devoured!

The pastries seem so simple, but the flavors are anything but. They all work so well together. I mean, there's a reason that strawberries and rhubarb go so well together, right?

Make-ahead and storage

• Make-ahead: You can make the rhubarb curd up to 3 days in advance and the mascarpone filling the day before.
• Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refridgerator for up to 3 days.

More strawberry dessert recipes

Looking for more desserts featuring strawberries? Try these: