A versatile breakfast, brunch or dessert pastry, cherry cream cheese danish is as delicious as it is pretty! Soft brioche dough is filled with sweetened cream cheese and cherries, braided, baked until golden, and drizzled with vanilla glaze.
¼cupbutter+ 1 Tablespoon melted butter to brush onto pastry before baking.
¼ cupgranulated sugar
2eggswell beaten
¾teaspoonsalt
2 ½ cupsflour+ 2 Tablespoons if needed
For Cream Cheese Filling
¾ cupcream cheese
¼cuppowdered sugar
1 ½ Tablespoonsbutter
1teaspoonVanilla
For Cherry Filling
2 cupscanned cherry pie fillingapprox. 16 ounces
For Glaze
1 ½cupspowdered sugar
3Tablespoonsmilk
1teaspoonsvanilla
Instructions
Dough
Add yeast to 3 Tablespoons warm water (110 degrees – hotter water will kill yeast.) Let it bubble up to activate and soften yeast.
Melt butter in milk by placing ¼ cup butter in ½ cup milk in glass measuring cup or microwave safe bowl and microwaving for 30 seconds or until melted; then let cool.
In a large mixing bowl: Add yeast, sugar, beaten eggs, and salt. Stir gently. Add cooled milk/butter. Add 1 ¾ cups flour and beat well for 5 minutes. Add the remaining flour; mix until a soft dough forms.
Place dough in greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise in warm place until double in bulk. After it has risen, punch dough down.
Form Braid:
To form braid, roll dough into a long rectangle about 18-inches by 8-inches.
Carefully mark dough lengthwise in thirds.
Beat together ingredients for cream cheese filling until softened and blended. Then spread cream cheese filling down middle third of dough. Make sure to leave an inch clear at top and bottom of dough.
Spread cherry pie filling down middle third of dough over cream cheese mixture. Leave an inch clear at top and bottom of dough.
Using a sharp knife, cut slash marks about 2-inches long and 1-inch wide down each side of dough (see picture).
Tuck top and bottom of dough up over filling. Bring top right and left tabs of dough to middle and overlap them about an inch, then twist together. Repeat this motion until all tabs are joined. (This braiding method allows filling to show through and makes a beautiful presentation.)
Place braid on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper. Let braid rise about 45 minutes or until nearly double in size.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit 10-15 minutes until dough is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool.
When braid has cooled, mix glaze ingredients together and place in a pastry bag or sandwich bag with corner cut. Pipe on glaze in a zig-zag pattern across braid.
Notes
Make Sure Yeast is Active. If your yeast is old it may not get bubbly when you mix it with sugar and milk. Look to see that your yeast is bubbly or foamy and active before proceeding. We'd hate for you to waste your ingredients on a dough that won’t rise.
Don’t underheat or overheat milk. If your milk is too hot it can kill the yeast, if it is not warm then the yeast may not activate.
Spoon and Level Flour.Too much flour can make these rolls dry. Stir the flour up (it compacts) and spoon and level the flour before using. We have a guide on how to measure flour if you need to reference it.
Use Room Temperature Butter. It's easier to get smooth dough, and creamy, stiff cream cheese filling too.
Try the speed rise method. To speed dough rising, heat oven to 200 degrees then turn it off. Wet, then ring out a clean cloth and place it over bowl of dough. Place dough in oven on top of a hot pad. Close oven. (Make sure oven is off.) The dough should double in bulk in about half the time it would take on the counter.