Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pecan Bread

 

It was a cold, rainy morning-- a great baking day and pumpkin was on the menu.  There are so many pumpkin bread recipes out there.  I chose this one because of the addition of cream cheese.  I thought the result would be like a rich, decadent bread with a dense, moist crumb.  It wasn't to be.  Part of that might have been my fault with the addition of whole wheat flour, but really I think it was just a waste of cream cheese.  

In addition to the whole wheat flour, I reduced the sugar slightly and made an adjustment to the salt to account for salted butter.  I also added a touch of coffee, which gives a little more depth to the flavor.  Here's what I used:

1¼ 1 cup granulated sugar 

4 ounces cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 eggs

1/2 of a 15-oz. can pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1¾ 1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/16 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom and 1/2-inch up the sides of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat sugar, cream cheese, and butter until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. On low speed, beat in pumpkin and instant coffee. Sift together 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices; add to pumpkin mixture and beat until just combined. Beat in remaining flour in two additions, just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Using a narrow metal spatula, loosen sides of bread from pans; remove and cool completely on wire rack.

I was pretty disappointed in this when it first came out.  It was dry, not particularly flavorful, and extremely delicate.  Not the moist pumpkin richness I was hoping for.  It's a good thing I waited to write the post until I'd had it for several days, because it definitely improved.  While it never got any body to it, it did become a lot more moist.  Warmed and slathered with salted butter, it was okay.

Conclusion:  As I mentioned, there are a lot of pumpkin bread recipes out there.  No need to try this one again.

Recipe:  Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pecan Bread via America's Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I don't know why these little cakes are called whoopie pies.  Maybe for the same reason cow patt---   Never mind.  Anyway, whatever they're called, I love them.  Perfect little individual cakes for when you want a treat.

I made these for a Halloween party and they were a big hit.  The only real change I made was to substitute a little whole wheat flour in for the white and an adjustment for salted butter.  For 12 cakes, here's what I used:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 1/4 teaspoon salt

1⅔ 1⅓ cups flour

⅓ cup white whole wheat flour

 

Filling

4 ounces cream cheese, chilled

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 cup powdered sugar

A few pinches salt

Heat oven to 350.° Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a standing mixer with whisk attachment, mix together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, spices, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a spatula, fold in the flour. Using an ice cream-style batter scoop, drop batter by heaping tablespoons, 12 to a sheet and evenly spaced. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

 

For the filling, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla (see discussion below); mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

  

I was irritated to find there were some errors in the recipe.  For one, the ingredients called for maple syrup in the filling, but the directions mention vanilla.  So then you have to wonder whether they'd swapped maple syrup in place of vanilla in a standard recipe and forgot to remove it from the directions, or if they'd simply forgotten to include the vanilla in the ingredient list.  It's really up to you whether you want to include it or not; I did not.  

The bigger irritation was that the directions called for using an ice cream scoop with "generous" scoops-- that would give you about four giant cakes.  I initially followed their directions, but of course ran out of batter immediately and then had to start redistributing the batter to get the right number of cakes.  But because the batter contains baking soda, it had started to rise immediately and I deflated some of those air bubbles while I was redistributing the batter.  I don't know what they were thinking. I modified the directions to use the appropriate amount of batter per placement.

Conclusion:  These were delicious!  Very rich and perhaps a bit sweet.  I would be inclined to slightly reduce the sugar in the cake part.  They don't keep too well as the filling soaks into the cake, but that also made them easier to eat-- the cake doesn't squish the filling out with each bite.  And they probably freeze okay. 

Recipe:  Pumpkin Whoopie Pies via PBS Food

Cream cheese walnut scones

 Comfort food for a lazy morning.  But to keep things sensible, I halved the original recipe.

For four scones, here's what I used:

    1½ 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
    3/4 cup (minus 1 heaping tablespoon) white whole wheat flour
    1 heaping tablespoon coffee flour
    3/4 teaspoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    2 tablespoons granulated sugar
    4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
    2½ ounces cream cheese, chilled and cut into small pieces
    1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk, chilled
    1/2 large egg, cold
    1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting
    1½ ounces cream cheese, softened
    1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
    1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet.  (Tip:  Chill the bowl and any utensils you will be using in the refrigerator before making the scones.)  In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and sugar; whisk together to mix.  With a pastry blender or two knives, cut chilled butter and chilled cream cheese into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  In a small bowl, stir the chilled buttermilk and cold egg together.  Add the liquid mixture and walnuts to the flour mixture; stir just until mixed.  The dough will be stiff and slightly sticky.  If necessary, turn the mixture onto a lightly floured board and knead gently until the flour is combined.  Do not over-knead as this will make a tougher scone.  On a lightly floured surface, shape and pat the dough into a circle or rectangle about 3/4 inch thick.  Cut into wedges, squares or circles with a floured knife and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.  (Tip:  dip the edges of the cutter in flour to prevent the dough from sticking.  Do not pat the edges of the scone down; instead leave the cuts as sharp as possible to allow the scones to rise in layers.)  Bake 12 to 20 minutes or until the scones are lightly browned (depending on the size of your scones).  A good check is to use an instant digital thermometer to test your scones.  The temperature of the scones should be at 200 degrees F. when done.  Remove scones from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

I used half whole wheat flour and some coffee flour, which should have sucked up more moisture, and yet the dough was pretty wet.  They weren’t going to be “flaky”.  Then I baked them 10 minutes too long, but surprisingly they were fine.  I guess because they were too wet.

I was undecided on the cinnamon, whether to add it or not.  There's something to be said for not flavoring everything and just letting the basic ingredients shine.  They were fine with it, and I'm sure they'd be fine without, perhaps with a more prominent walnut flavor.

Conclusion:  These were delicious, but they were more like muffins. They were almost like little iced cakes, but not that sweet.

Recipe:   Frosted Cream Cheese Walnut Scones via What's Cooking America

July ABC challenge: blueberry Pop-Tarts

This month, the challenge is a pie or tart.

My goal here is to replicate commercial Kellogg's Pop-Tarts, not make flaky hand pies. (I like Pop-Tarts, but I don't like supporting the use of palm oil, which is an ingredient.)  The biggest challenge is the pastry-- theirs is like a soft shortbread cookie, not too rich, but salty and not sweet at all.

I had meant to try an oil pastry and throw in a little cream cheese for richness.  I researched various recipes, which I've saved at the end of this post for future experimentation.  This time, though, it was just butter and cream cheese, but using less than the recipe called for.  I didn't want it too rich or too delicate; on the other hand, does fat helps keep the pastry shortbread-like and not too firm?  I'm not sure.

For the pastry, I made half the original recipe*, with a few modifications, shown in italics and strikeout.  Here's what I used:

Crust
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 2-2½ tablespoons unsalted butter
4 2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1-2 3-5 teaspoons ice water

Filling (about 1 cup)   
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sweetened, dried wild blueberries (Trader Joe's product)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar

When mixing the dough ingredients, the fat should be in very small particles, like bread crumbs, in order to produce a mealy, not flaky, crust. Chill for an hour; allow to warm on counter before rolling out.  (It shouldn't crack too much when rolled.)

Defrost the berries and reserve the juice. Stir the cornstarch into the reserved juice, making sure it's well blended.  In a small pan, stir together both kinds of berries, the juice mixture, and the sugar and cook over medium low heat until the berries have softened.  Using an immersion blender, blend the berry mixture until fairly homogeneous and all the big pieces have been broken up, then continue to cook at a low bubble for about 3-4 minutes.  It should be about the consistency of a good pea soup.  Allow to cool, then refrigerate.  (The mixture was just firm enough that it didn't run, but not gummy.)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Roll out the dough very thinly to about an 10 x 8-inch rectangle (see revision), trimming if necessary, and cut into 4-6 equal pieces.  Place two bottom pieces of dough on the baking sheet and wet about ¼" around the edges with water.  Spread a very thin layer of jam on each piece up to about ½" from the edge.  (Seriously, this needs to be quite thin, as it will spread under the weight of the top piece.)  Dock the two top pieces of dough with the tip of a knife, making clear holes all the way through.  Make sure the edges of the bottoms are sticky; wet again with water if necessary, then carefully place the top dough pieces, aligning the edges.  Using the butt of a paring knife handle, make firm indentations close together around about ¼" of the outside of the edges to seal.  Bake at 350F (see revision); check at 10 minutes if the dough was less than ⅛" thick and at 15 minutes if it was thicker. (I baked them for about 18 minutes.) The dough should be firm and dry, and just barely beginning to turn golden on the edges. This is the point to remove them if you want to finish them later in the toaster. Continue baking another few minutes until golden brown for a finished pastry. Cool on a rack.

  
 

Par baked for later toasting

Out of the toaster

  

 

*Half the original recipe should have been enough for 1 9-inch pie crust, but it would have to have been rolled VERY thinly.  I think I would want half again as much dough for a pie.  (Possibly my fat reductions made the difference.) 

I rolled the dough to about ⅛" thick, but it should have been thinner. It should be ⅛" thick after it bakes, during which it will puff. So rather than 2 pastries, this quantity of dough might produce 3. The dough was very easy to work with, so it would probably handle well even when thin.

Revisions: I was really pleased with these, but I'm not done tinkering with the recipe. The dough was soft but not crisp-- too bendable. That was probably because it wasn't fully baked, or it might be the recipe. I think baking them more slowly at a lower temperature so they bake all the way through but aren't browned might be a trick. And rolling much thinner--- for this amount of dough, maybe a 12" x 12" square cut into 6 pieces, maybe even thinner than that.

Conclusion: Delicious, and a good start. Filling was pretty much perfect, but the dough needs some work. The key take away is that the pastry has to be fully cooked in the oven because the toaster only toasts the outside--- it doesn't finish baking it. 

Recipe:  Easy Cream Cheese Pie Crust via Kitchn

Other recipes to try: 

oil crust via Cozy Peach Kitchen
flaky all-butter crust (and method) via Inspired Taste
3-ingredient cream cheese crust via allrecipes
complex cream cheese crust via Rose Levy Beranbaum for epicurious
no liquid cream cheese crust via Southern Kitchen

June ABC challenge: strawberry cream cheese coffee cake

The challenge this month was breakfast/brunch.  My favorite!  I used up some leftover frozen strawberries by making half the original recipe.

Here's what I used:

Strawberry Filling

3/4 cup frozen strawberries, thawed, drained, and cut into pieces

1½ tablespoons sugar

1½ teaspoons water

3/4 teaspoon cornstarch

Cream Cheese Filling

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 large egg

Butter Cake & Crumb Topping

1 cup all purpose flour

3/8 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into chunks

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/8 cup sour cream (full fat)

1/2 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the strawberry filling, mix the strawberries and sugar in a pan. Cook briefly over low heat to warm (until the strawberries release their juices if using fresh, about 5 minutes). In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water to make a slurry, then add to the strawberries and stir until well combined. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another minute or two until it has thickened. Let cool to room temperature.

For the cream cheese filling, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and ½ egg and beat until well combined.  Set aside.

For the cake, combine the flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Measure out 3/8 cup of the mixture and set aside. Add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix well. In another bowl, beat the sour cream, ½ egg, and vanilla extract until well blended. Add to the flour mixture and stir gently until just incorporated. Spread the dough in a greased 8 x 4" or 9 x 5" pan that's at least 1.5 inches deep, patting down with damp fingers if necessary. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the dough, then top with the strawberry jam. (Avoid letting the jam touch the edges of the pan to prevent sticking.) Sprinkle the reserved 3/8 cup crumbs over the strawberry filling. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack at least 20 minutes before slicing.

 

I had some difficulty deciding what pan to use.  I used a 9 x 5" loaf pan, so my cake was a little thinner than the original, and I think the high sides prevented proper browning on top.  Also, turned out the oven was at 375F for the first 20 minutes; I turned it down to 350 and baked it another 5, which was just the right amount of time.  It might need a little longer for a 350F oven, especially if it's a thicker cake.  The pan I used was non-stick and very slick, but I greased it anyway and the slice came right out.  The original recipe calls for a pan with a removable bottom, which would make for a nicer presentation but isn't necessary to get the cake free.

Conclusion:  This was much lighter than you might expect, and not too sweet.  (The cake part tasted just like a cinnamon streusel coffee cake my mom used to make.)  Very good.

Recipe:  Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake via Food Wanderings (adapted from a blueberry version on Annie's Blog)

Coffee and Banana Muffins with Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting

I discovered some time ago that coffee and banana is a great flavor combo, so I've been anxious to try this recipe for some time.  I finally got that chance when my mom had 3 overripe bananas sitting around while I was visiting.  I don't know why the recipe is so large---I cut it in half and it still would have made at least 12 (if not 18) regular-sized muffins.  I used a pan with 8 rectangular cups, which I think are bigger than regular muffin cups, and filled them nearly to the top.

I prefer ginger over cinnamon in banana bread, but used the cinnamon anyway because I wasn't sure how ginger would go with coffee.  (Probably fine, as I've been drinking gingerbread-spiced coffee all winter.)  Anyway, I don't think I could detect it (but maybe because it was old.)  I reduced the sugar from the original, but otherwise pretty much followed the halved recipe. 

Here's what I used:

1¾ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

5/8 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/8 cup vegetable oil

1½ cup mashed banana (3 bananas)

1/4 cup sour cream plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 heaping tablespoon instant coffee espresso, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of extremely hot water

scant cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, if desired

Coffee frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, very soft

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 heaping tablespoon instant coffee espresso, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of extremely hot water

1½ 1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350; grease cupcake pans.  Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon and salt and set aside. Beat together eggs and sugars on high speed for 3 minutes. Reduce speed and beat in oil, then bananas, yogurt, vanilla, and coffee, mixing well. Gently mix in dry ingredients until just mixed (then stir in nuts.)  Fill cups to 3/4 full and bake 17-19 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on cooling racks. 

Mix together frosting ingredients until smooth and creamy, 2 minutes. Frost cooled muffins or fill them with the cream cheese mixture.

I'm pretty sure I baked these longer than the recipe states, which would make sense since they were larger, but I can't remember the time.  I'm thinking 20-25 minutes.  I checked them with a cake tester.  My cream cheese wasn't quite warm enough and left little bits that I didn't get completely mixed in, but it wasn't noticeable while I was eating them.  Apparently "room temperature" isn't necessarily warm enough.  Curiously, I noticed the original recipe now calls for the reduced quantity of sugar in the frosting, same as I used.  Must have been a typo that I copied long ago into my recipe file.  (Note to self:  these might look nice with fork marks longitudinally down the frosting.)

Conclusion:  These were really good, moist and not overly sweet. In fact, if I made them without the frosting, I'd want the additional sugar that I left out of the batter.  The frosting was pretty strongly coffee flavored, and 3 bananas is a lot (although it might equal out to only 2 if the recipe were scaled to only 12 muffins, which is a normal quantity).  Yet when pressed, one taster didn't taste the coffee at all, and another thought they were pumpkin muffins with a maple frosting.  I have to admit, I could see it.  Part of that might have been because they had the texture of pumpkin muffins, moist and dense.  But even so, pumpkin and maple isn't bad at all.  I enjoyed these and would make them again.

Recipe:  Coffee-infused Banana Muffins via Just a Pinch.

Spooky chocolate coffin muffins

I couldn't resist a coffin pan, even though I knew it would have an extremely limited use.  Coffins!

It's called a brownie pan, but you could use any recipe that produced a somewhat sturdy bake.  (They were a little troublesome getting out of the pan, so you wouldn't want anything really light and delicate.  Be sure to grease it well.)  I used this recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins, then piped in skeletons of cream cheese frosting.  A healthy and spooky breakfast!

April ABC Challenge: Kersenvlaai (Dutch cherry pastry)

This is an interesting change on cherry pie -- the filling is baked into a casing of enriched bread dough instead of pie crust.  It's apparently very popular in the Netherlands.

I had to make a lot of changes to the original recipe in order to work with what I had.  For starters, I didn't have a vlaai pan, which is just a large, round pan about 1" deep.  I had an 11" pan that was 2" deep, so I worked with that.  The instructions I gave in the recipe are how I would do it next time.  What I actually did was roll out a large circle of dough and then let it relax for 10 minutes as instructed, then cut it into a 13" circle.  But when I loosened it from the board, it shrank dramatically and thickened.  I should have loosened it and THEN cut it.  I tried rolling it back out again, but the dough was very springy and wouldn't cooperate.  I globbed the whole mess back together and rolled it out again, and I'm afraid all that handling might have caused the bread to be tough.  Anyway, I think what I described below would be a better method.

The recipe called for a jar of dark sweet cherries in light syrup, which I couldn't find.  However, I had cherries in the freezer and sour cherry juice on hand, so I improvised.  It took a little doing, getting the right quantity, the right consistency, and the right sweetness.  The first go, it must have cooked down because I didn't end up with nearly enough.  I made a second batch, and while it was cooking I noticed an unfinished bottle of red wine on the counter that was too old to drink.  I thought that might be a tasty addition, so in it went.  I had also added cloves because I always wanted to try that with cherries.  (My hunch was right -- it's a good combination.)  I had a little leftover cream cheese, so of course I had to use that.  Then on half the pie I sprinkled chocolate chips to see how that would work out. 

Because the cherry juice was fairly sour (no sugar added), I skipped the lemon juice in the original recipe, but I had to guess at how much sugar to add.  (I erred on the side of less.)  I also had to use a lot more corn starch than I had expected.  In the future I would try to use a different thickener, like tapioca, which might have given a lighter results, but the corn starch work okay. 

The recipe for the filling is so drastically changed from the original that I haven't shown my changes.  Here's what I used:

For the filling

2 cups unsweetened sour cherry juice

1 cup red wine

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cup corn starch*

1/8 teaspoon cloves

350 grams (about 2 cups) previously frozen cherries, halved

3-4 ounces cream cheese or mascarpone

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the dough

300 grams flour

6 grams instant yeast

120 grams lukewarm milk

20 grams sugar

3 6 grams salt

30 grams unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

coarse sugar for sprinkling pie lattice

In a small dish, whisk together the corn starch with about 1/2 cup of the juice until thoroughly mixed.  Pour the remaining juice, the cornstarch mixture, and sugar into a pan and heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Lower heat and boil gently for 2 minutes.  Check consistency by cooling a small amount in a dish.  It should be about the consistency of semi-firm gelatin, or a loose jelly, thick enough to hold some shape, but not firm.  If it's still too thin, cool some of the mixture and add a teaspoon more cornstarch to it, whisk thoroughly, and add to the mixture in the pan.  (Never add cornstarch to a hot liquid or it will clump.)  Stir to fully incorporate and repeat the process of boiling for 2 minutes, then checking consistency.  Repeat until the right consistency is achieved.  Add the cloves and the cherries and stir to combine.  Set aside.  (This can be done in advance, and the mixture kept refrigerated.)

For the dough, dissolve the yeast in the milk and let prove. Whisk together the salt, sugar, and flour, then add the milk and egg and bring it together. When it starts forming a ball, add the butter.  Knead for 8 to 10 minutes by hand. Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let it rest for 1 hour in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.  Lightly butter an 11 x 2-inch round pan.  Roll the dough into a large circle about 3 mm/0.12-inch thick, about 15 inches in diameter, and fit it into the prepared pan.  Cover it and let relax for 10 minutes.  Carefully trim the side of the dough so that it is only 1" high all around; set the extra dough aside.  Spread the bottom of the pie with the cream cheese, then add the cherry filling and distribute evenly.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Make a lattice with the leftover dough and cover the pie decoratively; sprinkle the lattice with course sugar.  Bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes. (Check after 15 minutes -- if it's browning too quickly, reduce the oven temperature to 350.  I turned my oven down after 10 minutes.)  Leave to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then carefully lift it out with the help of a spatula or pie server. (The curved spatula that's used for woks worked well.)  Cool completely on a cooling rack.  This is typically served with a dollop of whipped cream.

Conclusion:  I'm not sure what I think of this.  I'm having a hard time envisioning it as a dessert -- it seems more like a breakfast food or snack to me.  Partially it's the bread, and partially it's that I didn't make mine very sweet.  Also, this is not a rich dessert -- there's nearly no fat.  (And yet I didn't much like adding whipped cream.)  And I can't imagine how one could eat this with a fork because the bread is too firm.  It just makes sense to pick it up and eat it like pizza.  The dish seems too casual for a real sit-down dessert.  

Do I like this better than traditional cherry pie?  No, I don't think so, although I'd really like to try a "real" one, by someone who knows what he or she is doing.  I might think differently.  My bread was slightly overcooked, probably due to the dark pan I used, so it was a bit tough.  (It got much tougher after a day or so -- this is not a recipe that keeps well.)  Besides, it's so much easier and faster to make pie crust than bread dough.  I'd also like to try macerating the cherries in wine, kirsch, or cherry brandy before using.

I liked the addition of the red wine, and the cloves, but I did not like the chocolate.  I don't know why -- it seems like a no-brainer.  Also, I wish I'd had more cream cheese -- what I'd put in wasn't detectable for flavor or creaminess as far as I could tell.  I'd double the amount next time, though I'd have to cut down on the cherry filling or make the pie higher.  And I think I'd like this much better if the bread had been a little more crumbly; perhaps adding more butter would help. 

Original recipe:  ‘Kersenvlaai’: A Very Cherry Pie with Bread Dough via Weekend Bakery

Prune and Chocolate Rugelach

I messed up.  I was in a hurry, doing 3 things at once, and I mixed the ingredients wrong.  Instead of measuring out the required portion of the fudge sauce, I dumped the whole lot in, which was about a cup.  I wondered why there was so much filling!  Obviously these would have been much tangier and less chocolaty had I done it properly.  You would have gotten more of the rich pastry relative to the filling, and I might have been able to squeeze in more chocolate nibs if I'd had less filling (though I'm not so sure that would have been a good idea.)

For starters, I'd say the original recipe was sloppy.  Who are these people on paid sites would are such poor recipe writers???  Anyway, I made only half the recipe, and I changed the shape.  Rugelach, in my experience, are not sliced logs -- they're rolled crescents.  So that's what I made.  The instructions also called to mix cold butter and cold cream cheese into a chunky mass.  I didn't see why I would want chunks of either in the dough.  All other recipes I looked at called for both to be soft so they would mix together homogeneously, so that's what I did.  Another change I would make for a future version would be to macerate the fruit overnight in the booze, or just leave the booze out entirely and use water.  It wasn't noticeable.  (You certainly don't need Slivovitz.)  I've written the recipe here as it should be, not as I did it.

Here's what I used, with my changes in strikeout and italics (yield 2 dozen cookies):

For the fudge sauce (makes about 1 cup):
3 ounces (3/8 cup) water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the dough, prune jam, and assembly:
1 cup prunes
1/8 cup Slivovitz [Food 52's note: We substituted brandy]
1 stick butter, cut in chunks and kept cold room temperature 
4.5 ounces cream cheese, cut in chunks and kept cold room temperature
Generous pinch kosher fine salt
1 3/8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/6 cup water
1/6 cup fudge sauce (from above)
4 ounces cocoa nibs (or less) or chopped nuts
Melted, cooled butter, for coating cookies
Granulated sugar, for coating rolling cookies

The night before, place the prunes in a small bowl and pour over the Slivovitz, brandy, or whatever liquid you are using.  Mix to coat, cover, and leave to plump.  

In a small pot, bring water, sugar, and heavy cream to a boil. Reduce to simmer and whisk in cocoa powder. Simmer on low until sauce has a fudge consistency, which may take 10 to 20 minutes. (Mine got thick quickly and I had to add quite a bit of water to thin it out to a fudge sauce consistency.) 

For the dough, combine butter and cream cheese in stand mixer. In a separate bowl, sift salt and flour. Add to the butter and cream cheese mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Divide dough into two equal rounds, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour. Meanwhile, in a small pot, combine the macerated prunes and water. Bring to a boil, then cook on low heat for several minutes, stirring often, until prunes are soft. Place in food processor and blend until paste-like. Add the chocolate fudge sauce and combine. 

Preheat the oven to 350° F. On a sugared surface, roll out one chilled dough round into a 9-10" circle about 1/8-inch thick. Spread half of the chocolate-prune jam over it, then sprinkle with half the cocoa nibs (or your desired amount). Cut the circle into 12 equal wedges.  Roll up each wedge, starting from the wide end, making sure the sugar is coating the pastry.  Place on a greased sheet tray, tip down, about 2 inches apart. Repeat with the second dough round. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  (Watch that the bottoms don't get too dark.)  Remove cookies from the baking sheet promptly and cool on a wire rack.

I rolled these out on granulated sugar so I didn't have to fuss with brushing them with melted butter and dipping in sugar after they were rolled.  It worked fine, but the sugar browned a lot on the bottom.  It could easily burn.  Using an insulated cookie sheet would prevent that problem.

On an aside, for some reason my chocolate nibs, bought specially for this recipe from a bulk supplier, tasted of banana, and this was detectable in the cookies.  It didn't "go" with the other flavors.  I love the texture of the nibs, but I'll reserve the remainder of this purchase for something more banana friendly.  Nuts would work fine here.

Conclusion:  These needed something. Or maybe less of something.  I'm not sure if less filling would make the difference needed, or if mixing it to the proper ratio would help, or if they just needed a little more salt.  As rugelach go, I've had better.  The filling was tasty, just seemed a little flat.  The prunes could be changed out with another tart fruit, such as apricots or tart cherries.  I think they would also benefit from some lemon zest.  But it's unfair to judge when I didn't make it right.

Recipe:  Prune and Chocolate Rugelach via Food 52.