happy easter!

I hate baking. it could have something to do with my inability to be patient. or that I hate measuring [as you might have noticed from previous posts]. but every now and then I channel my inner pastry chef and want to make something sweet. this transformation usually happens around family holidays...

I always look for a short cut. there are many super easy and delicious ideas out there. for this easter, I decided to steal ina gardner's simple cheese danish filling for use in my holiday dessert. she baked hers in puff pastry, but I'm making it even easier. I found pre-made fillo dough cups! surely even I can't mess this up.

8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/3 cup sugar [one tbsp removed before adding]
2 egg yolks, room temp
1 1/2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
2 packages pre-made fillo cups

1. thaw fillo cups
2. cream the sugar and cream cheese until smooth
3. add yolks, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, salt and lemon zest
4. mix on low until combined
5. fill cups, bake according to package directions

cook's note: the original recipe called for 2 tbsp ricotta cheese instead of the sweetened condensed milk. I didn't have any ricotta or cottage cheese [usually an acceptable sub for ricotta], so I removed a tbsp of sugar to keep it from being too sweet. these were super tasty. they were good right out of the oven and even hours later. I'll definitely be making these again.