First, a public service announcement:
VOTE!
I love rugelach. I should say, I love homemade rugelach, because this little pastry is best eaten the day it’s made. I’ve tried several different recipes, including this one, and all I can say is that I’m going to have to conduct more culinary experiments. Many, many more experiments. All in the interest of science, you see. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
This week, Piggy of Piggy’s Cooking Journal chose rugelach, from pages 150-151 of Dorie’s book (you can find the recipe at Piggy’s blog, as well). The only change that I made was to eliminate the chocolate from the filling. I’m a purist, you see – I want to get the full flavor of whatever filling I use, and I’ve found that the chocolate really detracts from the whole cinnamon/apricot jam dynamic. Which leads me to one of two tips that I can share when it comes to rugelach: use the best jam you can find, as it makes an enormous difference in the end. Of course, if you use Nutella, like some wonderful bakers out there, you’re guaranteed a great result!
My second tip is to leave a small empty circle in the middle of your pastry after you’ve rolled it into a circle, as you see in the picture below:
Why? Because when you roll up the pastry, you push the filling towards the middle, and leaving it empty will reduce the amount of filling that oozes out. That’s a good thing because the sugary mixture tends to burn.
To see what other bakers did with the recipe, check out the blogroll, and come back next week for Kugelhopf!
Related Articles
19 users responded in this post
Nutella would be a great filling, thanks for the tip. I had never had this before, I read that it is best on the day made – I hope it is ok that I made it late at night and sent it to hubby’s work in the morning. It is less than 24 hours, is that considered same day?
Yours looks scrumptious! Great colour.
Oh, and being Canadian, I voted last month. 🙂
Thanks for the tipp with the plain circle in the middle.
Great looking rugelachs and I am excited about the voting!
Leave out the chocolate???
Oh dear.
Yours look great.
Anything for science, right? 🙂 Love the tip about leaving the center empty – I always forget that!
I love the tip to leave a bit in the middle. Those look wonderful- great job!
Thanks for the tip about leaving the center filling-free! I’ll have to try that next time!
good tip about the center! i did pinwheels because my triangle cutting and croissant rolling skills are sub par…but the TASTE is amazing.
That’s such a great tip about leaving the middle empty, because my caramel was oozing all over the place! Yours look delicious!
aha, that is a great tip about the circle in the middle!! yours look delicious:)
Nutella….said in Homer Simpson manner of speaking…
These look yummy! I love the scalloped edges. They add a touch of elegance. I think I would leave the chocolate out next time, it does overpower the rest of the taste. Very nice!
Yum! I’m a fellow TWD baker, and I was thinking that it would be nice if we all could chip in and get Laurie some small token/gift for all the work she does. Would you be willing to contribute? If I can get enough people, it would only be about $1 per person. No pressure 🙂 Let me know! bethberg12@yahoo.com
I love the edges of yours with that scallop/zigzag look…very pretty. As is your cookie. Thanks for the tip about not going clear to the middle with the filling…that would make things a whole lot easier. Thanks!
Great tip! I wish I would have done that! Your rugelach look delicious!
Great suggestion about leaving the center w/o filling – I’m going to try that out!!
Great tip for the filling. I did mine jellyroll style, and it helps to leave the far edge with no filling as well. I love how you cut the wedges with the fluted cutter–it makes your rugelach very pretty.
Great tip about leaving the center w. no filling. This is definitely a recipe worth repeating!
What a great tip! That can be used for many roll-up type cookies. Yours look very delicious, too!
Cool idea about leaving the center free of filling. It definitely gets messy too trying to pick up the just rolled cookie.
Yours sound yummy!