I just made these Rustic Apple Danish Crostatas today and oh boy do we love it or what? I got the crust recipe from the Whole wheat apple pie slab I made a while back.

Last night I thought about having danishes for breakfast. I have never made danishes before but I knew how involved they are given the dough requirements. I really wanted to have them bad but I didn’t want to bother making the dough and I didn’t want to spend time thinking of a healthier alternative either.

I actually have crostata on my dessert to do list so I figured I can make a danish crostata version and cross that out of the list plus satisfy my craving for danish, two in one kind of thing…GENIUS!!

Well let me just tell you how much we loved the end result, and by the way I want to add that you can use this same dough and make your own filling, just superb right? Peaches, pears, berries, crunchy topping, you name it, the options are endless…

I made one crostata with cream cheese and one without it to see which one I would like best, and for sure the one with cream cheese was my favorite.

Anyhow, this is another super winner recipe for me. The dough is crunchy and delicious, the apples with the cream cheese are a fabulous combination and the fact that the dough was 100% whole wheat, superb. Just a winner in my book!

Enjoy!

Here you can appreciated the cream cheese topping right before adding the apples to it as well as the panko base that I placed on the other crostata for purpose of soaking the apple juices. You can omit this step in you wish though!

…and the final product, just out of this world which I’ll be making again very very soon!!

Rustic Apple Danish Crostata

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 2 medium crostatas

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the dough

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup low fat milk, plus 1-2 tablespoons for brushing the dough
2 tbsp unrefined sugar, plus 2 tablespoons to sprinkle the dough

For the filling

6 medium apples, sliced thin
4 tbsp unrefined sugar
Pinch cinnamon, optional, I didn't use
2 tbsp panko bread crumbs

For cream cheese filling

4 oz low fat cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tbsp unrefined sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon, optional, I didn't use it.

Directions:

In a mixing bowl mix crust ingredients together. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll them out between plastic wrap into a round disk. Transfer them to a prepared baking pan lined with unbleached parchment paper.

In another mixing bowl combine cream cheese filling and set aside. Preheat your oven to 400F.

Peel and slice the apples. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over one of the crusts, living 1 inch margin from the edge of the dough, like in the picture. Spread the cream cheese over the other prepared dough piece. Place the sliced apples on top of the cream cheese and panko breadcrumbs. (One crostata has the cream cheese filling the other one is just plain apples)

Bring the sides of the dough up onto the apples and pad down. Brush the edges of the dough with milk and sprinkle with two tablespoons of sugar.

Bake for 30-40minutes or until edges begin to brown.

NOTE: If you want both crostatas with cream cheese double the quantity of the cream cheese filling and omit the panko breadcrumbs.

The post Rustic Apple Danish Crostata appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

So far I have quite a few cakes with wild berries. The truth of the matter is that I get them frozen in bulk and use them for several desserts. They are great because of the antioxidant content plus buying them frozen allows me to have them for a while without spoiling. Just before using the berries I have to make sure that I thaw and drain them :-).

So danish cheesecake, yes you read right. Love cheese danishes so I thought this would be a good alternative. I have made the cheese part of the cake taste differently before. For example using lemon juice and zest. Nice lemony refreshing flavor. If you prefer this version just use the zest and juice of one lemon for the cheese mixture.

Wild Berry Danish Cheese Cake

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, I always use the pastry flour version
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, I always use organic
2/3 cups low fat organic Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cheese mixture

8 oz low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, organic
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of wild berries, you can also use blueberries if you can get them organic even better

 

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a spring form pan. In a bowl mix eggs, oil, yogurt and sugar. Add the vanilla, flour and baking powder and combine. Pour onto the baking pan. In another bowl whisk cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and egg. Spoon this cheese mixture over the cake batter and spread, leaving one inch margin of cake batter exposed around the perimeter of the cake. Now you can sprinkle the berries over the cheese mixture. Bake for about 55-65 minutes. Cool in pan.

TIP: I store cake in the fridge because of the cheese. I just cut what ever piece we are eating and let it sit at room temperature for about 10-20 minutes before eating it.

Adapted from Modern comfort food

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe yielding 10 servings

The post Wild Berry Danish Cheese Cake appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.