Fruit and Ricotta Cheese Danishes

Danishes have always been one of my favorite pastries.  I remember the days growing up when we were skiing and would stop at a local coffee shop to get a danish and hot chocolate on the way home. As I got older, I realized that most coffee shops no longer carry those delicious danishes, now they seem over processed and very high in sugar.  So what is the Danielle solution?  Make my own!  Here is my recipe that has been refined to perfection:

Fruit and Ricotta Cheese Danishes:

Dough:
1 package of instant dry yeast (approx. 3 tsp)
2/3 c milk
1/4 c water (warm)
1/4 c sugar
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp sale

1 c unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Filling:
1/2 c ricotta cheese
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
Fruit Jam (any flavour you like!)
Fruit (I like to use peaches or berries but you can use whatever you like!)

Directions:

Whisk milk, water, yeast, sugar and egg and set aside.  In a seperate bowl, combine the flour and the sale.  Add the cubed butter into the flour until it is coated.  There should be visible chunks of butter.  Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together.  Please the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chilld for at least 5 hours or overnight. 

For the filling, combine all ingredients except fruit and jam. 

Once the dough has been chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle.  After it is rolled out into a rectangle, cut it into squares.  On each square, make a small cut at the corners half way in towards the center of the square. 

Fill the center of each square with the filling, jam and fruit.  Then take the edges of the dough and bring them together to meet in the middle, partially covering the filling.  Do this with all the squares.  After they have been filled, brush with egg wash (just warm water and egg) and pop it in the oven for 25 minutes or until they are a golden brown.