Rugelach, Delicate Festive Cookies.

December is undoubtedly one of the busiest months of the year. The holidays and their anticipation take a toll on us but they definitely bring unparalleled joy and warmth!

Though this year I did not have much time to think of an elaborate Christmas menu as my energy level is a bit down, I managed to determine one of the menu's sweet items.

I recently tried and really loved a sweet cookie called rugelach. I was not really sure how the cookies' name should be pronounced but I was certain that I found cookies that are worth featuring on my Christmas table or any other festive table.

These crescent shaped cookies were brought to America by the Asheknazi immigrants. The original recipe was leavened with yeast and sour cream was added for flavor and moisture. However, in the last century, the sour cream was dropped and replaced with cream cheese and the dough was no longer fermented.

The cream cheese adds an incredible softness to the dough and the butter makes it flaky and crumbly. The dough is usually stuffed with jam, chocolate and nuts all dusted with cinnamon. The filling can be customized to your liking; as longer as you like the ingredient, use it!

These cookies will captivate you with their aromatic, flaky and satisfyingly rich flavor.

Let´s make some rugelach.

 For the dough you need: (enough for 24 small pieces)

• 170 g all purpose flour 
• 160 g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 140 g cold cream cheese
• pinch of salt
• 20 g sugar
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• dash of salt

In a big bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, zest, cinnamon and butter and mix with the paddle attachment until you get a sandy mixture. You can also use your pastry blender. Add the cream cheese and mix until well combined.

Divide the dough into 3 equal parts, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For the filling:

• 150 g orange jam
• 70 g chopped pecans or walnuts
• 60 g sugar
• about 50 g dark chocolate
• 1 and half  tsp cinnamon.

Assembly:

On a generously floured surface, roll the dough (keep the other 2 parts in the fridge while you roll the first one) to about 20 to 22 cm disk of 2-3 mm thick.

Spread about 50 g of the jam, leaving 1 cm away from the edge. Cut the disk in 4 parts, then each part into 2 triangles. Sprinkle 20 g of the sugar, half tsp of the cinnamon, a generous sprinkle of pecans and the grated chocolate.

Roll each triangle into a crescent shape and tuck the edge on the bottom side to prevent the rugelach from opening while baking. Once you finish rolling you need to put the rugelach again in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

Repeat the same process with the remaining dough.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Brush each cookie with milk, cream or egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake for 20 to 25 min or until golden brown.

As they bake, the cookies will fill your home with an irresistible Christmas aroma wafting from the cinnamon, the orange, the nuts, the chocolate and the dough itself. A heavenly mix!   I am sure you won't be able to wait for the cookies to cool completely before eating one or two.

With this recipe, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Keep on baking!

Sfouf, the Vegan Anise and Turmeric Semolina Cake

In a previous post I went over that special ingredient my mother always had/has on standby to use to whip a lot sorts of sweets including a childhood favorite, the crumbly yellow yumminess we call "Sfouf".  This turmeric or saffron colored/flavored cake is still on my list of favorite desserts that are also incredibly easy to make.

The cake has some other claims to fame! Beyond being easy to make and requiring very simple ingredients, it is a vegan, suitable for lactose intolerant people and those with egg allergies. Additionally, it can be easily made with polenta or gluten free flour for gluten intolerant people.

Back home, we used to make this recipe a lot during the lent season. Being a vegan recipe, it suited my parents well as they abstain from any meat or dairy for a period of 50 days. In addition to sfouf, we would look for other vegan recipes (like this rice pudding) that suited our cravings for sweets in the lent. As traditions mean a lot to me, I like to make sfouf during this season, especially in the last days of the lent.  It's a sweet reminder of days gone by!

It is worth mentioning that there is a non-vegan recipe of sfouf, but let's leave this for another post!

As you will see, the recipe is pretty simple. It is also quite flexible and you can adapt it to your own liking. I like my version to be more crumbly. That's why I use more semolina than flour. But if you want a more consistent cake invert the quantities mentioned below. Another thing you can modify easily is the quantity of sugar used; adjust to your liking.

The main flavors of the cake come from the use of two spices: anise and turmeric. Yet again, you can adjust the quantities to your liking, just be careful that turmeric in excess would give an unpleasant bitter aftertaste.  I used anise in two ways:  anise infused water and ground anise. My parting from the traditional cake I knew is my use of a small quantity of ground mahaleb cherry seeds. The use of mahaleb is totally optional, you can omit it or use instead some almond extract.

For an 18 cm round pan you need:

• 150 g fine semolina
• 100 g cake flour
• 125 g sugar (you can use less if you want)
• 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 3/4 tsp ground anise
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground mahaleb cherry
• 100 g oil (I used a mix of ;light olive oil and sunflower oil)
• 200 g boiling water
• 1 tsp anise
• sesame seeds, walnuts, pine nuts for the topping
• Tahini paste to coat the pan (if not available use oil)

First you need to infuse the anise seeds in the hot water and leave to cool.

In a bowl, combine semolina, flour, sugar, turmeric, ground anise, salt, baking powder  and mahaleb cherry and stir to mix the dry ingredients.

Add the oil and mix well. Add the anise water and whisk until well combined.

The batter will be rather liquid which will give you a moist cake. Pour the batter into the tahini covered pan.

Sprinkle the topping of your choice, I used three. Sesame is the traditional topping, but you can use cashews or pecans. Experiment and make the recipe your own.

Bake for 30 min at 180 C. Check after 25 min; insert a skewer in the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean then it´s done. 

Leave it to cool for about 10 to 20 min, remove it for the pan and wait until it cools completely.

Now all you need is to slice, sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar and enjoy with a cup of mint tea or coffee.