Creamy Cherry Strudel
This creamy cherry strudel is made with flaky puff pastry, tart cherries and creamy pastry cream! Enjoy a slice of this cherry pastry with a scoop of ice cream for an irresistible fruity dessert or serve at your next brunch!
A simple creamy cherry strudel is easy to make yet so impressive to serve! Puff pastry is stuffed with cherries and Italian pastry cream then baked until golden.
The best part is that this recipe doubles as the easiest breakfast Danish you’ll ever make but can also be served as an impressive dessert with a scoop of no churn vanilla ice cream.
Just like my strawberry cream cheese strudel and ricotta blueberry strudel, this puff pastry cherry strudel received rave reviews when I served it to the Italian.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Cherry Strudel
- Simple and quick: Puff pastry makes this cherry strudel easy to make and it can be ready in under an hour.
- Crowd-pleasing: Fruity desserts always go over well whether served for brunch, dessert or with a cup of coffee.
Recipe Ingredients
- Puff pastry: When I have time, I use my homemade puff pastry. Frozen store-bought puff pastry that has been thawed but is still cold works great, too!
- Pastry cream: Remember to make this Italian pastry cream at least two hours in advance so it has time to chill. You will only need half the recipe.
- Cherries: Fresh cherries that have been pitted then cut in half.
- Milk: This will be used to brush the pastry before baking.
Variations
- Sprinkle with almonds: I love this added bit of crunchy texture in my cinnamon apple strudel!
- Add a glaze: Add a simple icing sugar glaze, cream cheese glaze or almond glaze.
- Use a different fruit: Try a different berry! Strawberry, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries would all work.
- Creamy filling: Instead of pastry cream, try ricotta cheese or cream cheese. If you use either of those, I would use sweetened cherries.
- Flavored pastry cream: Variations that would work include lemon pastry cream or for something really decadent try chocolate pastry cream!
- Sweetened fruit: If you love a sweeter filling in your strudel, use canned cherry pie filling. You could also make your own cherry pie filling by boiling down fresh cherries with sugar and cornstarch.
How to Make Creamy Cherry Strudel
Nothing like a flaky strudel especially filled with an Italian pastry cream and fresh cherries! For the full recipe instructions scroll to the bottom to the recipe card!
To start, prepare Italian pastry cream and chill in the fridge for at least two hours. Roll out the puff pastry sheets on a parchment lined baking sheet then divide it in half lengthwise.
Cover one half with pastry cream and top with the pitted halved sweet cherries.
Place the remaining half pastry on top and seal the edges well. Brush the top of the pastry with milk then bake until golden brown. Cool slightly then dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Tips for the Best Cherry Cheese Strudel
- Make Italian pastry cream ahead: This pastry cream can be made up to 3-4 days in advance! This is a huge time saver when it comes to assembling your strudel.
- Test the cherries: Cherries can range from sweet to tart in taste! If yours are sweet, you may want to toss with lemon juice and if they are too tart, you may want to toss with sugar.
- Egg wash: For a golden pastry top instead of milk, brush with an egg wash before baking. Just combine 1 egg with a teaspoon of water and brush over top before baking.
- Parchment paper: Line baking sheet with parchment paper so you can easily remove pastry from the pan for slicing!
- Add slits: This easy cherry strudel recipe can be designed in many unique ways! Add slits on the top before baking or add slits to the top piece of dough and make a criss cross design when covering the bottom half. Get creative!
What is a strudel?
A strudel is made with thin pastry dough that is filled with fruit for a simple dessert or you can also use a savory filling like in my sausage, cheese and mushroom strudel. It’s baked until golden and the flaky pastry layers add the best taste to the recipe it’s used in!
More Cherry Recipes
- Cherry Jam
- Cherry Cookies
- Homemade Cherry Cake
- Ricotta Cherry Crumb Pie
- Chocolate Chip Cherry Blondies
When you are looking for a delicious dessert recipe then I hope you give this Cherry Strudel a try and of course let me know what you think! Enjoy.
Creamy Cherry Strudel
Ingredients
- 1 roll puff pastry
- ¾-1 cup pastry cream recipe (½ the recipe)*
- 10½ ounces cherries (pitted and halved)
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
EXTRAS
- 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the pastry cream two hours in advance.
- Pre-heat oven to 375F / 190C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll out the puff pastry, divide it in half lengthwise. Cover one half with the pastry cream and top with the pitted halved cherries. Place the remaining half pastry on top and seal the edges well.
- Brush the top of the pastry with milk. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden. Cool to warmish, dust with powdered sugar and serve. Enjoy!
Yummy. In the freezer I had leftover cherries in kirschwasser from an earlier recipe that needed to be put to use, so this recipe was a perfect solution!
Hi Jo, thanks so much, so glad you liked it. Take care!
The description of the creamy cherry strudel in your post is making my mouth water! Your creativity in experimenting with different fruits and fillings is truly inspiring. Keep up the great work!
Hi Elle, thanks so much, what a wonderful comment. Take care!