1,000 Jewish Recipes (286 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
2.
Preheat oven to 425°F and heat a baking sheet in oven. Line dough with parchment paper or aluminum foil and fill it with dried beans. Bake tart on hot baking sheet 10 minutes. Remove paper and beans. Bake 7 more minutes or until base is beginning to brown. Remove tart pan from oven but leave baking sheet in oven. Let pastry shell cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
3.
Beat cream cheese with cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Stir in lemon juice and rind, vanilla, and flour.
4.
Return tart shell, still in its pan, to hot baking sheet. Pour filling into shell. Bake about 35 minutes or until filling is firm. Let tart cool in oven, with door slightly open. Refrigerate and serve cold.
 or
Â
This pastry is only lightly sweetened and so is great with sweet fruit fillings or for
Sweet Cheese Tart
. I like to make the dough in the food processor. It's very quick and easy and the results are terrific.
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons ice water
1
1
â
2
cups all-purpose flour
3
â
8
teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1
â
2
cup unsalted butter or margarine, cold, cut into bits
1.
Beat egg yolks with ice water in a small bowl. Combine flour, salt, and powdered sugar in a food processor. Process briefly to blend. Scatter butter pieces over mixture. Process with brief pulses until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2.
Pour egg yolk mixture evenly over mixture in processor. Process with brief pulses, scraping down occasionally, until dough forms sticky crumbs that can easily be pressed together but dough does not come together in a ball.
3.
If crumbs are dry, sprinkle
1
â
2
teaspoon water and process with brief pulses until dough forms sticky crumbs. Add more water by
1
â
2
teaspoons if crumbs are still dry, and process briefly each time.
4.
With a rubber spatula, transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap it and push it together. Shape dough into a flat disc. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or up to 2 days in refrigerator.
RUGELACH AND OTHER COOKIES
Rugelach are delectable, small filled pastries with a flaky, rich dough wrapped around a sweet filling. This dough is very easy to roll out and makes great-tasting pastry. You can also use it to make knishes.
6 ounces block cream cheese
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
2 cups all-purpose flour
1
â
4
teaspoon salt
1
â
3
cup sour cream
1.
Cut cream cheese into tablespoon-size pieces and let it soften at room temperature. Cut butter into small pieces of about
1
â
2
tablespoon; refrigerate them until ready to use.
2.
Combine flour, salt, and butter in a food processor and process with brief pulses until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cream cheese and sour cream, distributing them evenly over mixture. Process with brief pulses until dough just holds together. If dough is too dry, add 1 to 2 teaspoons water. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, press it together into a ball, and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate dough 4 hours before rolling, or up to 2 days.
The egg in this dough makes it flexible and easy to shape and helps the finished pastries hold together well as they bake. Use it for making rugelach or knishes. You can also use it as pie dough, but it won't be as flaky as the kind made without egg.
1 large egg
3 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed
2 cups all-purpose flour
3
â
8
teaspoon salt
3
â
4
cup (1
1
â
2
sticks) pareve margarine, cold, cut into bits
1.
Beat egg in a small bowl. Beat in 3 tablespoons ice water.
2.
Combine flour and salt in a food processor. Process briefly to blend. Scatter margarine pieces over mixture. Mix using brief pulses until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour egg mixture evenly over mixture in processor. Process with brief pulses, scraping down occasionally, until dough forms sticky crumbs that can easily be pressed together but dough does not come together in a ball. If crumbs are dry, sprinkle
1
â
2
teaspoon water and process with brief pulses until dough forms sticky crumbs. Add more water in same way,
1
â
2
teaspoon at a time, if crumbs are still dry.
3.
With a rubber spatula, transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap it, and push it together. Shape dough into a flat disk. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
Until recently, rugelach were a well-kept secret of regular shoppers at Jewish bakeries, where these delicious, not-too-sweet pastries are one of the most popular items. But the word is out. Rugelach have captured America's attention when it comes to a tasty snack. They appear in fancy food mail-order catalogs, in gourmet shops, and in many supermarkets.
People debate whether rugelach are cookies or pastries. Actually, they're sort of both. They're made of pastry and are served like cookies, with coffee, tea, or milk.
These traditional home-baked rugelach are scrumptious. Like croissants, they are rich, tender, and flaky, but they demand less effort. In fact, they're easier than pie! You don't need to worry about dough that tears, cracks, or doesn't hold together. They bake quickly too. And you can freeze them, either baked or unbaked, or keep the baked ones about 4 days in airtight containers.
The rugelach filling couldn't be easierâyou scatter chopped nuts, cinnamon, and sugar over the dough. Be sure the walnuts are very fresh. For another time-honored rendition, add light or dark raisins to the filling along with the nuts.
Cream Cheese Dough for Rugelach (or Knishes)
1
â
4
cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3
â
4
cup chopped golden or dark raisins (optional)
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1.
Prepare dough. Then, lightly butter 2 or 3 baking sheets. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. If using raisins, mix them with walnuts in another bowl.
2.
Divide dough into 4 pieces. Press one fourth of dough into a round, then flatten it. Roll it on a lightly floured surface into a 9-inch circle about
1
â
8
-inch thick. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture all over circle of dough. Sprinkle either
1
â
4
cup nuts or a scant
1
â
2
cup raisin-walnut mixture near outer edge of circle. Press lightly with rolling pin so nut mixture adheres.
3.
With a heavy, sharp knife, cut circle into 12 wedges, making each cut with a sharp downward movement of heel of knife. Roll up tightly from wide end to point, making sure filling is enclosed.
4.
Put rugelach on baking sheets, with points of triangles facing down, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Curve each into a crescent, if desired. Refrigerate while shaping more cookies. Refrigerate all at least 20 minutes before baking.
5.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies 22 to 25 minutes or until light golden. Cool on racks.
Rugelach are made with a variety of fruit fillings by using jams or preserves. Strawberry, raspberry, and apricot are the most popular but rugelach are also made with fillings of blackberries, dates, and orange. You can use any jam you like. Some people fill rugelach with poppy seed fillings like those used in hamantaschen.
Jam fillings taste good in rugelach because the dough is not sweetened. To balance the jam's sweetness, I like to add chopped nuts and grated lemon rind.