How Deliciously I Used up the Last of the Summer Peaches.
Early fall is a bittersweet time for peach fanatics like me. I love the cooler weather, but I know this is the end of another fantastic peach season and the beginning of a long wait for the next one to begin. Personally, I used up my peaches from last summer to make a fabulous four-ingredient peach danish.
Someone once asked me: If we’re talking about peak ripeness, what fruit do you consider to be the best? Without hesitation, I said peach. When you get a batch of good peaches, there’s no harm in eating a dozen in a week. They are sweet, with a hint of sourness and very juicy, and the texture provides the perfect staying power without becoming mealy. I usually like to eat them fresh, but lately I haven’t been eating them fast enough—the day after I bought the bunches at Trader Joe’s in Brooklyn, they started to noticeably ripen. Too ripe.
I decided to skin and pit them to freeze , but left a few slices for a quick peach dessert. What I didn’t expect was that over the course of a few days I would have to defrost those same frozen peaches so I could make more of these faux peach danishes. This recipe is amazing: it’s suspiciously easy to make and you only need four ingredients.
How to Make Easy Danish Peaches
Technically, these are not “real” Danes, but they are very close. For the dough, I use store-bought puff pastry from the freezer because it’s light and tastes good. I remove the skins when I bake the peaches, but this is not necessary. It’s easy to do: simply mark an “x” at the base of the peach and blanch it for 30 seconds in a pan of boiling water. Rinse the peach in cold water and peel off the skin from the “x” mark you made. Peel the peach and cut it into slices.
From here all that remains is to prepare the cheese filling and connect the parts. I made a lightly sweetened cream cheese filling that couldn’t be simpler: powdered sugar and cream cheese mix together easily to create a rich, sweet and tangy filling that pairs well with any summer fruit. Spoon into a few squares of puff pastry and top with peach slices.
This quick Danish cake bakes high and has a dynamic appearance with pointed edges and a depressed fruit center. Textures and flavors add drama. The edges of the dough are crispy, the silky hidden filling and bright, delicate fruit add contrast. It’s the perfect breakfast with coffee or a suitable afternoon pick-me-up option.
They are best eaten the day they are made, as the leftovers turn out dull. Luckily, they take very little time to assemble, so you can easily make them fresh.
Easy Danish Peaches Recipe
Ingredients:
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1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
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2 ounces cream cheese, softened
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2 tablespoons powdered sugar
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1 or 2 peaches, peeled and sliced
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Prepare the sweet cream cheese filling by mixing powdered sugar with soft cream cheese.
2. Place a sheet of defrosted puff pastry on a little flour to prevent it from sticking. Cut it into six equal rectangles. Place the rectangles on a parchment-lined sheet of dough, leaving an inch or two between them. (You can brush the outer edges with egg wash if you want to brown it even more.)
3. Place a tablespoon of cream cheese mixture in the center of each rectangle and top with a couple of peach slices. Bake the Danes for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and puffed all the way through.