Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (301 page)
1.
Using floured hands, shape dough masses into 2 loaves, each about 13 inches long and roughly 2 inches in diameter.
2.
Use serrated knife to cut baked loaves into ³⁄
8
-inch slices, then return to baking sheet for second baking.
3.
Lay slices about ¹⁄
2
inch apart on baking sheet cut side up for their second baking.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Rugelach should be made out of a meltingly tender, delicate dough with a slightly acidic tang. The filling should be a bounteous combination of preserves, fruit, and nuts plus a spice-spiked sugar. But the dough can be sticky, soft, and hard to work with, and often the filling is either overwhelming or almost negligible. We discovered that a cream cheese and butter dough refrigerated until firm before applying the filling gave our baked cookies the flakiest, most delicate texture. For the best filling for our rugelach, we layered apricot jam with finely chopped walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon sugar. Finally, baking the cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and removing them from the pans as soon as they were done prevented overbaking for tender cookies with just the right amount of sweet, spiced fruit filling.
MAKES 32 COOKIES
If at any point the dough becomes too soft to work with, chill it until it is firm enough to handle. Feel free to substitute chopped pitted prunes, chopped dried apricots, dried currants, dried cherries, or dried cranberries for the raisins in the filling.
DOUGH
8 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened |
4 | ounces cream cheese, softened |
1 | tablespoon sugar |
1 | teaspoon vanilla extract |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1 | cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour |
FILLING
¹⁄ | cup (2¹⁄ |
1 | tablespoon ground cinnamon |
¹⁄ | cup apricot jam |
1 | cup walnuts, chopped fine |
¹⁄ | cup raisins, preferably golden |
2 | tablespoons unsalted butter, melted |
1. FOR THE DOUGH:
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt together in large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and slowly mix in flour until combined, about 30 seconds.
2.
Turn mixture out onto floured counter, divide it into 2 equal pieces, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
3.
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. FOR THE FILLING:
Mix sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl. Roll each piece of dough on lightly floured counter into 11-inch circle about ¹⁄
4
inch thick. Spread ¹⁄
4
cup jam on top of each round, then sprinkle each with ¹⁄
2
cup nuts, ¹⁄
4
cup raisins, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar.
5.
Cut each dough round evenly into 16 wedges. Starting at wide end, roll up each wedge into a cookie. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets, with pointed end underneath, spaced about 2 inches apart.
6.
Brush melted butter over cookies and sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar over top of each cookie. Bake cookies until pale gold and slightly puffy, about 20 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking. Immediately transfer cookies from baking sheet to wire rack and let cool completely before serving, about 1 hour.
Substitute seedless raspberry jam for apricot jam and substitute ¹⁄
2
cup mini chocolate chips for raisins.
KEEPING BAKING STAPLES FRESHER LONGER
Few things last forever—including pantry staples you might think are fine to squirrel away for years. After a lot of testing, we’ve learned how to preserve the freshness of commonly used baking ingredients and when it’s time to restock.
FLOUR
will last for a year stored in an airtight container. The pantry is
fine for all-purpose flour, but it’s best to store whole wheat flour (as
well as cornmeal) in the freezer; they contain natural oils that can go
rancid.
YEAST
is best kept in the freezer, and because it’s a living organism, the
expiration date should always be observed.
BAKING POWDER AND
BAKING SODA
should be replaced regularly; although manufacturers generally claim
they have a shelf life of one year, we’ve found that they lose potency after
six months.
CHOCOLATE
should be stored tightly wrapped in a cool pantry. If chocolate is
exposed to rapid changes in humidity or temperature, the surface can
discolor, although this won’t affect the flavor. Dark chocolate can last as
long as two years, but milk and white chocolate, which contain milk solids,
should be discarded after six months.
VANILLA
is virtually spoil-proof, thanks to its high alcohol content. It
should be kept tightly sealed and away from light and heat, but there’s no
need to get rid of old vanilla. We’ve tested vanilla as old as 10 years
and found it was indistinguishable from fresh.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
A classic meringue cookie may have only two ingredients—egg whites and sugar—but it requires precise timing. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a meringue that’s as dense as Styrofoam or weepy, gritty, and cloyingly sweet. A great meringue cookie should emerge from the oven glossy and white, with a shatteringly crisp texture that dissolves instantly in your mouth. We chose a basic French meringue over a fussier Italian meringue. The French version, in which egg whites are whipped with sugar, is the simpler of the two; the Italian meringue, in which hot sugar syrup is poured into the whites, produces cookies that are dense and candylike. The key to glossy, evenly textured meringue was adding the sugar at just the right time—when the whites had been whipped enough to gain some volume, but still had enough free water left in them for the sugar to dissolve completely. Surprisingly, we found that cream of tartar wasn’t necessary. Without it, the whites formed more slowly, giving a wider time frame in which to add the sugar. It was also important to form the cookies in a uniform shape, so we piped them from either a pastry bag or a zipper-lock bag with a corner cut off.
MAKES ABOUT 48 SMALL COOKIES
Meringues may be a little soft immediately after being removed from the oven but will stiffen as they cool. To minimize stickiness on humid or rainy days, allow the meringues to cool in a turned-off oven for an additional hour (for a total of 2 hours) without opening the door, then transfer them immediately to airtight containers and seal.
³⁄ | cup (5¹⁄ |
2 | teaspoons cornstarch |
4 | large egg whites |
³⁄ | teaspoon vanilla extract |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1.
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 225 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine sugar and cornstarch in small bowl.
2.
Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, beat egg whites, vanilla, and salt together at high speed until very soft peaks start to form (peaks should slowly lose their shape when whip is removed), 30 to 45 seconds. Reduce speed to medium and slowly add sugar mixture in steady stream down side of mixer bowl (process should take about 30 seconds). Stop mixer and scrape down bowl. Increase speed to high and beat until glossy and stiff peaks have formed, 30 to 45 seconds.
3.
Working quickly, place meringue in pastry bag fitted with ¹⁄
2
-inch plain tip or large zipper-lock bag with ¹⁄
2
inch of corner cut off. Pipe meringues into 1¹⁄
4
-inch-wide mounds about 1 inch high on baking sheets, 6 rows of 4 meringues on each sheet. Bake for 1 hour, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking. Turn off oven and let meringues cool in oven for at least 1 hour. Remove meringues from oven, immediately transfer from baking sheet to wire rack, and let cool to room temperature. (Meringues can be stored in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.)
Gently fold 2 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate into meringue mixture at end of step 2.
Substitute ¹⁄
2
teaspoon almond extract for vanilla extract. In step 3, sprinkle meringues with ¹⁄
3
cup coarsely chopped toasted almonds and 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (optional), before baking.
Stir 1 teaspoon grated orange zest into sugar mixture in step 1.
Stir 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder into sugar mixture in step 1.