Perhaps 9pm isn’t the best time to start making a recipe that involves yeast. Or maybe having a quiet kitchen and the first pick of a warm cookie sheet full of fresh cheese danish makes it the perfect time.
I’d been meaning to make my mom’s homemade cheese danish recipe for a long time. It’s not fully hers – she found it somewhere, where the recipe was listed as Czechoslovakian Kolachy. The label alone confirmed it didn’t originate in our North Alabama kitchen. But it was hers in that for many years it was our Christmas morning breakfast. She would make cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve and wake up early on Christmas Day to make these.
I love the recipe itself, as I can hear her talking through some of the parts. Sharing, below, unaltered.
Danish
- ½ Cup Milk
- 2 packages dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water (105-115 degrees can use candy thermometer to check temp since this is key to yeast breads)
- ¾ cup butter or margarine, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks at room temperature
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon of softened butter or margarine
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Scald milk (scalded means bring a boil then set off to cool); cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside.
In large mixer bowl cream butter or margarine and sugar until light. Beat in egg yolks and salt. Blend in milk, yeast, and 1 ½ cups flour. Beat at medium speed 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until double in bulk– about 1 ½ hours.
Meanwhile, prepare filling. Lightly grease 3 (at least 2) large cookie sheets and set them aside.
Punch down the dough. Divide into 24 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Cover and let rest 10-15 minutes. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. With fingers of both hands, press into the center of each piece to make a large indention for the filling. Have a ½ inch around the rim. Fill indention with 1 tablespoon of filling. Cover (old dishtowels are good) and let rise in warm, draft free place (not bad to keep water on low boil nearby) until doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Removed from cookie sheets; cool on wire racks (eh I don’t do that).
Cheese filling
In a small mixing bowl cream one 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of softened butter or margarine. Beat in 1/3 cup of sugar, then 2 egg yolks, ½ teaspoon each of grated lemon peel (don’t worry if you don’t have it) and vanilla extract. It makes 1 ¾ cups and will do 24.
After it cooks, I cool it slightly and drizzle the confectioner’s sugar icing over them.
Powdered Sugar Frosting
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 TBSP milk, and ½ tsp vanilla until smooth and of spreading consistency.
To be honest, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to make them. That they’d be a bust. But instead I was crying in the kitchen at 1AM over some perfect cheese danish. For how great they turned out. From missing my mom, sad that I never got to try making them with her. Definitely won’t be the last time I make them.
Leave a Reply