Tuesday, November 4, 2008

TWD: Rugelach

For your consideration: Rugelach from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 150-151 featured this week on Tuesdays with Dorrie.

For my rugelach, I used Sweet Potato Butter (with Honey) that I picked up during last week’s apple orchard/farm stand trek to the North Georgia Mountains (post to follow – yes I’m behind… again). Since I’m not a big fan of cooked raisins, I simply left those out.

I followed the recipe and did the radial/pizza wedge method described in Dorie’s book first. Disaster. If you want to try this particular method, use LOTS of flour to dust the counter, don’t roll the dough too thin and work very quickly so that your dough doesn’t warm up too much. I had to use my handy dandy offset spatula once again (it’s quickly becoming one of my top 5 favorite utensils, previously relegated to the bottom strata of one of my drawers) to scrape them each off the counter, jimmying them up with an edge of flour. My chunkies were too chunky and didn’t cut well with the pizza cutter and the dough tore up a little.

For the second half of the dough I decided to actually go look at the TWD P&Q area for this recipe. (No, I have no idea – maybe Posts and Questions? Mind your P's & Q's?) EVERYONE had a grand time with these and nobody’s fused to the counter like mine did. I did check out one of the links posted there that sent me to Martha’s website where she had a video of 2 gals making these for their bakery. They did the jellyroll pinwheel thing. Hey, if it works for Martha, it works for me. Well, sort of. My dough didn’t stick to the counter this time, having learned that lesson, and I also made them on my non-stick silicone baking mat. They were sort of crumbly anyway, but they did look reasonably better than the pseudo-crescents however. I dusted them with Turbinado sugar, maybe too much sugar though because it got runny and caramelized all over the baking sheet.

I liked this recipe and these tasted amazingly good. I'm sharing my cook's notes/trial and errors with you so you can learn from my experiences. I’m just frustrated with myself for not fully mastering the execution of it. If attempted it a few more times, I might get the technique right. These tasted great but looked less than beautiful. I took them to school and once I talked everyone past their homeliness, they got rave reviews.

Thanks to Piggy of Piggy’s Cooking Journal for choosing this recipe. To see what all the other TWDers did with this recipe, check out the blogroll here. If you'd like to try making Dorie’s Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes for yourself, you can find the recipe on our hostesses blog, or in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

POSTSCRIPT:
Do not wait until the last minute to make next week's TWD.
It takes HOURS / DAYS. Please read the recipe completely, and a Bundt pan works fine.


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23 comments:

  1. They look good! I've never had them...or heard of them, for that fact.

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  2. SWEET POTATO BUTTER! Can I just tell you that I wanted to incorporate pumpkin or sweet potato or something in this to get some fall flavors but I was like, how do I DO that!? That is the answer! And yours look SO goo!

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  3. I am thinking that P&Q = "problems and questions?" Of course, I would assume that because I always go there with my problems. I'm not seeing homely in yours -- I'm seeing rustic. I would grab a handful for sure -- the deliciousness just jumps through my monitor!

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  4. WOWOWOWOW! Sweet potato butter!? AMAZING!
    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

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  5. They look great! I think this tasty little treat is just that, more about the taste than the look. Mine turned out really well and were easy, so I'm guessing THAT was a fluke and if I make them again I may not be as happy. I think sometimes that just happens. Sweet potato butter. I might have to look for some of that online or something--sounds SO good! You're too hard on yourself.
    Hey, thanks again for the blog award.

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  6. Oh Lisa.. thank you so MUCH!!! You are wonderful! I am beside myself "blushing"

    Oh, and goodness these are amazing = ) Fab, fab! Sweet Potato Butter.. oh.. I never but I did have raisin butter though = )

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  7. Those look good! I like the sound of that Sweet Potato Butter with Honey.

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  8. I went with the pinwheel version, too, and found it worked pretty well. They didn't turn out as well as I hoped, mainly because I was impatient. I definitely want to give these another try. Thanks for the heads-up on next week's recipe, too.

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  9. Looks good!!!

    -DTW
    www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

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  10. I love that you used sweet potato butter, and I can't wait to read about your foray into N. Ga. I think your pinwheels look fantastic. And thanks, I guess, for the head's up on the kugelhopf. It may be the first week I miss since I joined.
    Nancy

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  11. Great job on this weeks TWD. These look extra yummy!

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  12. i have never seen something as breathtaking as sweet potato butter with honey. i just fainted haha those rugelachs must've tasted amazing with it.

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  13. I love the sound of sweet potato butter. I've never heard of that. But I could sure handle tasting it. And I love your pinwheels.

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  14. Sweet potato butter - I have never heard of that before, but it sounds awesome. I had issues with the aesthetics of my cookies as well. Perfect crescents just weren't happening. I think your pinwheels look really nice, though! Good idea.

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  15. The sweet potato butter sounds perfect in these.

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  16. Sweet potato butter sounds amazing. I think p and q stands for problems and questions.

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  17. I noticed that one other person did the pinwheels, they look awesome.
    The oven manages to fix up our fumblings - I am always surprised how good pastry turns out after I make a mess out of it.
    Thanks for the tips re the kugelhopf, I will start it on Saturday.
    Cheers!

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  18. Thanks for the tip on next weeks recipe. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it. Guess I had better go read the recipe more fully. As for the rugelach, as long as they tasted good is all that matters.

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  19. I also found that my dough warmed up really quickly, and it wasn't even that warm in my kitchen. Live and learn!

    And yes--next week's cake takes FOREVER. Did you like it? I was pretty disappointed in the final product, and was then a little bitter that it took so much time. Oh well!

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  20. They look great, I liked these a lot!!

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  21. I think your rugelach look great! I haven't made them yet so I appreciate your notes.

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  22. for a delicious sweet potato butter, try this:

    www.cunninghamfarms.com

    it's amazing!

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