Our first Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for March is rugelach, hosted by Jessica of My Baking Heart and Margaret of The Urban Hiker. My hubby took one bite of the finished product and said, "It's like a cinnamon roll and a danish and a cookie and something else all mixed together, and it's just so good!"
I made a half-batch of dough early in the morning. It came together pretty quickly in my stand-mixer: softened butter, softened cream cheese, salt, sugar, and flour. Once it came together into a ball, I patted it into a rectangle and put it in the fridge to chill.
Then I made the lekva. We had the choice of prune or apricot lekva. I've never heard of lekva before, but apparently it's a Hungarian fruit butter. I really love prunes, and I'm not a big apricot fan, so this was an easy choice for me. The lekva was incredibly easy to make: prunes boiled in water and combined with sugar, lemon juice, and chopped walnuts. Okay, sounds pretty nothing-special, right? NO! I seriously could've eaten the entire bowl straight-up; it was that good!!
Late the same afternoon, I plumped up some dried cherries and chopped up some apricots, toasted some walnuts and pecans, and proceeded with shaping the rugelach.
I rolled the dough out into a large rectangle and cut it in half. My problems started after I spread it with the lekva and then began to sprinkle on the insane amounts of filling: fruit, nuts, sugar (I also sprinkled in some mini chocolate chips on half, at the kiddos' request). There was no way to roll these babies up! I did the best I could; one strip actually rolled okay. The other one began to tear and there was filling pouring out all over the place.
I chilled the rugelach for about six hours, then brushed them with the egg wash, sliced them, dipped them in the sugar-nut mixture, and baked them. Regardless of their looks, these were a big hit with the family! The little girl and I weren't huge fans of the dried fruit, but we all loved the combination of flavors from the prunes, nuts, and dough.
Check out everyone else's rugelach here!
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| one of the exploded, less-than-stellar ones :) |
Your last picture looks like a rugelach heart! Glad they were a success. Although not the daintiest cookie--they're ruggedly handsome--they are tasty!
ReplyDeleteYou got such a beautiful cinnamon and sugar coating on yours. Your husband described these perfectly. We are enjoying them so much and I agree with you on the prune lekvar. I couldn't stop eating it by the spoonfuls. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteI made the apricot lekvar. Should try out the prune one next time since it gets such rave reviews. Your rugelach look tasty!
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd make the prune lekvar, since I know how you adore prunes:) I have alot of the lekvar leftover in my fridge. Perfect description of 'cinnamon roll' like. We loved these, and the best part was I didn't have to roll up the dough into the log. Hubby did that part and he is much more patient than I. Some of mine unwrapped themselves too, but they are still just as yummy. You got a wonderful coating of the cinnamon sugar mix on the outside of yours!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think even your "less than stellar" ones looks very tasty. :) I had never had rugelach before this project, so I, too, was surprised how complex the flavors were. Is it a cookie? A pastry? Dessert? Breakfast? ;) I'd taste again to check, but they're already gone.
ReplyDeleteYours look absolutely wonderful and no wonder E was so happy with them! Beautiful job and I love how you cook/bake...a little here, a little there, and then it all comes magically together at some point...which is so how I do everything with baking and cooking. One would never think I had a clue in the world what I was doing on any given recipe.
ReplyDeleteI love lekva (or povidla, or powidl--it seems to have many names). I made plum butter last year with prune plums but haven't tried it with actual prunes. Very interesting post!
ReplyDeleteDelicious
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looks scrumptious, well done :)
ReplyDeleteAll that cinnamon sugar coating on the outside looks so good.
ReplyDeleteWeren't those lekvars a pleasant surprise?
Something new to me, Abby, and it looks delicious too!
ReplyDeleteThose look tasty! I still need to make these--the dough is in the freezer, and the prune filling is in the fridge. I may actually use some of it to make danish, since there's plenty. =)
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