Raspberry and chocolate rugelach...

One of my favourite cookbooks in my possession is the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I have drooled over every page and have loved everything I've tried so far...the flavours are just so good.

I had a bit of a SK lovefest over the weekend and tried out two new recipes. We started the weekend off by having a meal with some friends so first up I made the white chocolate pudding with blackberry curd for dessert. The curd? delicious ( and so quick!). The pudding? So delicious but also really runny - but I don't mind drinking a dessert if it's tasty...thankfully our friends didn't mind either :)

The next morning I woke up to a grey foggy Saturday and had little motivation to do anything other than to stay in my pj's for as long as possible, crafting and baking (and let's face it - procrastinating on pinterest) the day away.

So I made Rugelach.

I had never tasted or even heard of rugelach before but I can attest that they are very very delicious! I had a quick google of them and discovered their name is Yiddish for 'little twists'...I'll be honest, that makes me love them even more. I'm a sucker for cute names...yes, sadly, even for food.

Apparently they are traditionally made with yeasted dough but more commonly these days they are made with a cream cheese dough. I hadn't ever made a cream cheese dough before so I wanted to see how it turned out. I also halved the recipe as it makes a whopping 48 rugelach!

They're so little...and moreish.

Chocolate Raspberry Rugelach (recipe from Smitten Kitchen, quantities adapted)
Makes - 24

Ingredients:
Dough -
115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
115g cream cheese
1/4tsp salt
125g plain flour

Filling -
110g seedless raspberry jam
115g granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
40g dark chocolate chips
(original recipe also uses chopped toasted pecans)

Glaze -
1 large egg yolk
1tsp water
Cinnamon sugar (use leftovers from above)

1. First up beat the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy.

2. Combine the flour and salt and add to the cream cheese/butter. Beat on a low speed just until the flour is combined. Squash the dough into a flattish rectangle, wrap with clingfilm, and chill for 2 hours.

3. Prepare the fillings. For the jam, heat the jam in a saucepan until it simmers, this thins it out, making it easier to spread. For the cinnamon sugar - combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Also prepare two baking trays with lined paper.

4. Halve the dough and wrap one half and place it back in the fridge. Take the remaining half and roll out on a well floured surface. Roll into a rough circle about 20-25cm wide.

5. Spread half of the jam over the pastry (go right to the edges), sprinkle over 1-1&1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar and then add a tablespoon of chocolate drops.

6. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into 12 wedges (like a pizza). Taking one wedge, roll the outer edge inwards towards the centre. Once rolled up place the rugelach onto a lined baking tray with the pointed end tucked underneath. Repeat with the remaining wedges.

7. Place the prepared rugelach into the freezer for 15 minutes (I just chilled mine in the fridge because of limited space) and preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Repeat steps 4-7 with the second half of the dough.

8. Brush the rugelach with the glaze (beaten egg yolk with water) and sprinkle over the remaining cinnamon sugar.

9. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack while still hot. Allow to cool.

I really love these, I think next time I might omit the chocolate though. They made a great combination but I particularly loved the raspberry and cinnamon sugar together.

I want to try this apricot and walnut variation next :)

Happy Monday!