Kricket Cakes

I’ve always fancied these mini rolled up pastry-like cookies called rugulach. Although, I never knew how to pronounce them. To myself, I called them roo-gaa-lash, but man I must have sounded like such a hick! They are to be pronounced ru-gu-luhk (or something like that). I’m just glad I don’t have to be able to pronounce the things to blog about them!

The traditional rugalach recipe is made with cinnamon and sugar and sometimes raisins and nuts. I wanted to try something a bit different, so I found a recipe called Golden Rugalach on the Food Network’s website. I made the dough ahead of time and froze it, so all I had to do was remove it from the freezer, slice and bake to have warm delicious cookies anytime!

These cookies are so cozy and warming. They are soft and sweet with a little bit of crunch around the edges. They are also fantastic with tea!

This recipe makes 50 2 1/2 inch rugalach.

For the Dough:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 egg yolk (for egg wash)
• 1/4 cup sugar (for sprinkling)

For the Filling:

• 3/4 cup hazelnuts
• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 2/3 cup golden raisins
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

To Make the Dough:

1. Whisk the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or knives until the largest pieces of butter are pea-sized.
3. Cut in the cream cheese in the same manner.
4. Stir in the sour cream until a mass of dough forms.
5. Divide the dough into four pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes.

To Make the FIlling:

1. Chop the hazelnuts in the food processor.
2. Add the preserves, raisins, cinnamon, and salt and puree to make a paste.

To Assemble the Rugalach:

1. Remove one piece of dough from the freezer and roll out to 1/4 inch thick rectangle onto a floured work surface.
2. Spread 1/4 of the filling evenly over the dough.
3. Starting at one of the long ends, carefully roll the dough into a tight cylinder.
4. Place the cylinder in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 with the other 3 pieces of dough and filling.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Remove the cylinders from the freezer and slice into 1-2 inch slices.
9. Whisk the egg yolk and brush over the rugalach.
10. Sprinkle the sugar over the rugalach.
11. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden and crispy.
12. Transfer to a cooling rack.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Cookies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.