Apricot & Almond Rugelachs and Pear & Pecan Rugelachs
So delicious! A different variation with two choices of fruit and nuts, with a dark chocolate drizzle on the top.
Recipe: Yields: approx. 48-50 Rugelachs
* Dark chocolate drizzle *
I have been working on a chocolate recipe for months, that not only taste
delicious, but would also have a good "set," meaning that the end result would have a solid, hard surface like store bought chocolate chips.
I have tried so many variations to the point of weariness.
I finally have conceded and am willing to settle for a little tackiness in the lack of "setting" rather than have less delicious flavor.
This does occur a few times with the healthier choices in cooking and baking. Sugar cane products are one of the first items that need to be eliminated from one's diet and so, this is truly a very minor issue to accept, as having a healthier diet is so much more important than a slight difference in texture.
So with that said, here are 3 variations that can be used. I prefer my own personal rendition of Ganache, as it has wonderful flavor, so much so, that it is very difficult to stop eating. I can definitely live with a little tackiness.
Just don't stack dipped or drizzled cookies and pastries on top of each other.
Ganache (#1)
1/2 cup organic butter 1 1/8 cup organic coconut sugar
3 tbsps. organic cacao powder 3 tbsp. organic extra virgin coconut oil dash organic vanilla
2 tbsp. organic heavy cream 1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. Himalayan salt In a small pan, add the butter to melt on low heat, add coconut sugar and cacao. Stir with whisk as it melts. When blended together, then add the heavy cream and keep whisking. It will pull together and get tighter and thicker and will get a glossy sheen and will also, pull away from the sides of the pan. Then turn the heat off, wait a few minutes, then whisk in the vanilla.
Let this cool down, until it is cool enough to put into a plastic baggie
that you need to just cut a small piece from one side to give you an instant
piping bag to decorate with. Gently squeeze the air out of and twist the top
shut and begin.
* cookie dips or swirls * drizzles for pastries, cakes, and pies
* layering the bottoms of tarts and pies
* coating peanuts or almonds (keep refrigerated)
* chocolate swirl through or as a topping for ice cream
(#2)
1 1/2 cups organic cacoa butter - grated
3/4 cup organic cacao powder
1/2 - 2/3 cups maple syrup (per your preference in sweetness)
1/4 tsp, Himalayan salt
1 tsp. organic vanilla extract
Place the cocoa butter into bain-marie and heat until melted, stirring
with rubber spatula. Add the cacao powder and whisk in well.
Remove from heat and add in the remaining ingredients.
Tip: Or use a stainless steel basin bowl that sits on top of a sauce pan that has 1/3 amount of water in the bottom. Put the chocolate pieces in the basin bowl on top and heat the water up in the bottom pan. The steam will lightly
heat the basin bowl up and melt the chocolate. This prevents the chocolate
from burning in a pan with direct heat.
(#3)
3oz. organic unsweetened dark chocolate baking bar - Sunspire brand
1/4 cup organic agave syrup
2 tbsp. organic cacao butter - grated
1 tsp. organic vanilla extract
14/ tsp. Himalayan salt
Place broken up pieces of chocolate into a bain-marie. Heat until melted, stirring with rubber spatula. Stir in cacao butter to melt.
Remove from heat source and then add agave syrup, salt, and vanilla and
whisk well.
Tip: You can interchange the liquid sweeteners in these last two recipes, but if you try to do so with coconut sugar, than the texture and set will be quite off.
Dough:
3 cups organic whole wheat flour - chemical free
1 1/2 cups organic butter
12 oz. organic sour cream
Filling:
10oz. organic apricot fruit spread - sugar free
10oz. organic pear fruit spread - sugar free
1 1/4 cups organic almonds - fine chopped
1 1/4 cups organic pecans - fine chopped
Egg wash:
1 pastured or organic egg - beaten well
large dollop of cream
In a food processor, add flour and butter and blend well into a crumbly
mixture. Add the sour cream and blend just until incorporated.
Remove onto lightly floured surface and knead just a few turns and form
into 3 rounds. Wrap each round with saran wrap and place in refrigerator
for 1 hour.
Place parchment paper onto stainless sheet pans. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Pull out one round, leaving the other two in refrigerator, until needed.
Place the round onto a lightly floured surface, and cut in half.
Form each half into a round and roll into a 12 inch circle. Cut into triangle wedges, approx. 6 inches long and 5 inches across the top.
Note: You may not achieve ideal triangle wedges, so just trim to fit the
shape needed, the best you can. Then take leftover scraps of dough and
roll out again and cut to fit shape.
Spread a tsp. of jelly from the large wide top down about 3/4 of the way.
Sprinkle 1 tsp. nuts on top of jelly.
Starting at wide top, then roll in 3 large loops. Place onto sheet pans with the tail end up, looped over the roll. Do the other round in the same procedure.
They will look like crescents.
Using a pastry brush, first lift up the tail and brush egg wash on top of roll
(underneath tail) and then place tail back down (this seals it) and continue to brush egg wash over the whole roll.
Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes, until lightly brown. Remove from sheet pans
to cool on parchment paper or racks.
After 10 minutes of baking time, proceed to roll out another round and
prepare. Follow this time frame until all are baked. Let these cool down
some before adding chocolate drizzle.
Spoon cooled chocolate sauce into piping bag and drizzle on top of Rugelachs. Let set. Enjoy!
