Danish Orange Marmalade Cheese Pockets

Total Time: 6 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 4 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 24
• 3 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup skim milk, scalded and cooled
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces cold unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 16 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade (or other fruit of your choice) or 1/2 cup chocolate chips (about 10-15 chips per danish)
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2-1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (sifted after measuring)
• 2 tablespoons skim milk (i prefer milk because it makes a creamier icing) or 2 tablespoons water (i prefer milk because it makes a creamier icing)
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Recipe

• 1 make the pastry dough: whisk yeast into warm water. wait 1-2 minutes, then whisk again. whisk in milk.
• 2 combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. pulse to mix.
• 3 cut 4 tablespoons butter into thin slices and add to processor. pulse to a fine texture -- not too much where it becomes pasty.
• 4 cut remaining butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to processor. pule twice, 1-2 seconds each time. remove dough and place in mixing bowl.
• 5 whisk eggs into yeast mixture and add to dough. using a rubber spatula, hold blade horizontally. press/dig spatula down into dough, repeating until dough comes together, turning the bowl while you work. the dough will be soft and sticky.
• 6 leave dough in bowl, covering dough surface tightly with plastic wrap. refrigerate 1-2 hours.
• 7 place the chilled dough on a floured surface and sprinkle flour on top. press dough into a rectangle (twice as long as it is wide).
• 8 starting at narrow edge farthest away from you, firmly press with a rolling pin in short parallel strokes. seal any sticky areas with a bit of flour, and don't allow dough pieces to stick to rolling pin. repeat, then press once across width of dough. you should have a 1/2 inch thick rectangle.
• 9 sprinkle flour above and below dough.

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• 10 rolling directions: create a rectangle 18 x 8: starting on the edge nearest you, roll once away from you in length and once in width. do not roll over the end/edge of the dough.

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• 11 folding directions: fold the two narrow ends in toward the middle, leaving a 1 inch gap in the center. fold the top to bottom to form 4 layers. turn dough so folded edge is on the left.
• 12 repeat rolling and folding directions. wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours, but no more than 12 hours.
• 13 filling: add filling ingredients (except marmalade and chocolate chips) to a medium-size bowl. beat together with a spatula (i use my kitchenaid mixer).
• 14 place half of the chilled dough on floured surface and sprinkle with flour.
• 15 using a rolling pin, press the dough in firm, parallel strokes to soften it. flour surface and dough again if needed. roll dough out into a 12 x 16 inch rectangle.
• 16 line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. slide dough onto first cookie sheet and refrigerate 10 minutes (until firm).
• 17 repeat the above process with the second half of the pastry dough and place on second cookie sheet and chill 10 minutes until firm.
• 18 remove dough from refrigerator, leave dough in place on parchment paper. cut each sheet of dough into 12 4-inch squares, keeping them in place on the parchment paper.
• 19 drop a heaping teaspoon of filling onto the center of each square. top with a heaping teaspoon of marmalade or chocolate chips.
• 20 fold the dough corners into the middle, overlapping the filling by about 1/4 inch. cover and let rise 20-30 minutes until they begin to puff. i did not notice much puffing.
• 21 preheat oven to 400°f.
• 22 prepare the egg wash and brush to top of each pastry. sprinkle with almonds or additional chocolate chips.
• 23 bake 15-20 minutes or until pastry is golden and filling is set. my pastries were done at 15 minutes, so start checking after 10 minutes.
• 24 cool on wire rack.
• 25 combine icing ingredients in a small saucepan. cook over very low heat until lukewarm. drizzle icing over slightly cooled pastry and allow to set.