These strawberry cheesecake Danish are soft and fluffy Danish pastry with crisp edges filled with strawberry jam and a cheesecake filling. It's all finished off with a browned butter crumble that is highly addictive in all the right ways.
Thick and soft with loads of buttery layers, this Danish dough is delicious and my simplified method makes it totally achievable at home. While you can turn it into so many different flavoured pastries, I have to say these strawberry cream cheese danishes are my current favourite.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- Bakery-style at home - generous, light, fluffy and buttery
- Brown butter crumb topping - nutty, crunchy and so buttery
- Creamy cheesecake filling - quick, easy, creamy and rich
- Sweet strawberries in the form of strawberry jam
- Perfect for brunch or entertaining - guaranteed to impress
What is a strawberry cheesecake Danish?
A strawberry cheesecake Danish is a flaky, buttery Danish pastry filled with sweetened cream cheese and strawberry jam. It's finished with a crumb topping (imitating the crunchy base of a cheesecake) then baked until golden.
Ingredients & substitutions
Danish pastry aside, all the ingredients in these strawberry cream cheese Danishes are made from grocery store basics.
⬇️Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
- Danish dough: Use this Danish pastry recipe for your Danish dough. You could use puff pastry but they will have a different texture and won't be as thick.
- Cream cheese: Use block cream cheese and make sure it's full fat. Light cream cheese is not as thick and may try to run out of the Danishes as they bake.
- Demerara sugar, aka turbinado sugar, adds extra crunch to the crumble topping.
- Butter: I love using salted butter in browned butter crumble since I love a salty-sweet combo - it makes this crumble so morish. If you prefer, you can use unsalted butter.
- Strawberry jam: I use my homemade strawberry jam (it's nicer and has a better colour than store-bought). That being said, you can use any jam you like - store-bought or homemade - as the flavours will go with practically any jam flavour. So, if you want to use up the jams in your fridge, have at it.
How to make strawberry cheesecake danish
Once the Danish pastry is made, the rest is very quick and easy.
- Danish dough: My version is easier and quicker than a typical Danish pastry but still bakes up with beautiful layers and flavour. Use my Danish pastry recipe.
- Strawberry jam: I used my homemade strawberry jam here too but you can use store-bought or any other flavour you have on hand.
- Cheesecake filling: This is such a quick and simple cheesecake filling. It takes about 5 minutes and it's ready to use.
- Browned butter crumble: An adaptation of my crumble topping recipe, this one uses browned butter to make it extra buttery and slightly nutty. It takes these to a level of pastry you'd see in a gorgeous bakery window.
⬇️Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
Cut and roll
(7 minutes) Roll the dough out to a long rectangle and cut it into 10 squares. All the dimensions are in the recipe card below. Stick to those sizes for the best results but you can make them smaller or even larger if you like.
Proof
(60 minutes) Place the squares of dough onto a baking sheet (lined with baking paper or a baking mat) and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let them rise for 45-60 minutes until puffy and doubled in height.
The browned butter
(5 minutes) Add butter to a saucepan and cook over low-medium heat. It will begin to foam liek this.
The butter will eventually turn an amber brown colour. At this point, it will separate into liquid fat and the milk solids. It's important to give it a stir or a swirl often so the milk solids don't burn.
Make the crumble
(2 minutes) To make the browned butter crumble, just mix the browned butter (including all the browned milk solids) with some flour and sugar. Then just set it aside until needed.
The cheesecake filling
(5 minutes) Start by beating cream cheese, sugar and an egg yolk together, then beat in vanilla and milk. Make sure it's nice and smooth.
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Assembly time
(2 minutes) Once the dough has risen, press a circular dent into the centre. It should be almost as wide as the dough square but just stop short of the edge. You can use a glass or your fingers.
Start filling
(5 minutes) Brush the top edges of the Danishes with egg wash. Fill the centres with 2 teaspoons of strawberry jam, then top that with a big swirl of cheesecake filling. I find a piping bag easiest and gives the neatest finish but you can just use spoons too.
The strawberry swirl
(1 minute) Place a little dot of strawberry jam on top of each of the cheesecake dollops, then use a skewer to swirl them.
Top with crumble
(1 minute) Carefully scatter crumble all over the top of the Danishes. Be as generous as you like. Now, just bake your strawberry cheesecake Danish!
Tips and tricks
- If the dough is springing back and hard to roll just leave it for 10 minutes to rest and try again.
- Top up your butter in the browned butter. As it heats, some moisture will evaporate but we need that moisture for the right texture in our cookie crumble so weigh the browned butter out and add more butter to get it back to 40g. You can return it to low heat, stirring, if it needs help melting
- Don't skip proofing your dough as that's what gives you a fluffy, soft pastry.
- Slow rise option: You can allow your dough squares to rise slowly in the fridge overnight, then fill and bake them the following morning.
😥 Troubleshooting
You can find all my Danish dough troubleshooting tips over on that post.
Make sure to sit your Danish pastries in a warm, but not hot spot to rise. Too cold and they will take a long time to rise. If you did that, then it's likely your yeast is no good. You'll need to start again.
This can occur if you have a particularly runny jam or the indent it sits in isn't deep enough. Make sure to cover ith with the cheesecake filling to hold it in.
Variations
This is a very flexible recipe and you can change it up to suit your mood 😊.
- Lemon cheesecake: Use lemon curd in place of the jam and add some lemon zest to the cheesecake filling. For that matter, you can use any flavour fruit curd you like.
- Braid: Rather than making individual pastries, make a braid instead. Use my almond Danish braid post to see how to fold the dough.
- Other jams: You can swap the strawberry jam for any flavour you like.
Storage
Room temp
Once baked and cooled, these Danishes should only be kept at room temperature for an hour or two. They're best served at or just above room temperature.
Fridge
Whilst best eaten fresh, these cream cheese strawberry Danish should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. They'll keep for 2-3 days. Gently warm them in the microwave before serving.
Freezer
You can freeze any leftover strawberry cheesecake Danish for up to 2 months in an airtight container. Warm them in the microwave to serve.
Tools I use
- Large baking sheets
- Silicone baking mats
- Electric beater
- Glass mixing bowls
Like a strawberry cheesecake in Danish form, these strawberry cheesecake Danishes are such a treat.
If you made this strawberry cheesecake Danish recipe,
be sure to leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you!
Strawberry Cheesecake Danish
Ingredients
- 1 batch easy Danish dough
- ½ cup strawberry jam 140g / ~5oz
- 1 egg yolk mixed 1-2 teaspoon milk or cream (the egg wash)
CHEESECAKE FILLING
- 250 g full fat cream cheese softened (8oz will work)
- 1 egg yolk from a large egg
- ¼ cup sugar 50g / ~1 ¾oz
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons whole milk
BROWNED BUTTER CRUMBLE
- 65 g plain flour all purpose flour (2 ⅓oz)
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 40g/~1 ½oz
- 2 teaspoons demerara sugar turbinado sugar
- 40 g salted butter ~1 ½oz
Instructions
- Once your Danish dough has had all its folds and has rested for at least 1 hour in the fridge, remove from the fridge and sit it at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes. You don't want it stone-cold when you roll it or the butter will break up too much.
- On a clean work surface, lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough out to 45cmx18cm (~18x7inches). Trim the ends if needed to square them up but make sure you roll it a little more to make it the correct overall size. It should be about 1cm (a little under ½ inch) thick.
- Measure and cut the dough into 10 even squares - 9x9cm (~3 ½inch) square.
- Place the squares onto baking sheets lined with a silicone baking mat or baking paper. Don't overcrowd the trays. Cover the trays loosely with plastic wrap and let them proof in a warm spot (not hot) for 45-60 minutes until they've puffed up to about double their height. Meanwhile, prepare the filling and topping.
- BROWNED BUTTER CRUMB:First, preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- In a small saucepan, melt and cook the butter for 4-5 minutes over low-medium heat until it turns a caramel brown colour. Make sure to stir or swirl the pan regularly so as the milk solids separate from the liquid, they don't burn. Once browned immediately pour it into a medium mixing bowl to stop it cooking.
- To the bowl add the flour, brown sugar and demerara sugar and mix with a fork until fully combined. Set aside.
- THE CHEESECAKE FILLING:In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar and egg yolk. Use an electric mixer to beat for 1-2 minutes until smooth and fully combined. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Add the milk and vanilla and beat just until combined and smooth.
- Transfer the cheesecake filling to a piping bag (optional but makes it easier to fill the pastries neatly).
- Transfer the strawberry jam to a piping bag (also optional).
- ASSEMBLE THE DANISHES:Once the dough squares are nice and puffy, press a big deep dip into the centre of each one. You can just use your fingers or use the base of a glass (slightly smaller than the width of the pastries) for a nicely shaped circle. If using a glass, dip the base in flour before pressing into each pastry.
- Brush the top edges of each one (not the sides and not inside the dent) with egg wash.
- Pipe about 2 teaspoons of jam into the centre of each dent.
- Top the jam with a big swirl of cheesecake filling totally covering the jam.
- Add a small dot of jam to the middle of each cheesecake centre and give it a swirl around with a skewer.
- Crumble the brown butter crumb topping over each as generously as you like.You will likely have some crumb topping leftover which you can just bake on a tray in the oven for about 8 minutes and devour at will or save it for scattering over ice cream.
- Bake the strawberry cheesecake danishes, one tray at a time, for about 20 minutes. Turn the tray at the halfway point.
- Transfer the danishes to a wire rack and serve at or just above room temperature.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
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