This Cream Cheese Danish Cake is unlike anything you’ve ever had before! Imagine putting the flavors and textures of a cheesecake and a cheese Danish pastry into a cake. The result is this delicious cake with cream cheese cake layers, cream cheese filling and cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Danish Cake
It might sound like an odd name for a cake, but I truly couldn’t think of a better way to describe the flavor of this cake. After a recent trip to St. George, where Avery and I tried nearly all of the pastries from The Farmstead , I just had to create this cake.
What is a Cheese Danish?
A cheese Danish is a type of pastry made with a buttery, flaky dough that is similar to croissant dough. It is typically shaped into a round or oval shape and has a well in the center filled with a sweet and tangy cheese filling. The filling is usually made with cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla for flavor. The pastry is baked until golden brown and crisp, and it may be topped with a light dusting of powdered sugar or a drizzle of icing for added sweetness.
The cheese Danish from Farmstead, however, is unlike any cheese Danish I’ve ever had! This one had a light and fluffy cheese filling inside a kouign amann-like pastry, and topped with cream cheese frosting. Heaven! Pure heaven!
Look at that!
It was glorious!
While I cheered Avery on at her dance competition, I was simultaneously thinking about how I could turn this into a cake — and I got started on it the day we got home!
What is a Cream Cheese Danish Cake?
Great question! Let’s talk about what I did to create this Cream Cheese Danish Cake (which could also be called a Cheesecake Cake – very similar flavors).
Cream Cheese Cake
For the cake layers, I knew I wanted to use my cream cheese cake layers from my Cherry Cheese Pie Cake. These layers are slightly more dense than a typical vanilla cake, but they’re still fluffy and tender. We’re using a stick of cream cheese and adding a full tablespoon of vanilla bean paste. The flavor is to-die-for!
How to Bake a Moist Cake From Scratch
If you’re unfamiliar with making cakes from scratch, THIS blog post is a must-read!
A quick overview:
- Use real butter
- Measure flour correctly
- Add fat
- Don’t over bake
- Know your oven
- Use light metal pans
- Serve your cake at room temperature
Cream Cheese Filling
This cream cheese filling is essentially just cream cheese. We’re adding just a little sweetened condensed milk for sweetness. It’s not a lot because we want the cheese flavor to stand out here.
Cream Cheese Frosting
To top off this cake, I’ve made my cream cheese frosting with some vanilla bean paste. Remember, cream cheese frosting is not as stable as regular buttercream, so I don’t recommend trying to pipe with it. You can see I opted for a rustic look with this cake. Trying to smooth cream cheese frosting with a scraper can be tricky because the “cheese” element is sticky.
Other Favorite Cake Recipes You’ll Love
- Chocolate Cherry Pie Cake
- Red, White and Blue Berry Cake
- Chocolate Cola Cake
- Creamsicle Cake
- Ice Cream Sundae Cake
- Ultimate S’mores Cake
Cheese Danish Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE CAKE
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp (12 g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) salt
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup (218 g) grapeseed oil
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp (13 g) vanilla bean paste
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, I use the Eagle brand
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
- 6 ounces cream cheese, slightly cold
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
- 1 tbsp (13g) vanilla bean paste
- pinch of salt
Instructions
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray, line the bottom with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth cream cheese. Add the grapeseed oil and sugar and continue to beat on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes.
- With the mixer on medium, add the vanilla bean paste, followed by the eggs, one at a time, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition. Once all of the eggs are added, turn the mixer to mediump-high speed and beat for an additional 2 miniutes.
- With the mixer on low, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in three additions, starting and finishing with the flour. Combine until incorporated, about 20 to 30 seconds.
- Evenly distribute the batter among the two cake pans (about 27 ounces of batter in each pan) and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let cool in pans 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled completely, cut the cakes in half horizontally (this is called "torting" the cake). You can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for several weeks.
FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
- In a medium size mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for about two minutes.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the sifted powdered sugar until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix for another minute.
- Add vanilla bean paste and pinch of salt. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat the buttercream for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Use a spoon to mix the frosting by hand, which will push out the air pockets created by the electric mixer.
ASSEMBLY
- Place the first cake layer, top side up, on a cake board or cake plate. Spread about ½ cup frosting over the first cake layer. Using a piping bag, pipe a rim of frosting around the edge of the cake.
- Fill the cake with ½ – ¾ cup cheesecake filling.
- Place the second cake layer on top and repeat step two. Repeat these steps until you get to the final cake layer (remember, you have four layers now. Place the final cake layer, top side down.
- Apply a thin layer of frosting around the entire. Freeze the cake for about 10 to 15 minutes to set crumb coat.
- Finish frosting the cake with the remaining frosting
I would love this recipe for my sons birthday. He absolutely loves cheese danishes.
It’s up there!
This cake is delicious and rich! The recipe itself is simple and easy to follow! I ran into a problem baking where I needed to bake this cake for considerably more time than it called for. Not sure if it was my oven or what. other than that, no problems and super yummy!
It is heavenly! Such a different cake than most but it was so delicious. The cheesecake filling did taste like the filling of a cheese danish by itself but in the cake it tasted more like cheesecake. I cut the cake recipe by 1/3 to make in 2 6 inch pans and it was perfect.
Can this cake be turned into cupcakes?
Yeah! Bake time will be close to 25 mins
This looks and sounds delicious. I’m wondering how you might incorporate some berries, or other fruit into this cake. Danish often times has a cherry type filling. Would you add it into the filling, frosting, cake… or a combo of either??
You could do a berry compote
Best tasting cake I have made to date! So much flavor and beautiful texture. (And it turned out super cute too!!) Not too sweet but flavorful and creamy. Thank you for sharing your recipes! I have a new standard for cake flavors now. 😉
Thank you so much!
Haven’t finished baking it yet but the batter is delicious. I didn’t have Grapeseed oil (who does?) So I used a melted stick of butter and canola to make 1 cup. And of course I didn’t have baking powder so I used equal parts cream of tartar and baking soda. Also I didn’t have buttermilk so I used a combination of two substitutes… sour cream and milk with cream of tartar to thin it to the consistency of buttermilk. Again. The batter is delicious. I actually bought cream cheese frosting before I found your recipe so I’m going to use it to make the filling and whip it up for the frosting.
Can you use another oil other than grapeseed? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a cake with that type of oil. Is there a reason that is used over vegetable or canola?
It’s a little lighter compared to others, but a good sub is canola.
Is there a reason why you “torte” the two cake layers before refrigerating or freezing until ready to ice VERSUS just wrapping the two cake layers and refrigerate for a few days, then “torte” when ready to fill and ice?
I like to do it before I freeze them, so I’m not waiting for the layers to thaw completely because I like to stack and decorate my layers while the cake is slightly chilled still.
If I make this as a 9×13 sheet cake, how long do you recommend baking? Still at 325 degrees?
This cake sounds Devine! I would love to taste this!
Can cake flour be used instead of AP?
Not for this one.
Hi! Just curious, why grapeseed oil? Can others be used? Thanks!
Yes you can use something else. I just like that grapeseed oil offers a little lighter texutre.
This was most the most delicious cake I have ever made. Just awesome all around and yes it tastes very much like a cheese danish.
This cake is so delicious. The mixture of all of the flavors and textures give an almost brown butter vanilla cream cheese taste.
The only adjustment I made was handing some extra cream cheese to the frosting and a little bit of lemon juice.
Thank yoU!
Just curious why grapeseed oil is used and if avocado oil would work in its place or if you had another substitute you would recommend. Also, does souring your own milk with lemon juice or vinegar work as well as buttermilk?
You can do avocado!
Hi Mary this looks terrific but 4 sticks of butter for the frosting seems like a lot. Is it because the cake is super huge? We are not even putting this in the middle layers?
Please let me know your thinking on the why of this. Thanks, Beth
Actually, you will be using it between the layers. You’ll use about a 1/2 cup on the cake layer and then you’ll pipe a rim of the buttercream around the edge of the cake before you fill it with the softer filling.
How far in advance can I make the filling and frosting?
My gosh this was delicious!! I added a strawberry compote to each layer,,
added fresh strawberries on top, then cut up and gave to all my neighbors for Mother’s Day. It was a HUGE hit!
Yay!!!
Hi Courtney, does this cake need to be refrigerated? Wanted to make it for Fourth of July parties this week
Freezer after it’s been assembled