You only need a few ingredients to make this delicious Puff Pastry Braid filled with sweetened cream cheese and lemon curd.
This is the perfect puff pastry recipe to serve for an easy breakfast or brunch. It's also elegant enough to serve for dessert on a holiday.
Everyone is going to love this recipe for the taste and you're going to love it for how simple it is to make.
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You would never believe by looking at the photo above how easy this recipe is to make. My sister was with me when I put this recipe together and she couldn't believe it either!
Using frozen puff pastry really helps create an impressive easy dessert recipe for you to serve for special occasions or for when your girlfriends are coming over for coffee.
I used lemon curd to go with the sweetened cream cheese mixture which gives you a sweet and tart flavor that is so delicious. You could add a little freshly grated lemon to decorate the top of the danish to let everyone know it's lemon flavored.
Looking for more lemony recipes? Try my Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Puff Pastry or this Mini Lemon Tartlets.
Table of Contents
- How to Thaw Puff Pastry Quickly
- Helpful Kitchen Tools
- Main Ingredients Needed
- Recipe Variations
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- How to Form the Puff Pastry Braid
- How to Fold up the Puff Pastry Braid
- Top Tip
- Add the Egg Wash
- Baking Instructions
- Before You Begin!
- Puff Pastry Storage Tips
- More Recipes to Love
- 📖 Recipe Card
- 💬 Comments
How to Thaw Puff Pastry Quickly
The best way to thaw puff pastry is to plan ahead. Remove it from the freezer the night before you want to use it for a recipe. Place it in the refrigerator to defrost slowly.
However, life is not always perfect, so here are a few ways to thaw puff pastry quickly:
- The easiest way to defrost puff pastry quickly is to simply put the sheet on top of the counter.
- Remove the puff pastry from the paper wrapping and cover in plastic wrap.
- Place on a plate and watch closely. You do not want it to get too soft too quickly.
- Once it gets soft enough to start unfolding you should be able to roll it out and use in the recipe.
- Do not try to thaw puff pastry using the microwave.
Helpful Kitchen Tools
More InformationMore InformationMore InformationMore Information
Main Ingredients Needed
Here's a quick overview of the ingredients for this recipe. Find the exact amounts and click the Instacart button to easily add them to your cart – all in the printable recipe card below!
Recipe Variations
If you're not a fan of lemon curd, leave it out! This recipe will be delicious with just the sweetened cream cheese filling.
Or substitute the lemon curd for cherry or blueberry pie filling.
For a savory variation of a similiar recipe, check out my Crescent Roll Pizza Pizza Braid.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Then add the heavy cream and beat until combined.
Step 2: Add the powdered sugar. Beat well after adding.
Step 3: Then add the vanilla extract, then mix for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Step 4: Set it aside while you prepare the puff pastry.
How to Form the Puff Pastry Braid
Step 5: Carefully unfold the puff pastry sheet onto parchment paper. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll out the pastry to remove fold lines and reach a thickness of about ¼ inch.
Step 6: Spread the cream cheese mixture down the center of the pastry. Try to keep it in the center of the dough.
Step 7: Then spoon the lemon curd on top. Try not to add too much as it might leak when baking.
Step 8: Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, carefully cut diagonal strips (around 8-10) down both sides of the pastry, leaving a ½ inch border around the filling.
How to Fold up the Puff Pastry Braid
Step 9: To form the braid, start folding each pastry strip over the cream cheese/lemon curd mixture, crisscrossing them alternately from each side. Finally, tuck in and fold under both the top and bottom pieces of dough to seal the ends and prevent the filling from leaking out during baking.
Top Tip
For more detailed photos and instructions on how to form the braid, please refer to the Apple Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Braid.
Add the Egg Wash
Step 10: Brush the entire braid with the beaten egg wash. Sprinkle a little granulated sugar on top of the braid.
Baking Instructions
Step 11: Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for about 17 - 22 minutes or until golden brown. Just before serving, drizzle the top with the powdered sugar glaze.
Before You Begin!
If you make this recipe, please leave a review and star rating. This helps my business thrive and continue providing FREE recipes.
Puff Pastry Storage Tips
Filled puff pastry desserts, like this lemon cream cheese danish, need to be stored in a airtight container in the refrigerator.
They will remain fresh like this for about a day. However, they are best eaten fresh.
More Recipes to Love
Here are a few other easy danish recipes to make:
- Puff Pastry Apple Tart is the very first recipe I made using puff pastry.
- These Puff Pastry Hearts are filled with chocolate mousse, but you could use a fruit filling.
- Another puff pastry braided recipe is my Chocolate Puff Pastry.
- My final danish recipes are Puff Pastry with Cream Cheese and Fruit and Puff Pastry Cream Cheese .
📖 Recipe Card
Puff Pastry Braid
Ingredients
For the Danish
- 1 sheet puff pastry; defrosted
- 4 ounces cream cheese; softened
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup lemon curd
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar to sprinkle on top of egg wash.
For the Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
For the Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with the heavy cream.
- Then add the powdered sugar to the mixture.
- Finally add the vanilla extract.
- Mix for a few minutes until everything is combined and smooth.
- Set aside while you prepare the puff pastry.
- Carefully unfold the sheet of puff pastry. Place on top of a sheet of parchment paper. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry to remove the fold lines and until it is ¼ inch thick.
- Place the parchment paper with the puff pastry on top of a baking sheet.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture down the center of the puff pastry.
- Then spoon the lemon curd on top of the cream cheese mixture.
- Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, begin slicing diagonal strips down both sides of the puff pastry being careful to leave a ½ inch border around the cream cheese filling.
- You should get around 8 to 10 strips depending on the length of your pastry braid.
- Begin folding each section of the pastry up over the cream cheese/lemon curd mixture. You're really crisscrossing the strips of puff pastry and forming the braid.
- Tuck in and fold under the top and bottom pieces. You want to make sure both ends are tucked under so none of the mixture leaks out while it bakes.
- Brush the entire braid with the beaten egg wash.
- Sprinkle a little granulated sugar on top.
- Bake in a 400°F oven for about 17 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.
- Combine the ingredients for the glaze together in a small bowl.
- Allow the pastry to cool before drizzling the top with the powdered sugar glaze.
Valerie Fitzer says
Correction on #11, there are no Apple slices.
Lois says
Thanks for catching that! It's corrected!