Aylenish Rugelach With Orange Walnuts And Cinnamon Recipes

Steps:

• Soak raisins in rum and 1/2 cup very hot water. In a medium bowl, combine both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts and a pinch of salt. Drain raisins (discard soaking liquid) and mix them into sugar mixture. In a saucepan, melt marmalade until runny. Remove any large chunks orange peel.
• Cut about a 4-ounce piece of puff pastry and roll out on a floured board into a rectangle, about 17 inches by 7 1/2 inches. The pastry should be thin and supple enough to drape, but not so thin that holes start to appear when rolling.
• Brush a 2 1/2-inch-wide stripe of marmalade down the long center of the rectangle. Sprinkle marmalade with filling and fold top edge down over filling. Brush the top of filled section with marmalade and sprinkle marmalade with filling. Fold bottom edge up over the filling to make a kind of flattened roll; do not press. Cut in half crosswise and refrigerate rolls for 20 to 30 minutes, or freeze for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees; use the convection setting if you have it. Cut rolls across into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Place slices, seam side down, on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Brush tops with egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and puffed. Let cool slightly before removing to a cooling rack. Meanwhile, repeat with remaining pastry and filling. Store at room temperature in layers separated by parchment paper, in airtight containers.

Steps:

• To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar and kosher salt in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Add the cubed butter, distributing it all over the top of the dry ingredients, and dollop in the cream cheese (1-inch dollops should do it, but it doesn't need to be perfect). Turn the mixer on low and stir until the mixture is mostly mealy and there are still some larger clumps of butter and cream cheese intact. Continue mixing and add the yolks, vanilla and almond extract if using. Continue mixing until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half and shape into discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
• Mix the marmalade, cinnamon and cloves in a small bowl and set aside.
• To form the rugelach, working with one dough disc at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as needed to prevent it from sticking, until it is a wide rectangle, 18-by-9-inches. Use an offset spatula to spread on half of the marmalade in a thin even layer, leaving a 1-inch border along the long edge that's furthest from you. Sprinkle on 1/2 cup of the walnuts. Brush the 1-inch border with a thin layer of egg wash and then start on the end closest to you and roll the dough into a long tight log, placing it seam-side down. Transfer to a cutting board or baking sheet and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 2 days (depending on fridge space, you might want to cut the log in half so you're dealing with 4 shorter logs as opposed to 2 really long ones). If you're only refrigerating for an hour or 2, no need to cover the logs. If longer than that, cover with plastic wrap.
• To bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush the logs with a thin layer of egg wash, sprinkle with a few pinches of flaky salt, the remaining 1/4 cup walnuts and the colorful sugar or sprinkles if using. Cut into 1 1/2-inch slices and transfer to the baking sheets, 1-inch apart. Bake until golden brown on top; begin checking for doneness at 24 minutes. (You might notice that the cookies seem to sweat and leak out some fat while in the oven, this is completely normal.) Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Or enjoy them warm! Leftovers can be stored at room temp for several days.

Steps:

• Beat the soft cheese and butter together using electric beaters or in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the 50g of caster sugar, the salt and vanilla extract, and beat to combine.
• Add the flour gradually, beating on a low setting until just combined. Do not overwork it or the dough will become tough and chewy. Add a little more flour if it's very sticky.
• Press the dough into a ball and divide it into quarters. Wrap each ball of dough and press into a flat disc. Chill for at least 30 mins to firm up a little.
• Meanwhile, mix together the 30g of caster sugar, the brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and walnuts. If you prefer a less chunky finish, give them a quick whizz in a food processor or chop them very finely.
• Take one of the discs from the fridge, and on a well-floured board, roll out the first ball into a large circle of at least 23cm diameter.
• Cut out a 23cm circle and spread the circle thinly with a tablespoon of the apricot jam, then sprinkle evenly with about 2-3 tablespoons of the filling, so the circle has a fine covering.
• Using a pizza cutting wheel or sharp knife, divide the circle into 8 or 12 wedges, depending how large you want your biscuits to be - 12 wedges makes mini rugelach.
• Roll each wedge up from the wider, outside edge to the thinnest point, tucking the point under. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, allowing at least a centimetre or two between them.
• Put the tray in the fridge while you repeat with the remaining balls of dough. You should have enough dough left over to make a fifth circle, and you may need to bake them in batches.
• Chill the formed rugelach for at least 30 mins. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and mix the last 2 tbsp of caster sugar with the 1 tsp cinnamon.
• Brush each rugelach with the egg wash, then sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar and bake for 25 mins until lightly browned. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Steps:

• To make the dough: Let the cream cheese and butter rest on the counter for 10 minutes - you want them to be slightly softened but still cool.
• Put the flour and salt in a food processor, scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine 6 to 10 times. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds - don't work it so long that it forms a ball on the blade.
• Turn the dough out, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day. (Wrapped airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)
• To make the filling: Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave, until it liquefies. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (Silicone baking mats are great for rugelach.)
• To shape the cookies: Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it is too firm to roll easily, either leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.
• Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 11- to 12-inch circle. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar. Scatter over half of the nuts, half of the currants and half of the chopped chocolate. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.
• Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges, or triangles. (The easiest way to do this is to cut the dough into quarters, then to cut each quarter into 4 triangles.) Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent. Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate. Repeat with the second packet of dough, and refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking. (The cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 2 months; don't defrost before baking, just add a couple of extra minutes to the baking time.)
• Getting ready to bake: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• To finish: Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar.
• Bake the cookies 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.