Rugelach

Sweet Treat for a Sweet New Year

Rugelach, pronounced RUGH-uh-luhkh, is a traditional treat for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rugelach are bite-sized, crescent-shaped cookies made with a cream cheese dough and filled with a variety of ingredients including raisins, nuts, and jams. The sweet fillings symbolize the wish for a sweet year.

According to Jewish Cooking From Around the World by Josephine Levy Bacon, rugelach originated in Poland. However,The World of Jewish Cooking by Gil Marks states that in 1793, Austrian bakers shaped various baked goods into crescents (kipferin), the emblem on the Ottoman flag, to celebrate the lifting of the Turkish siege of Vienna. Hence, crescent-shaped cookies were popular in Vienna because they symbolized victory over the Turks. In Yiddish, rugelach means "little twists."

"Although rugelach is easy to make and tastes delicious, rugelach dough is delicate and tears easily," says CIA Chef Francisco Migoya. "When working with rugelach, it is important to work quickly enough to not allow the dough to warm up to room temperature. If your dough tears, pat it into a flat disc and return it to the refrigerator for one-half hour. Always generously flour the work surface before rolling out the dough."

Rugelach dough is rolled into a circle (similar to pizza dough), spread or sprinkled with the desired fillings, cut into 16 triangles, and rolled up from the wide end to make small crescent shapes.

"Rugelach cookies should look rustic and need not be perfectly uniform," adds Chef Migoya. "The CIA's recipe for rugelach is unique in that there is no sugar or eggs in the dough, which complements the sweet fillings."

The following recipe for rugelach, along with many other desserts, is explained and illustrated in Baking At Home with The Culinary Institute of America (2004, John Wiley & Sons) which is available for purchase at bookstores nationwide or atwww.ciaprochef.com/fbi/enthusiasts.html.

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Rugelach

Makes 64 cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted (instructions below)
• 1/3 cup chopped semisweet chocolate (optional)
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• Flourless cooking spray for greasing
• 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar (1/2 tsp ground cinnamon mixed with 1/3 cup sugar)
• Egg wash (1 large egg whisked with 2 Tbsp cold milk or water)

1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed, about 2 minutes. On low speed, mix in the sifted dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed to blend evenly. Wrap the dough tightly and chill until firm, 15–20 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to an even thickness of 1 inch and fold in thirds, like a letter. Wrap the dough and let it rest for at least 1 hour and up to overnight in the refrigerator.
4. To make the filling, combine the pecans and chocolate, if using, in a food processor and chop, pulsing the machine on and off, until an even, coarse paste forms. Transfer to a bowl and blend in the jam.
5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray or line them with parchment paper.
6. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each into a 10-inch round. Spread one-fourth of the filling over each round, sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of the cinnamon sugar, then cut each into 16 wedges. Roll the wedges up starting with the wide end.
7. Brush each wedge lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with some of the remaining cinnamon sugar.
8. In batches, bake until the cookies are a light golden brown, rotating the pans as necessary to bake evenly, 25–30 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely before serving.

Toasting nuts:

1. Toast small amounts of nuts in a dry skillet. For large quantities, use the oven.
2. For a small quantity of nuts, preheat a dry skillet over medium heat; cast iron is a good choice because it heats evenly. Once the pan is hot, scatter the nuts in a single layer without crowding. Gently swirl the pan or stir the nuts frequently so they toast evenly.
3. For larger quantities of nuts, preheat the oven to 325°F. Spread the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and toast them until golden brown and fragrant, 7–15 minutes, depending on the size of the nut. Stir nuts occasionally as they toast in the oven; those on the edges of the baking sheet will tend to brown more quickly.
4. Just when the nuts reach the color you want, immediately transfer them from the skillet or baking sheet to a cool container. This keeps them from continuing to brown. Toast nuts before chopping them for the best results.

Nutritional analysis using chocolate per cookie: 90 calories, 1 gram protein, 8 grams carbohydrate, 6 grams fat, 15 milligrams cholesterol, 20 milligrams sodium.