Ru-ga-what? Rugelach.

PROJECT PATISSERIE: Adventure #7

 

When it comes to cookies, besides the traditional chocolate-chip-walnut variety that I pledge my undying love to, my favorite would have to be rugelach. My friend Trin introduced me to rugelach a few years ago- she bakes them every year for Christmas and gives boxes of them away as presents. I must sheepishly admit that I always promptly devour mine- it’s kind of embarrassing, really, to confess to such gluttony- but hers are really, really good. For the uninitiated, rugelach are Jewish pastries originating from Central and Eastern Europe made from a cream cheese-based dough. The dough is turned out, cut into triangles, topped with something delicious (in the case of this week’s project- crushed walnuts, cinnamon, and sugar) and then rolled to form tiny croissant-looking cookie-pastries.

The word on the street is that the cream cheese component to the dough is a relatively new American innovation, and that traditional rugelach dough was made with sour cream or leavened with yeast. I haven’t had either of the traditional varieties but I imagine that they would be just as delicious as the cream cheese assortment. Besides walnuts, other common fillings include raisins, chocolate, ground poppy seeds, or fruit preserves. The recipe I used called for apricots and brandy in addition to the walnuts, but as I never got on board the alcohol-infused pastry train, I skipped that part; I blame my abstention on my grandmother.

My Slovakian maternal grandmother was a master baker. If anybody in her village needed a cake for a birthday, anniversary, or wedding they went to her- the woman could do amazing things with butter, flour, eggs, and sugar. That being said I’m not sure if it was a cultural propensity or just her own taste, but the majority of her cake recipes seemed to also include at least a half bottle of rum or brandy. Whenever I visited her as a child I remember that she always offered me cake or homemade pastries. While her cakes were beautiful and innocuous looking enough, taking a bite was akin to taking a shot of rum. I won’t even venture into the child welfare aspect of that. I guess her generation didn’t worry about stuff like that. My grandmother grew up in crippling poverty, survived a Nazi occupation, lived through World War II, and a subsequent Soviet invasion, so what was a little rum? As a consequence of her high-octane cakes, I came to believe early on that the addition of hard liquor just ruined perfectly good desserts and as a general rule I skip it in my baking. Alas, I am not pastry fascist, however. I acknowledge that there are lots of good, brandy-loving folks out there like my grandmother who like the pairing so I’m including it.

While I can’t comment on the culinary advantages or drawbacks of using the brandy and apricots, I can offer that some of the best rugelach I’ve eaten has had a decidedly more cream-cheesy tasting dough. This dough was delicious, and if I had never tasted my friend’s rugelach I wouldn’t think anything was amiss, but I admit that I would have liked some more cream cheese flavor. Next time I’ll make it a point to play with the cream cheese to butter ratio and see where it takes me.

Rugelach Recipe:

You can make these the same day, but the dough needs to rest for a total of about 2 ½ hours so give yourself a bit of lead time.

In a food processor, process 2 sticks of cold, unsalted, cubed butter, 8 ounces of softened cream cheese, 3 Tbsps of sugar, and a ¼ tsp of salt. Add 2 c. of all-purpose flour and pulse together until a dough forms.  Divide the dough in half, flatten into disks, and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours. While whiling away the time, clean the food processor bowl and blade.

For all the brandy-lovers out there, this is for you! In a small pot, bring 1 cup of dried apricots, ¼ c. of brandy, ½ tsp cinnamon, and ½ cup of water to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed (approximately 7 minutes.) Transfer the mixture to the newly cleaned food processor and pulse it a few times until it’s finely chopped. Stir in 1 c. of finely chopped walnuts and 2/3 c. of sugar.

If passing on the brandy and apricots, mix the 1 c. of finely chopped walnuts with the ½ tsp. of cinnamon and 2/3 c. of sugar. Continue on as if nothing happened. 

Once the dough is nicely chilled, roll out one dough disk at a time on a floured surface to form a 12 inch round.  Spread half of the filling on the dough, leaving a 1 inch border all around. Cut the dough into 16 wedges. I found that this was a fun alternative use for a pizza cutter, although of course a regular kitchen knife will do just fine. Starting from the outside edge, tightly roll each wedge until you reach the tip. Place the rugelach tip side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly beat an egg and add a splash of milk or cream. Brush the tops of the rugelach with the egg-milk mixture and put the sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Place oven racks in the lower and upper third of the oven and preheat to 325 Fahrenheit. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. I’m usually squeamish about baking two pans at the same time as I think the hot air circulation is impeded a bit by the second baking sheet but I didn’t have any trouble with these guys. Just be sure to swap the position of the baking sheets (so, the lower sheet to the upper position and vice versa) about half way through baking. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely. They will keep in airtight containers for up to 1 week.

  Rugelach, fresh from the oven.

 

A fancy-pants culinary type shot of the finished

cookie-cum-pastry.