Cranberry Pecan Rugalach

Rugalach (pronounced ROO-guh-la) is a magical, delicious Jewish pastry. These are one of a couple kinds of cookies I make at the holidays these days. The buttery, flakey cookie part of these crescent-shaped pastries are balanced out by the tart, crunchy filling. You can replace the cranberries in this recipe with cherries or apricots if you prefer and they still turn out delicious.

I made a double batch of these bad boys, so if you're doing a single batch you'll have half of the stuff you see in the pictures.

Cranberry Pecan Filling

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

2/3 cup finely chopped sweetened, dried cranberries

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground allspice

Stir all ingredients together until well mixed.

I'll just pretend that when I bake my workspace always looks so neat and organized. Because, you know, I secretly live on a cooking show.

The filling is pretty straightforward, but to work with it easier later, I find heating it up over low heat makes it a little more spreadable.

I suggest having a good amount of counter space instead of using the kitchen table like I do. I made the filling and dough the night before and let the dough chill overnight before starting on assembly and actual baking. Spending 5 hours bent over the kitchen table assembling these does a number on your back so try and use a counter if you have enough room. Also, one of those sweet anti-fatigue mats that Lee Valley sells is a good idea for all baking. Well really just about everything at Lee Valley is awesome (no, I'm not getting money for saying that... and now I'm rambling).

MOVING ON.

Cranberry Pecan Rugalach

1 cup butter, softened

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

Cranberry Pecan Filling

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup sparkling sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Yes I realize that's a terrifying amount of butter and cream cheese. Believe me, the second you inhale your 7th or 8th cookie you'll not only appreciate all this fatty goodness, you will start to hallucinate an angelic choir lulling you into pastry euphoria. Or you'll end up with a stomach ache. Either way - worth it.

Gradually add granulated sugar, beating until fluffy.  Stir in flour and salt. 

I like using a pastry cutter to get the initial mixing done. But nothing beats just getting in there with your hands to make sure it's mixed well. You'll want to make sure the dough is very smooth. You'll know it's ready when it's the consistency of soft playdough.

Divide dough into 8 equal portions.

Flatten each portion into a disc, wrap separately in plastic wrap, and chill for 8 hours.

Having done a double batch, I ended up with quite a few of these (16).

Remove dough from the fridge (or the porch if you're making these in Canada in the winter).
Roll one portion of dough at a time into an 8" circle on a lightly floured surface. 

Spread with about 3 tablespoons of the Cranberry Pecan Filling, leaving about a 1/2" border around the edge. Cut circle into 8 wedges. Roll up the wedges, starting at the wide end, to form a crescent shape. Place, point side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet (or on parchment paper).

This is what takes the most time with these cookies. Getting the filling to spread out evenly is tricky, and getting the crescents rolled up without all the filling falling out is tricky. Then picking them up and placing them on the tray so that they don't unroll is also tricky. My best advice here is to take your time and cut yourself some slack if they don't turn out perfectly - they'll still be delicious.

Brush gently with egg. Sprinkle evenly with sparkling sugar. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Bake at 350 degrees on a lightly greased baking sheet (or on parchment paper lined baking sheet) for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I ended up making a double batch for Christmas since they're always such a hit. They are admittedly tedious to make but worth it!

Merry Christmas!

Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake

Yield: Makes 12 servings
Active Time: 1 1/2 hours
Total Time: 4 1/2 hours

Ingredients

For Cake Layers

3 cups	sugar
3 cups	all-purpose flour
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons	unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons	baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons	baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons	salt
1-1/2 cups	whole milk
12 Tablespoons	unsalted, melted butter
1-1/2 teaspoons	vanilla
1/4 teaspoon	almond extract
1-1/2 cups	boiling hot water
2	large eggs
2	large egg yolks

For Filling

14 ounces	sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups	coarsely chopped pecans
2 x 14 ounce	can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tablespoon	vanilla

For Glaze

5 sticks	unsalted butter
20 ounces	fine-quality semi-sweet chocolate
6 Tablespoons	light corn syrup

Special equipment: 4 (9 inch) round cake pans

Preparation

Make cake layers:

Preheat oven to 350°F and oil cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond extract in another large bowl until just combined. Beat egg mixture into flour mixture with an electric mixer on low speed, then beat on high speed 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in water until just combined (batter will be thin). Divide batter among cake pans (about 1 1/2 cups per pan) and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans and rotating them 180 degrees halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Cool layers in pans on racks 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove parchment or wax paper and cool layers completely.

Make filling

Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Spread coconut in a large shallow baking pan and pecans in another. Bake pecans in upper third of oven and coconut in lower third, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove pans from oven.

Increase oven temperature to 425°F.

Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Bake milk in a water bath in middle of oven 45 minutes. Refill baking pan with water to reach halfway up pie plate and bake milk until thick and brown, about 45 minutes more. Remove pie plate from water bath.

Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla and keep warm, covered with foil.

Alternatively, you can empty the contents of the can of condensed milk into a saucepan and, stirringly constantly, allow the milk to thicken and brown.  You will know it has reached the right consistency when holding the dulce de leche upside down from a spoon doesn't make it fall.  It may burn, so watch it closely.  If you find it has become too hard to really work with, you can add small amounts of cream to re-thicken the dulce.

Make glaze while milk is baking

Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate and corn syrup, whisking until chocolate is melted. Transfer 1 cup glaze to a bowl, reserving remaining glaze at room temperature in pan. Chill glaze in bowl, stirring occasionally, until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.

Assemble cake

Put 1 cake layer on a rack set over a baking pan (to catch excess glaze). Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly over layer and gently spread with a wet spatula. Top with another cake layer and spread with remaining filling in same manner. Top with remaining cake layer and spread chilled glaze evenly over top and side of cake. Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring, until glossy and pourable, about 1 minute. Pour glaze evenly over top of cake, making sure it coats sides. Shake rack gently to smooth glaze. 

Chill cake until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a plate. 

Tip: For easier handling when assembling cake, place bottom layer on a cardboard round or the removable bottom of a tart or cake pan. 

Original recipe (2 layer version) found here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Inside-Out-German-Chocolate-Cake-103202

Harvest Apple Caramel Cheesecake

Topping

3 Apples
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Peel and slice apples, soak in cold water while preparing.  Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat.  Once the foam in the butter subsides, add apple slices, corn starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Stir to incorporate.  Let simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick and syrupy.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Crust

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp finely chopped pecans
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the crackers, sugar, pecans and cinnamon, stir in butter.  Press onto the bottom of lightly greased 10" springform pan.  Bake @ 350ºF for 10 minutes.  Place on wire rack to cool while preparing filling.

Filling

3 packages of 8oz cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar till smooth.  Add eggs, beat on low speed till just combined.  Stir in vanilla and sour cream.  Pour over crust.  Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes with a deep pan of water on a lower rack (this will prevent cracking and will ensure the cake stays moist).  Pour apple mixture over cheesecake, return to oven for another 10 minutes.  Turn oven off and let cheesecake cool in the oven (this will further prevent cracking).

Cool overnight.

Savory Feta Asparagus Tarts

8 oz package phyllo pasty
3/4 cup butter, melted
8 oz sprue (thin asparagus)
4 oz feta cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs, beaten
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp chopped mint
salt and pepper

Cut the sprue into 1 inch pieces, leaving the tips whole.  Cook in boiling salted water until just tender.  Rinse under cold water and allow to drain completely.  Mix together thoroughly the cheese, yogurt, eggs, onions, mint, salt and pepper.

Use a tart tin with 12 spaces or use 12 ramekin dishes.  Cut the pasty in squares large enough to fill the pans or dishes, with enough to overlap the tops by about 1 inch.

Layer 3 sheets of pastry, each brushed with melted butter.  Cut into 3 inch squares, turning each slightly to make a frilled edge.  Carefully push the pastry into buttered tart tins or ramekins.  Stir in the drained sprue and fill the pastry to within 1/2 inch of the top.

Bake in a preheated 375ºF oven for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden and the filling is set and risen.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then remove to a serving dish.

Out with the old...

Spring Cleaning.  What does that term mean to you?  Do you even bother to do it?

I definitely do Spring Cleaning.  From as early as I can remember, I have had an affinity with cleanliness, organization and order.  Winter represents for me what I'm sure it does for many people who have to bear the snow, salt, wet, cold bitter months from Novemberish to Aprilish: hibernation.  For me this means accumulating a lot of garbage in the form of receipts, old bills, paystubs, old calendars, birthday and holiday cards, and assorted other kitsch.  When March hits that's about the time that I get fed up with the windows closing out the cold air, the tumbleweeds of cat fuzz rolling around the corners of every room no matter how many times I vacuum and dust, the stacks of un-filed paid bills, and all the other miscellaneous 'I'll do that later' stuff.

This year I've had a bit more time on my hands to really get down and clean out the entire apartment, because (woe is me) I recently lost my job.  So for the past couple weeks or so I've been going room to room cleaning out everything.  Yesterday I tossed three garbage bags FULL of junk.  Today I've spent the day on the floors.  I have hardwood throughout so it's a little more complicated than just running a vacuum around or steamer or whatever.  So I've picked up all the throw rugs, beat them into submission so they'd release all the dust and winter memories onto the floors, hung them outside to air out and freshen up; vacuumed all the hardwood floors to free them from the dusty ickies; mopped the kitchen and bathroom; and covered the area rug in the living room with baking soda to soak up all the smells from who-knows-what since I can't very well just pick it up and hang it outside to air out.

When I'm cleaning I'm a big fan of natural cleaners.  My favorite (much to the chagrin of anyone living with me) is vinegar.  It has got to be the best cleaning agent I've ever encountered and I use it generously while cleaning.  I use it on floors, windows, faucets, appliances and anything stainless steel.  Faucets are where it really shows its powers though.  Vinegar has this neat property that allows it to eat right through soap scum, so what I do is clean off the faucets in the bathroom and kitchen and then soak some paper towels in vinegar (I don't usually dilute it but I'm sure you could), I leave it like that for about half an hour (not long enough that it dries or anything), then remove the paper towels and wipe the faucets clean and hurray they're nice and clean and sparkly!

Another easy kitchen recipe for clean tiles is simple water and baking soda.  It does a great job if you just spray the tiles down then scrub with a sponge.  If you've got those nasty stains from months of not cleaning your shower (like me haha) you can add some kosher salt and scrub a little harder.  A good rinse when you're done and your shower is sparkly like new!  A tip someone told me at my bridal shower last summer was have a squeegee in your shower and give all your tiles a good swipe when you're done showering and it's wet and it keeps your shower cleaner longer so you don't have to get in there and work up a sweat nearly as often.

A good alternative if you don't like the smell of vinegar enough that it turns you off of these ideas, is undiluted lemon juice or club soda.  I haven't tried the club soda, but the lemon juice definitely works wonders.  Especially on kitchen surfaces.  I use lemon juice when cleaning my wood cutting board since it's a food product anyway and it does great things for getting out stains.  I try to use as few artificial cleaners on food surfaces as possible.

Anyway, hope all of you in Southern Ontario are enjoying this great weather we're having and you take the opportunity to do some Spring Cleaning in your lives to prepare you for a fresh clean Spring and Summer to come!

Cheers!