Sourdough Rugelach

Since I was travelling early in December and then got sick, I didn't get much Christmas baking done.  I decided to try my hand at Sourdough Rugelach after seeing them on December's Sourdough Surprises.  Rugelach are a filled, rolled cookie/pastry.

The original recipe was here and I took my filling ideas from here and here.

Ingredients for dough

 

1/2 c butter

3 ounces cream cheese

1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c sourdough 
1 c flour (I used 1/2 c whole wheat and 1/2 c white)
 

fillings - I checked out the fillings above and adjusted them to go with the jams I wanted to use.  You can change them to suit your taste.

filling #1

1/4 c spiced apricot jam

2 Tbsp chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp chopped raisins

filling #2

blackberry jam

chopped chocolate chips

chopped walnuts

filling #3

apple pie jam

cinnamon

chopped walnuts

chopped dried cranberries

filling #4

chopped raisins

chopped walnuts

cinnamon

sugar

filling #5

spiced apricot jam

chopped raisins

chopped walnuts

chopped dried cranberries

 

Beat butter and cream cheese together.  Add sugar and vanilla and beat again.  Add sourdough and flour and mix on low speed until mixture becomes a sticky dough.

 

Knead gently a few times on a floured surface.  Form dough into flat ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

 

Cut dough in half and place rest back in fridge.  Work quickly so dough doesn't get sticky.  Place dough onto lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 14" by 6".

 

 

Since I wanted to try several fillings, I cut the rectangle in half.  For the first half, I mixed together the jam and chopped raisins and walnuts.  I spread the mixture on the dough leaving space at the edge.  Having the raisins and nuts mixed in made the rugelach easier to roll.

 

 

Filling #2 called for mini chocolate chips.  I only had regular ones and tried to chop them in food processor - not too successfully as some of the chips turned to powder and others stayed whole.  Plus the food processor was sticky to clean.  Here I spread the jam and sprinkled on the chocolate chips and chopped nuts.

 

Roll the dough starting on the long side.  Cut slices about an inch wide and place on parchment paper.  In the original recipe you sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on the jam mixture which I thought was unnecessary.  In one of the recipes, they brushed the unbaked cookies with an egg wash and sprinkled on cinnamon sugar which I didn't do either. 

 

For the second half of the dough, I decided to try rolling them crescent-style.  Again roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface.  I used an 8" round cake pan to cut the circles.  Press scrap dough into a ball and refrigerate until ready to use it.

For the next filling I used jam, chopped cranberries and walnuts.  Spread almost to the edge.

 

Cut dough in half and then in half again.  Cut each quarter into thirds and you will have 12 cookies.  Start rolling each piece from the outer edge. 

I found these a little more finicky then the long roll.  Again place on parchment paper.



 

I then tried a cinnamon - sugar mixture with chopped raisins and nuts.  This was much harder to roll as the filling wasn't sticky so it fell out instead of sticking to the dough.

You can see the mess on the parchment paper.  It was much harder to keep these intact.

The last filling was jam and the leftover chopped raisins, cranberries and walnuts.  I just rolled the leftover dough into a rectangle and rolled and cut the rugelach as before.

Bake at 350°F for about 15 or so minutes until cookies are brown around the edges, turning pans after 10 minutes.  Some people sprinkle the cookies with icing sugar.  Cool rugelach and enjoy!



The rugelach were a big hit.  They tasted part pastry - part cookie.  I enjoyed the spice jam ones and also the ones with chocolate.  The filling variety is as broad as your imagination.  ;)

Concord Grape Jam

We had lots of Concord-type grapes this year. 

 

 

They are highly scented when they are ripe and you can smell their wonderful scent whenever you walk by.

 

 

 

This year I have made grape juice and jelly and decided to try grape jam as well. My starting point was here  http://chefinyou.com/2011/10/concord-grapes-jam/  and then I made it my way.

Ingredients
16 c grapes
2 granny apples - peeled, cored and chopped
2 c homemade pectin
6 c sugar

Start by washing, sorting and removing grapes from their stems.  I found that 8 cups of grapes off the stem is about 3 1/2 pounds.



 

 

Squeeze the grapes out of their skins and set skins aside.  I didn't find that my hands got too discoloured. 

 

Here are the grapes without their skins.   Cook the grapes until soft.  Next time I would give them a quick buzz in the food processor to help break the grapes up.  I found I had to use a potato masher to help them along.

 

Pour cooked grapes into sieve to remove the seeds. 

 

Keep working the pulp until only seeds are left.  I have been adding chopped granny apples to most of my jams this year to help with the pectin.  I also add homemade pectin to all my jams.  Add grape pulp, skins, and rest into pot and cook until you reach the jam stage.

 

 

This recipe made 7 pints of lovely jam.  It was more work than jelly but now we can compare which we like better.  ;)

 



Cherry Berry Jam

Last year I checked out many different jam recipes.  I liked the idea of a mixture of fruit.  I didn't find one for exactly what I wanted, so I made one up.

Here is my recipe for Cherry Berry Jam

Ingredients

12 c cherries
4 c raspberries
4 c blackberries
4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 c lemon juice
1 c homemade pectin
10 c sugar

I use frozen fruit because these three do not ripen at the same time.  I bring out the needed fruit a day or two ahead and thaw it in the fridge before making the jam.  I use pitted cherries and squish them as I put them into the pot.  It serves two purposes - to check for missed pits and to make it easier for the cherries to break up during the jam process.  The first time I made cherry jam I didn't do this and had to try to squash the cherries with a potato masher part way through cooking.  It is easier to squish them before cooking than mash them while they are steaming hot.

 

The blackberries are a thornless variety that grow in our yard.  I don't know if we have two varieties but some of the berries grow much larger than the rest.  The small ones are also harder to pick as they don't release from the stem as easily as the larger ones. 

 

The raspberries here seem to have a better crop in late summer.  They do produce in the spring but the berries are small and dry out quickly.  In the latter part of August and on into September and even October - we have big, juicy berries. 

 

I peel, core and chopped the apples.  The apples not only add natural pectin but give little appley bits to add texture to the jam.  Some apples mush-up quite readily when you cook them, but grannies seem to hold their shape better. 

 

Mix all ingredients except the sugar in a large pot and cook until fruit in soft and breaking apart.  Add sugar and continue boiling and stirring until it reaches the jam stage.  (either 220°F on a candy thermometer or the cold saucer test)

 

Pour into sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.  The recipe makes 10 - 11 pints.  Enjoy!  ;)

 

 



Apricot and Yellow Plum Jam

I saw a recipe for Apricot and Yellow Plum Jam in my cookbook, "250 Home Preserving Favorites" by Yvonne Tremblay that sounded interesting.

I took the basic idea and made changes because she used commercial pectin and lots of sugar.  I find most recipes with pectin have more sugar than I would like.  I don't like to make jam where you use more sugar than fruit.  It also used Apricot Brandy which I left out.

Ingredients
8 c apricots
8 c yellow plums
1 qt homemade pectin
1/2 c lemon juice
8 c sugar


Wash, half and pit apricots.  I used some greener apricots as I read fruit has more pectin then and you should use some under-ripe fruit when making jam.

I used the yellow plums on the greener side so had to cut them off the pit. Last year when they were very ripe in the Three Plum Jam http://mountaingardengleanings.blogspot.ca/2011/09/three-plum-jam.html, they seemed to be too juicy and took too long to boil down to jam.

I boiled the fruit together with the pectin and lemon juice until it was soft.

Then I added the sugar and boiled until it was jam.  Last year I used the cold saucer trick but this year I'm trying the thermometer.  You are to boil the jam until it reaches 220°F or 100°C.  Skim off foam and pour into sterilized jars.  Process for 10 minutes in hot-water bath.

The jam was very fragrant when cooking and was tasty when tested.  It is runnier than the Spiced Apricot Jam but that used apricot pulp so had less juice to boil down.  The recipe made 9 pints.

Apricot Juice and Spiced Apricot Jam

Well the apricots are ready.  We have two apricot trees that are quite different.   I was told that the apricot trees here in Lillooet all got their start from apricot pits brought over by the Chinese labourers that worked on the railroad years ago.  Apricot trees start very easily. 

Our tree in the back has very juicy fruit - so juicy that as the fruit ripens they they start to hang like little sacks of juice.  You don't want to brush against those when you are picking apricots or you'll be covered in sticky juice.  These apricots are great to eat right off the tree or to make into juice.  The fruit on the tree in the front never get that soft.  They are not as sweet to eat right from the tree but they freeze well and are good in desserts and jam.

This year, many of the apricots from the back tree had splits in the skin so were not usable as the ants were drawn to the sweetness.  We think it may have been the weather with the rainy cool spring and then very hot temperatures.  We think the skins might have toughened up and then split as the fruit got larger - but this is just speculation on our parts.

This is how I make juice and jam.  I picked two large buckets of fruit.  I wash, sorted and pitted the apricots.

I then ran the apricots through my juicer.  I have a Breville Juice Fountain Elite.  The juice goes into the jug on the right side and the pulp is collected in the container on the left.

I then bring the juice to a boil.  Skim off any foam so the juice is clearer.

Pour the juice into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.  I got 4 quarts of apricot nectar.  I don't strain out the pulp so the juice is very thick and oh so tasty.

Then I used the leftover pulp for Spiced Apricot Jam.  You could use regular apricots for the jam but would just have to cook it longer.

Ingredients
8 c apricot pulp
4 c sugar
1/3 c lemon juice
1 qt homemade pectin
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves

Pour the pulp and the rest of the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently so the jam won't burn.  The smell of apricots and spices is wonderful as the jam cooks.

I bought a candy thermometer this year and am using it instead of the cold saucer to test the jam.  You are to cook the jam until it reaches 220°F or 100°C.  Since the pulp was so thick it had a tendency to spatter and spit so I had to put it into a taller pot. 

When it reaches the jam stage, pour into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.  I got 6 pints of jam. 

Pear Juice and Pear Butter

We had a huge crop of pears this year so I decided to try some Pear Butter.  When you make fruit butter you need to cook the fruit for a long time to reduce the juice so the fruit is thick and spreadable.  I decided to make juice first and then use the pulp for the butter. 

I started with a couple of recipes and made my own.  Here are a couple of the links that started me off:  http://bad-girls-kitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/pear-butter.html   http://frugalliving.about.com/od/recipes/r/Pear_Butter.htm   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pear-butter/detail.aspx

Ingredients
2 ½ quarts pear pulp (from juicer – cored not peeled)

½ c orange juice

2 c sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

Pick pears that are mostly ripe.  I had two sinkfuls of pears to use.

Wash and core.  Remove blemishes or bad spots there is but no need to peel. 

I do not need to core the pears to juice them but since I was going to use the pulp I did core them.  Juice the pears and pour into a large pot.  Heat to boiling point then simmer 5 to 10 minutes. 

Fill sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in hot water bath. 

I ended up with 7 quarts of juice.  It is quite thick - more like a nectar instead of juice but it is quite tasty. 

Now onto the butter.  I placed the pear pulp into the crock pot along with 2 cups of left over pear juice.  I decided to add the juice because the pulp was fairly dry.   

 I cooked the pears on low for about five hours with the lid on, stirring occasionally.  Some fruit butter recipes have you keep the lid ajar so moisture escapes but it wasn't needed in my case.

I then ran the pears through my sieve to remove the peels.  In one of the links, they used an immersion blender to blend the pulp and peels.  I do not have one so did it my way.  I also found the peels were still tough - if you don't juice the pears first you need to cook much longer to reduce the liquid so the peels will have more time to soften. 

Since I did it this way, I probably did not have to core the pears first.  Oh well, one step less for next time.  There was not much waste left for the compost pile. 

I then measured the pulp so I would know how much sugar, etc. to add.  I had around 10 cups of pulp. 

The pulp was returned to the crock pot and orange juice was added. 

Sugar and spices were also added.  I used cinnamon and cloves because my mom used to can pears with cloves when I was young and I liked the taste.  You can use ginger or nutmeg instead if you prefer. 

Stir together and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours for the flavours to blend. 

Stir occasionally until smooth and heated through. 

Fill sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. 

I got 6 1/2 pints of pear butter.