Apple Danish and Cream Cheese Apple Braid

Recently my son came home from school and told me he tried a danish for the first time and loved it.  I thought I would buy a few apples and try my hand at danish using puff pastry.  These are both my own creations.  They turned out quite well but in actuality the danish should have a yeast dough.  But for a short cut method, perfect to make for a ski or beach vacation, this would be an option for breakfast.

Thaw 2 Sheets of Puff Pastry.  Dice 2 Medium sized Apples (I used Pink Lady).  Melt 2 Tbl Butter and 1 Tbl Light Brown Sugar until bubbly.  Add the diced apples and cook for about 5-7 minutes until they will become soft. Continue cooking until the moisture to begins to evaporate.  Remove from heat. 

• FOR THE DANISH (This will make 16):

Preheat oven to 400.  Fit Parchment Paper to a sheet pan.  Sprinkle the Puff Pastry with Sugar and roll it out.  Flip over the pastry and do the same on the other side keeping its rectangular shape.  Roll up the Pastry along the long end.  Cut in half, cut halves in half, and lastly, cut quarters in half resulting in 8 pinwheels.  Using a rolling pin gently roll the pastry to flatten.   Place the pinwheels in the parchment paper.  Score a circle on each pinwheel about 1/2" from the edge.  Add 1 Tbl of cooked diced apple to the center.

Dust with sugar and place in oven to bake for 20-25 minutes until dark golden brown.  Cool slightly before handling.

• FOR THE BRAID (This will make 2):

Preheat oven to 400.  Fit Parchment Paper to a sheet pan.  Sprinkle the Puff Pastry with Sugar and roll it out.  Flip over the pastry and do the same on the other side keeping its rectangular shape.  Using a 3oz Package of Cream Cheese, add about (18-20) 1/2 tsp dollops of Cream Cheese randomly.  Add 1/2 of the cooked Apples here and there, covering the pastry.

Roll up the Pastry along the long end. Carefully, and with a very sharp knife, Starting about 1/2" from the top, cut away a 1/3 width of the pastry on the right.  Cut the remaining 2/3 in half.  The result should be 3 similarly sized pieces.



Braid, right over the center, left over the center and so forth until you get to the bottom.  Wrap around the ends to create a ring.  Place the ring on the parchment paper.




Sprinkle with sugar and place in the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes until dark golden brown.  Cut into slices and serve warm.