19. Chocolate Rugelach

What on earth is a rugelach? It’s a good question, and to be honest, I had to google them to make sure they were actually a thing. Turns out that rugelach are a type of Jewish pastry made with a cream cheese based dough, that looks kind of like a miniature croissant. I first came across them in Marc Grossman’s book, New York Cult Recipes, and thought they sounded amazing. And then promptly forgot about them. But then I started patisserie school and wanted to start playing around with different types of pastry, so, a cream cheese dough seemed like something fun to try. I found a number of rugelach recipes online, most of them chocolate, some of them jam filled, and came up with this. I hope you enjoy them!

Makes 12 Rugelach

Ingredients

Pastry

• 100g (3.5oz) plain flour

• 60g (2oz) cream cheese (I used lactofree. It keeps so much longer if you’re not using the whole pot in one go)

• 60g (2oz) butter

• A pinch of salt

Ganache

• 25ml single cream

• 50g (1.75oz) dark chocolate

• 10g (0.5oz) butter

Topping and glaze

• 50g (1.75oz) dark chocolate, chopped into almost shavings.

• 50g (1.75oz) caster sugar

• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Start with the dough. Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth, but not fluffy. Fold in the flour and salt until it forms a dough and then wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours until it is completely chilled.

2. Next make the ganache, a bit before you take the dough out of the fridge. Heat the butter and cream in a pan over a medium heat until the butter has completely melted and it all just comes to the boil. Then remove it from the heat and throw in the chocolate bit by bit and stir to combine the melting chocolate into the cream. Your ganache should be smooth and glossy.

3. Preheat the oven to 170C.

4. Take your dough out of the fridge and on a floured surface, roll it into a roughly round shape that’s just a bit larger than a standard dinner plate. Roughly 11 inches or so in diameter.

5. Spread the ganache over the dough. (I think I put a bit too much on as it came out the sides a fair bit, I’d try a thinner layer if possible!)

6. Mix together the chopped chocolate and sugar and then sprinkle about half of it over the ganache until you have a good even covering.

7. Slice the round into 12 “pizza slices”. Starting from the outside edge of each slice, roll the slices into a croissant type shape. This should be fairly tight, but not so tight all your filling comes spilling out.

8. Place your rugelachs on a lined baking tray and brush them with the beaten egg. Then sprinkle over the rest of the chopped chocolate and sugar.

9. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.

10. Allow to cool before serving.