Cherry Cheese Danishes with Walnut Crumble

These cherry cheese danishes with walnut crumble are like bite-sized cherry cheesecake in a puff pastry crust. They're full of sweet and juicy cherries nestled in a creamy cheese filling and elevated with a nutty and crisp walnut topping.

The best part is they're super simple to make with just 10 ingredients and can be made ahead!

Everyone should have some go-to easy dessert recipes at the ready for unexpected company or entertaining around the holidays without any hassle.

These danishes are so easy to make, can be made ahead, and are very flexible to different flavor combinations. Don't have cherries on hand? No problem, there are a lot of other options.

See the ingredients section for the full rundown of what you can do with this recipe, and then the instructions for step by step photos showing exactly how to make them.

Ingredients for puff pastry and cream cheese danishes

Puff pastry: Of course you will need puff pastry to make these danishes. The puff pastry I've used here is a roughly rectangular sheet that weighs 270 grams or 10oz and measures 34 by 26cm or 13 by 10 inches. I made 16 danishes out of this puff pastry sheet by cutting in into 16 roughly square pieces.

The number of danishes you can make depends a bit on the dimensions of your puff pastry. What's more important than the number of danishes you end up with is that you are able to cut the puff pastry into squares - this will make folding them into diamond frames much easier. You can see the exact method below.

If you don't have puff pastry but are really craving these danishes, in a pinch you can also make a quick tart dough cut into roughly 16-18 pieces and laid out in a well greased muffin tin or mini muffin tin (so the filling doesn't spill out). You may need to adjust the baking time a bit.

Filling ingredients

Cream cheese: I used regular full fat Philadelphia cream cheese. You will need 300 grams / 10.5 oz of cream cheese. If you are used to the block format, this comes to about 1.25 blocks of cream cheese.

Sugar: The filling is made with only half a cup of sugar. It's more than enough to give the danishes a distinctly dessert-like flavor without being cloyingly sweet.

Egg yolk & whole egg: The egg yolk adds creaminess and also stability to the filling. The whole egg is for the (optional) egg wash - not necessary but gives a nice sheen to the pastry.

Salt: A bit of salt in sweet is important to develop a more complex flavor profile.

Vanilla: Vanilla adds some warmth and fragrance to the filling. I used Nielsen Massey vanilla bean paste but you can also use a vanilla bean or just regular vanilla extract if that's what you have.

Pitted cherries: You will need a cup of pitted cherries. I used frozen cherries because it's what I had on hand but that choice turned out to also have benefits because the cherries should be cut in half and frozen cherries are easier to cut than fresh ones (they're probably also a lot cheaper).

If you don't have cherries you can swap them out for fresh, frozen or canned mixed berries, stone fruit like apricots or peaches, or even apples, finely diced and cooked in butter until soft on the stovetop.

If you aren't into the whole 'fruit in pies' thing then you could also whip up a sweet cheese filling instead. Or add a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder, a pinch of cinnamon and some chopped chocolate to turn these into chocolate cheese danishes - yum! So many possibilities!

Walnut crumble Ingredients

The walnut crumble really elevates the danishes. It adds a warm, nutty and crisp counterpoint to the juicy and creamy cherry filling. Plus, it makes the danishes look beautiful.

Fortunately for all the heavy lifting the crumble does, it's amazingly simple to make. You'll just need"

• Finely ground walnuts
• Flour
• Sugar
• Butter

You can also swap the walnut crumble for something simpler - for example slivered almonds like you can see on this sweet cheese strudel in puff pastry.

Instructions

There are four components to make these danishes

• Make the crumble;
• Make the filling;
• Cut, fold and egg wash the puff pastry;
• Spoon in the filling and bake.

How to make the walnut crumble

How to make the crumble with a food processor

The walnut crumble comes together in seconds when made in a food processor. If you are starting with whole walnuts, put the walnuts in the bowl of the stand mixer with the blade attachment and pulse until they're finely ground (careful not to over process or they will turn into walnut butter - the mixture should stay grainy and not clump together).

Once the walnuts are ground, add the sugar, butter and flour. Again pulse until the mixture is mealy and very small clumps have formed. Stop immediately once this happens or the mixture can continue clumping quite rapidly and then it will make for a chunky crumble.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

How to make the crumble without a food processor

If you don't have a food processor, then the best method is to chill the butter in the freezer for at least 5 minutes, and use a cheese grater to grate it into a bowl.

Add the flour, sugar and finely ground walnuts (if you are starting with whole walnuts then either grind them in a mortar and pestle or chop with a knife until very fine).

Use a fork to mix all the ingredients together - you may need to also use your fingers in quick pecking motions so as not to melt the butter too much.

Mix until all the ingredients are combined and the crumble has very small clumps about the size of a kernel of corn or smaller.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

How to make the cherry cheese filling

This is probably the easiest part. Cut the cherries in half and then mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. You may want to save some of the cherries for garnishing the tops of the danishes, which creates more textural and visual interest.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

How to cut and fold the puff pastry into diamond frames

To make the puff pastry diamond frame you need to fold a square piece of puff pastry in half diagonally, then use some kitchen scissors to make two cuts about a finger width along the top and bottom outer edges, almost all the way through as shown in the photo for step 1.

Once you've made the cuts, unfold the piece, turn it a quarter turn then gently pull each (now loose) edge across to the other side, so it lays flat on the opposite edge as shown in step 2.

It might take you a few tries before you get the hang of it - the good thing is that puff pastry is quite forgiving and won't show any imperfections once baked.

Once all your diamond frames are made you can apply the egg wash on the edges. You can be quite loose about this: it doesn't have to be perfect.

How to assemble and bake the danishes

Once you're done with all the steps, take the filling and crumble out of the fridge.

Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons into each frame. Try to keep it roughly inside the edges, but again, it doesn't have to be perfect.

If you choose to reserve any cherries for garnish, then this is the moment to place a few around on top of the filling.

Finally, sprinkle on the walnut crumble and the cherry cheese danishes are ready to bake. If you want to prepare ahead and bake when ready to serve then see the next section.

Make Ahead

These danishes are really friendly to being made ahead. Of course the crumble and cherry cheese filling can be made and then refrigerated. You can keep it for up to 2-3 days.

Depending on how much time you have before you want to bake the danishes, you can either prepare the diamond frames at that moment, or prepare them beforehand and store them.

Do not that this step is the most time consuming, so if you know you'll be strapped for time then it's a good idea to make the puff pastry frames ahead of time.

The key thing with making the puff pastry ahead of time is that you layer them in an airtight container between sheets of parchment paper. Make sure they aren't crowded or pressed into each other. Don't apply the egg wash until just before baking.

Serving Suggestion

These danishes are really tasty served warm right out of the oven but are also very good once they've cooled down. They would make a nice sweet accompaniment to a homemade brunch spread or as a sweet treat for guests, either alone or as part of a full on smorgasbord of sweets.

Storing & Reheating

Store the danishes in an airtight container or zipper bag. You can keep them at room temperature for a day but any longer than that and they should go in the fridge.

To reheat use the oven - 200 C / 400 F for about 5 minutes should do it. If you reheat in the microwave they could get a bit soggy.

Related

If you like cherries in baked goods you may also like my soft and chewy cherry oatmeal cookies with pecans. Or one of these other desserts:

Recipe