Thursday, April 1, 2010

Rugalach

Hey everyone! I have two upcoming tutorials that have nothing to do with Sherry Yard or her book or my pastry project for that matter. I was just thinking about how I do in fact spend a lot of my free time baking, just not necessarily things from the pastry project (that I have not continued with YET but I will). So this week I was making Rugalach for my mom's birthday party and thought I'd share them with you.

This recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart Rugalach recipe and since it has been altered from her original recipe, I feel comfortable posting it here. I normally do not post recipes exactly as shown in the books out of respect for copyright laws and respect for the chefs!

For those of you who are not familiar with them, Rugalach are a Polish cookie very popular in the deli's of New York. They are often associated with Jewish bakeries, as there is a huge Jewish-Polish population in America. They are basically a crescent cookie made with a flaky crust, filled with whatever you want (typically jelly, chocolate, and nuts). This recipe is a very traditional Walnut/Chocolate chip with a light layer of Apricot jelly.

Warning: these take LOTS of time. I made a double recipe and it took me 5 hours from start to finish. Make sure you have time for the dough to chill for atleast an hour before you begin.

To start, cream your butter and cream cheese in the mixer with the paddle attachment (cream means beat on medium to high for about 5 minutes).



With the mixer running on very low, add 1/2 cup of the sugar (save the other 1/4 cup for later), egg yolks, salt and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed for about thirty seconds, stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl. Mix again for another minute, until all is incorporated. Do not overmix. Add the flour and mix on low until combined.

Try not to get your mixer as dirty as mine is!

Next, remove the dough from the mixer bowl and portion into three equal parts. The best way to do this is to measure the entire ball of dough on a scale and divide that number by three. Then weigh out that amount and form the three equal parts into balls. Pat the balls down with the palm of your hand to make them flat. This will make them easier to roll out later.

The one in the back right corner is patted down flat. I made a double recipe which is why I have six balls of dough in the picture. Each ball of dough will make 16 pieces of Rugalach. (These freeze wonderfully).

Wrap up the dough individually and refrigerate for one hour. While it is chilling, make the filling.

Combine walnuts, ground cinnamon, and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor and pulse till nuts are completely ground. Set aside.


Once the dough is chilled (do not overchill, it will become hard to roll out - if that happens, let thaw on counter for 20 minutes or so) remove from fridge and place on floured mat or cutting board. I have found that the less stingy I am with flour, the easier of a time I have. I used to be very stingy with flour and then took a job which required me to roll out atleast 4 pies a day. I have now learned the easy way to roll dough!

Lightly flour the top of the dough, and begin with the rolling pin in the center of the ball. Roll the pin away from you across the top of the dough, pressing down gently. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat, always rolling in the same direction. After every roll, remember to turn the dough 90 degrees in the same direction. Repeat until dough is approximately 10 inches in diameter. Be sure to roll all the way out to the edges. This is different from pie doughs where you stop before you get to the edges (that is why pie crust is so thick at the edge). You want an even thickness throughout the dough. As you are turning the dough and rolling, add more flour as necessary to your work surface so the dough does not stick.


Take your apricot jelly and add a minimal amount of water to it (approx 1 Tablespoon water to every 3 Tablespoons Jelly). Heat over the stove to liquefy the jelly as much as possible. Take a pastry brush and brush the top surface of the dough with a light layer of jelly.


Then evenly distribute one third of the chocolate chips (approx 2/3 cup) on the surface and press down gently.

Next sprinkle one third of the ground walnut filling over the chips and press down again - gently. (I did these steps backwards as you can see in the picture, but do as I say and not as I do - it will work better for you and will be less sticky!).


Take a pastry wheel (pizza cutter) and cut in half one way, then in half again going the other direction. You should now have four even pieces. Slice each piece twice more diagonally to get 16 even wedges. HINT: it helps if in between slicing you lightly flour the pastry wheel so the jelly doesnt stick and cause a big mess.

Working from the outside of the circle in, roll up the crescents, making sure to tuck in all renegade chocolate chips. Make sure the thin tip of the crescent is pressed into the dough slightly or tucked underneath the finished crescent.


Repeat with remaining 2 balls of dough. Beat the whole egg in a small dish and brush this egg over the tops of the rugalach. Combine approximately 1 T cinnamon to 1 cup of granulated sugar and sprinkle on top of egg-washed-rugalach.



Bake on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam or lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes or until evenly browned. Check for doneness by carefully lifting one up and seeing if it is golden brown on the bottom. These look underdone when actually they are ready. ENJOY!



I apologize for the fuzzy pictures. These pictures were taken on my super old camera that I got in 2002.

Please let me know if you make these and how you liked the recipe! You can exchange out the filling for raisins, currants, apples, almonds, raspberry jam, you name it! Oh and these are great for breakfast :)


Recipe:
Rugalach

1 cup unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup granulated sugar, seperated
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups All Purpose Flour
4 oz walnuts
1 T ground cinnamon
2 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup Apricot Jelly

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Day 3: Long Time Coming

I have some serious explaining to do! But in efforts to keep this blog as little about my personal life as possible, I'll try to summarize and move on to the baking stuff! I did not want this blog to be something I did wholeheartedly a few times and then stopped without ever completing it. But you know how it is... life gets in the way. I've gone through a few life changes since my last post and it was tough to get back on track but now I'm back! I am no longer baking professionally and I have renewed my pure love for baking (and eating) in doing so. I am refreshed, renergized, and ready to continue on with this pastry project endeavor!

So I actually made a couple of items from Sherry's book "Desserts by the Yard" with pictures of my making it and everything. However, like I said life had its interruptions and I just never posted about it. So... about 7 months later... here it is! lets see if I can remember making these.

You might have noticed I keep saying I "made" these items. Thats because I don't consider these to be baked. They were created, yes. And they are pastry items, yes. But I can't quite say that I "baked" a strawberry soda, can I?

We are still in the section titled "Brooklyn Inspirations" where Sherry grew up. These are some of my favorite desserts - not too frilly, not too french, VERY American (or Italian/American). The first recipe is for Grandma's A&P Strawberry Sodas. It calls for homemade strawberry ice cream and strawberry soda. YUMMY! Think root beer float that is fruit inspired. This is NOT my favorite ice cream recipe. Actually I don't count it as ice cream per say because it does not contain any egg. Its more like a sherbet. It contains fresh fruit, heavy cream, milk, sugar and water. Its boiled together, then blended in a food processor. Then you let it cool, and spin in your ice cream machine. I have the Cuisinart ice cream machine with the removable freezer bowl. I like it, it does the trick. The only problem is that when you are impatient (ahem like ME) and do not wait for the mix to cool completely, the freezer bowl is not cold enough to properly spin the liquid into ice cream. So I ended up over spinning my ice cream which resulted in an icy, overly aerated ice cream.
Oh and i also had a little explosion in our food processor. I guess our processor is a little on the small side. oops. Before shot:


After Shot:

To finish this dessert, scoop a few scoops of the ice cream (once frozen) into a cup and pour with strawberry soda. Sherry suggests adding a splash of grand mariner b/c hey, grand mariner makes everything just a little bit better!

I wish I still had a picture of the finished ice cream/soda but... it was 7 months ago and I just dont have it anymore. This is the best I can do for now! I am gonna stick to my usual ice cream recipe though - a classic creme anglaise - YUMMY!


The next recipe is for a "Pussycat Cafe Gelee Parfait". Fun to say but not so fun to eat. At least not for me, I have an aversion to jello and any gelatinous desserts not containing chocolate! This dessert requires a lot of patience, which as previously discussed, I do not have. It calls for making layers of a jello type parfait, one at a time, and waiting for it to set before making the next layer. Which is why my entire parfait looks like its all the same color.


And yes, that is a margarita glass. Which also makes a great individual parfait glass!

This dessert was actually pretty good, and that is saying a lot since I don't eat fruity, jello desserts. Its made with all fresh fruit. The first layer is a Watermelon/lemon, the second is a pure lemon, the third is a strawberry with lemon and orange juice, and the last layer is an orange with a little lemon. The overall affect should be very orange and yellow layers with a hint of red in the center. Very beautiful and nice for in the summer. I was lucky that at work we were using fresh watermelon rind for a salad and had tons of extra watermelon chunks for me to take home.

I prefer the more American style desserts - overly indulgent, rich, chocolaty, exciting. Extremely bad for you. If you look at any European baking books or magazines, especially the ones aimed towards professionals like "Dessert Professional Magazine" you will see what I mean. The French style desserts tend to be molded mousse or gelee's like this one, and the latest trends are foams and gastriques and, well, desserts that remind me of the Jello cups I ate as a kid when I was sick and couldn't stomach anything else. But if you like jello (like my fiance) then you will gobble up this dessert (like my fiance did!).

These are not the most exciting desserts (I guess that is subject to opinion, but for me, they weren't too thrilling to make) so to supplement that I will add another post soon of some other baking I've been doing, including a carrot cake decorating tutorial with marzipan carrots!

Until then, stay sweet!