Rugelach

Rugelach

    

           

Rugelach is a Jewish dessert associated with Jewish holidays such as Chanukkah. An Eastern European pastry that is often crescent shaped and filled with a fruit and nut filling. Not overly sweet, the pastry is made with cream cheese. They are versatile. Baked and served warm with a cup of coffee, they are They can also be rolled up as cigars and cut into spirals. Rugelach is a Yiddish word for "little twists" and "twisted vines", much loved by the Jewish community in particular.

       

                                          They make perfect holiday gifts.

Freshly baked rugelach for Navroze.

Makes 80 pieces

The pastry

340 g/ 12 oz cream cheese
340 g/ 12 oz soft salted butter
4 1/2 cup sifted plain flour
3/4 tsp salt


With an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and butter, until light and fluffy.
Add the plain flour and salt until just combined. Cover in cling film, flatten into a fat disc and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Filling

1 cup cup dry cherries 
1 1/2 cup mixed nuts like walnuts, macadamia, pistachios ( lightly toasted )
6 oz cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp whole milk, cream OR half and half 

In a food processor crush the nuts and cherries until fine pieces. Add the rest of the ingredient and using the pulse button bring it all together. 

To Assemble

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and cut into 10 equal portions. Further, roll each portion into an 18 cm/7-inch disc. 
With a pizza cutter, slice into 8 equal slices. Repeat with the remaining ten discs. Now place a teaspoon of the filling on the widest end of each of the triangles, cut on the disc. 
Roll each one like a cigar. 
Place it on a baking sheet. Repeat this until all are completed. 

Sprinkle it with brown sugar. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 175 C| 350 F  for 30 minutes until it is nice and golden brown. 
Serve warm. 

Tips 

While this recipe can easily be divided, it's simpler to make the whole lot and freeze them unbaked until needed. Freshly baked pastry tastes delicious. 

Cranberries, raisins, kishmish (dry green raisins), and dried berries are all good alternates to dry cherries. Pecans and pine nuts can also be added to the list of nuts.

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.

Photo Credit : Niloufer Mavalvala