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Celebrate ‘love’ with these delicious Vegan Strawberry Cream Danish Pastries; perfect breakfast for Valentines Day or if you just want to share something sweet and special with your loved one. Best of all, this recipe is easy to make and they look seriously gorgeous. Vanilla cream cheese with strawberries on puff pastry cut into cute hearts, you’ll love making these and wont stop at one i’m sure!

Make sure to check out my other Valentines Day inspired recipes like my No-Bake Peanut Butter Hearts, Vegan Raspberry Cake, Vegan Hidden Heart Loaf Cake, No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake.

Heart shaped puff pastry with cream cheese and strawberries

Vegan Strawberry Cream Danish

Nothing says ‘I Love You’ more than a freshly baked sweet treat. These vegan and gluten-free Strawberry Cream Danishes are simply perfect, from their flakey pastry to the fresh strawberries, and cream cheese filling. I use ‘ready to roll’ puff pastry which makes this recipe ridiculously quick and easy, as well as flakey and ‘melt in your mouth’ good!

If you’re looking for a quick, simple and fun recipe to bake over Valentines Day, Spring, Summer or simply to impress a loved one, this is the recipe for you. They have a crisp and flakey exterior and a sweet creamy filling which is honestly like taking a bite out of heaven! The combining flavours of the strawberries with cream cheese is simply divine. Honestly, who doesn’t love strawberries and cream?

Puff pastry hearts with strawberries on top.

What is a Danish?

A Danish Pastry, often shortened to’ Danish’ is a sweet breakfast roll filled with custard, jam, cream or fruits. The traditional pastry of a Danish requires a laminated pastry, which means layers of butter are rolled between layers of dough. If you were making this by hand, it would take quite a while and be more complex. This is where ‘ready to roll’ puff pastry is your best friend in the kitchen, especially for a quick and easy snack. My easy recipe is simply a sheet of ready to roll puff pastry, absolutely no preparation needed – yippee!!

Why you’ll love these strawberry cream danish

Easy to make : Since the recipe uses ‘ready to roll’ pastry, it makes this recipe super quick and easy to make.

Fresh strawberries : Best part about the danish is the fresh and fruity flavour of the fresh strawberries. Best of all, you can add as much chopped strawberry as you like!

Cream filling : To prevent the cream cheese from melting in the oven, I added in some flour and sugar to help keep it in shape so you bite into a delicious pillow of cream cheese and It tastes scrumptious!

Valentines day : These are a must make to impress your other half on Valentines Day. Whip up a batch of these for breakfast and they will sure impress!

Fun to make : I love making hand held pies and pastries as they are super fun and easy to make. You can get creative by using different shaped cookie cutters, or enjoy a variety of flavours including blueberry or raspberry.

Ingredients you’ll need to make a vegan strawberry cream danish

Ready to Roll Puff Pastry

Dairy-free cream cheese : Use a full fat cream cheese, not a reduced fat. My favourite is Violife Cream Cheese and Philadelphia Plant-Based Cream Cheese.

Gluten-free plain flour : If you’re making this recipe, use gluten-free flour but if you are using wheat, by all means use regular plain flour.

Caster sugar : Regular fine white caster sugar works perfectly. It helps to add a sweetness to the cream cheese filling and also helps to brown the tops of the danishes when baking.

Dairy-free milk : Milk is brushed to the tops of the pastries before baking to help give them a gorgeous golden colour.

Strawberries : For the best fruity flavour, it’s best to use fresh strawberries. Use a sharp knife to cut the strawberries in thin slices.

Tools you’ll need

Strawberries and cream puff pastry hearts

How to make strawberry danish

Full recipe and method in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Prepare the pastry
Allow the pastry to come to room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling out, this will make it easier to work with. Roll out the pastry to flatten any lumps or bumps. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to chomp out the shapes and place on a greaseproof paper lined tin. Place a smaller sized heart shaped cookie cutter into the middle of the larger heart and press down gently. You don’t want to chomp it out, but make an indention into the pastry.
Cream cheese filling
In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, flour and sugar. Spoon or pipe some into the indented heart shape and top with some freshly chopped strawberries.
‘Egg’ wash
Brush some dairy-free milk over the edges of the pastry hearts. Sprinkle some sugar to help the pastry brown in the oven.
Bake
Bake in pastries in the middle of the pre hearted oven until golden in colour and flakey. They can be served warm of cool.

Strawberry Cream Danish – Tips and Tricks

Don’t overfill the pastries

Be careful not to overfill your danishes or it may ooze out the sides when baking. The amount of cream cheese filling and strawberries doesn’t seem much but it’s the perfect amount to fill them.

Bake until golden

Bake the danishes until the sides pf the pastry turns a golden brown colour. Make sure they don’t burn.

Brush with milk

Make sure to brush the edges of the pastry with some dairy-free milk before baking. This will help to brown the pastry, resulting in a golden pastry. It also helps to add a light sprinkle of caster sugar on top of the milk before baking. A simple trick to getting the perfect golden pastry every single time.

Sprinkle with icing sugar

The pastries already look gorgeous as they are, but serve them with a light dusting of icing sugar. It helps to add sweetness and looks like they’ve come straight out of a bakery.

Cream cheese should be chilled

You’ll want the cream cheese to be firm so keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

Vegan Strawberry Heart Danish FAQ

Storing the danishes

These danishes are best enjoyed day of making. They can also be kept in a sealed container at room temperature for a day after making.

Can I double the recipe?

You sure can. For a larger quantity, simply double up on the ingredients.

Can I make this recipe gluten-free?

YES!!! This recipe is already gluten-free and coeliac friendly as I used a gluten-free puff pastry. You want to keep in mind about any possible cross-contamination. If you are coeliac, make sure every single ingredient you use doesn’t contain any gluten-containing ingredients. It’s worth checking out Coeliac UK for more details on gluten-free products. It’s a great read!

How to add shine to the pastry?

To give the pastry shine, once it comes out of the oven, brush it with some apricot jam. It will add the really beautiful shine as well as extra flavour!

Puff pastry danishes cut into heart shapes, with cream cheese and strawberries.

If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!