I am embarrassed to say I had never tried rugelach until I moved to the US – and it’s not like I grew up in a ‘meat and three veg’ household either. With my mother being of Eastern European origin we were exposed to lots of traditional European food, aside from Rugelach that is – which was somehow left behind in Europe, lost along the way or maybe they just didn’t like it!
At any rate, I do and have been purchasing a variety since I have moved here – my favourite being raspberry, closely followed by the apricot. For those of you that new to rugelach, they are small and slightly chewy rolls of flakey pastry filled with a combination of nuts, currents (or raisins) and jam, some of them also include chocolate.
The addition of cream cheese to the pastry lends an extra element of flakiness (and let’s be honest – fat too) but it is all good and totally worth a morning on the treadmill.
In my quest to create the perfect Rugelach recipe I spoke to an old Jewish man of rugelach repute and he said this traditional treat was best eaten as the sweet ending to a brunch of bagels and lox. I think it works superbly with a coffee at any time of the day.
Dough Ingredients
113 grams/4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
113 grams/4 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are best)
1/3 cup plump, moist dried currants or chopped raisins
Glaze
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cold water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Filling
2/3 cup raspberry jam, apricot jam or marmalade
1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Whisk together flour and salt in a bowl. Beat together butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer until combined well. Add flour mixture and stir with a spoon until a soft dough forms. Gather dough into a ball and shape it into an rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, 8 to 24 hours.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 12″ baking pan with parchment paper.
Cut dough into 2 pieces. Wrap one piece in plastic wrap and chill, and roll the other piece into a 12- by 8-inch rectangle on a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Transfer this dough to a sheet of parchment or wax paper, then transfer to a tray and chill while rolling out remaining dough in same manner, transferring each to another sheet of parchment and stacking on tray.
Whisk 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon. Arrange one dough rectangle on work surface with a long side nearest you. Spread half the preserves evenly over dough with offset spatula. Sprinkle with half of the currents/raisins and half of the nuts over jam, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.
Using parchment as an aid, roll up dough tightly into a log. Place, seam side down, in your lined baking pan, then pinch ends closed and tuck underneath. Make the other log in same manner and arrange 1 inch apart in pan. Place back in your fridge for a further 30 minutes to chill.
Whisk the egg and the water together and brush both the logs, then sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of remaining granulated sugar. With a sharp large knife, make deep cuts crosswise in dough (not all the way through) at 1 inch intervals.
Bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool to warm in pan on a rack, about 30 minutes, then transfer logs to a cutting board and slice rugealch all the way through.
Notes:
© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.
