Coffee & Danish #MyBaristaMoment

If I brew a pot of coffee at home every morning and drink several cups every day, does that make me a coffee addict? I think it does. It also makes me someone who has tried a lot of different kinds of coffee. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to their brew, but I can definitely tell the difference between a good cup of coffee and really bad one. Last year I was asked to try a new kind of coffee… Smart & Final’s Ambiance. I tried it. I loved it. Now that’s a great cup of coffee. So when I had the chance to go try out some more, I thought I would choose some of my favorite flavors of Ambiance. And… what goes better with coffee than something sweet? Nothing, which is why I decided to make some of my favorite cheese danish to go with it.

Take a look at my entire shopping experience here on Google +.

I love all kinds of baked goods and pastries, but cheese danish has always been my favorite. When I was a kid, it was always my choice of pastry when we walked into a bakery. After trying out several different recipes, I found that taking bits and pieces of different recipes worked best. This is pretty much my foolproof cheese danish recipe. Yum!

Ingredients:

2 – 10 oz. cans refrigerated crescent rolls
2 – 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
2/3 cup white sugar
4 large egg yolks
4 tbs. ricotta cheese
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tbs. lemon zest (2 lemons)
Fruit filling (optional)

2 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
2 tbs. milk
2 tbs. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray.

Mix together cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla extract, salt and lemon zest in an electric mixer at low speed. You want to blend all the ingredients, not completely whip them.

 

 

Open one roll of crescent rolls and lay flat in the bottom of the baking pan. Pinch seams together.

Spread the cheese mixture over the dough.

Now you can either move on to the top layer of crescent rolls or add your filling. I chose to add cherries because that’s what my family likes best.

Lay your second layer of crescent rolls over the top of your mixture.

Bake uncovered for 20 – 30 minutes, just until the top is golden brown.

While the pastry is cooling, mix the ingredients for the icing.

 

Spread the icing on top of the pastry. It’s okay if the pastry is still a little warm, it will make the icing spread easier.

I recommend covering the dish and putting it in the refrigerator for several hours so the cheese mixture can set. If you prefer a more creamy dessert, let cool on the counter and have at it. I have to warn you , however, that this stuff tastes out of this world. I dare you to have one piece.

If you want to give Ambiance coffee From Smart & Final a try, you can go to www.smartandfinal.com/Ambiance2012 and enter the code on your Smart & Final Ambiance purchase receipt to be entered to win some of these amazing prizes:

First Prize (one grand prize per week, 3 total over the campaign)
DeLonghi BCO264B Cafe Nero Combo Coffee/Espresso Maker, a $200 value!

or one of six $50 SmartCash cards (Two winners per week, 6 winners total)

Plus visitors to the www.smartandfinal.com/Ambiance2012 will be able to vote for their favorite Ambiance Coffee recipe and everyone who votes will be entered for a chance to win $50 worth of Ambiance products! (6 winners – Two winners per week over the campaign). If you love my cheese danish recipe… I’d love a vote… or two… or three.

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own. #CBias #MyBaristaMoment