Posts tagged ‘pistachio’

Dec 26

Rugelach- Fig/Cognac Jam, Pistachio,Orange For Fiesta Friday #48

Rugelach

I am making another batch of my rugelach, the very one I put in my gift boxes, I always make a double batch of the dough because invariably I need to make more to give away after Christmas. This new batch is the same but I decided to add some chopped pistachio and a hint of candied orange peel (chopped really fine). Since I am baking for friends and you all are my friends right, I made enough to bring with me to the party hosted by the lonesome and totally awesome Angie@The Novice Gardener, I only say lonesome because this week she gave everyone the week off, no co hosts. Don’t worry Angie you won’t be lonesome for long, soon your house will be filled with eager party goers.

orange and pistachios added

Makes 4 dozen

The Dough and filling:

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar + more for sprinkling on cookies

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup pistachio’s- chopped

2 tbs finely chopped candied orange peel

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp powdered ginger

1/2 cup fig jam

egg wash

sugar for sprinkling

1/4 cup light brown sugar packed

looks like dukkah

In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment cream the cream cheese and butter until light. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla. With mixer on low add the flour and mix just to combine. Dump dough onto work surface form into a ball cut into four quarters and wrap each in plastic wrap, refrigerate for one hour
Place pistachio (if they are not toasted already) on parchment lined sheet pan and toast in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes (just until you can smell the nuts). Once the nuts have cooled enough to handle, and add the brown sugar cardamom and ginger, orange and chopped pistachio. Set aside.

Remove one of the dough quarters from the refrigerator, roll into a circle on floured work surface. Note: The dough should be cold when rolling, do not let the dough sit out and come to room temperature, it will get too sticky and you want to avoid using a lot of flour if at all possible. I use the lid of my dutch oven to cut an even circle. Spread jam on the dough round, sprinkle nut/sugar mixture on top of the jam and press down gently with your hand. Cut into quarters and cut each quarter into 3 pieces. Roll from widest end to smallest.

ready to roll

Place each rugelach on parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash and sprinkle some sugar on each. Put in freezer for 15 minutes before baking. While they are in freezer pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack.

fresh from the oven

flaky and delicious

Feb 11

12 Comments

Lemon Saffron Cheese Cake with Whole Meal,Pistachio,Cardamom Crust

This is my submission for the fabulous Abby Dodge’s “Bake Together” cheesecake challenge. I recently worked with Amanda from the blog “Dabblings and Whimsey” on some Persian food and that inspired this cheesecake. You find saffron in almost every Persian dish as well as a citrus element. The crust is made from ground roasted pistahio’s, whole meal cookies and cardamom. I used Abby’s cheesecake recipe and tweaked it a bit.To intensify the lemon flavor I candied lemon slices and arranged them on top of the cake. Here is the link to Abby’s blog, this was so much fun, join in and make a cheesecake!

http://www.abbydodge.com/2012/02/baketogether-cheesecake/

Crust:

1 1/2 cup whole meal cookies (12-14 cookies) I used Carr’s, ground in the food processor

1/2 cup roasted pistachio’s ground

3 1/2 tbs sugar

1/4 tsp cardamom

6 tbs butter melted.

Roast the pistachio’s on sheet pan in 350 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes. you will smell the nuts. Take them out and let them cool.

When pistachio’s are cool place in food processor and process until nuts are ground into a fine meal. Add the whole meal cookies that have been broken into pieces and process until they are ground into a fine meal. Change oven temp to 375 degrees.

Add pistachio/whole meal crumbs to a mixing bowl. Add the sugar,cardamom and melted butter. Mix thoroughly. Press into the bottom of the prepared 9″ springform pan that has been lined with foil (tear off a large piece of foil there should be a significant overhang) Bake for 12 minutes remove from oven and let cool. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Pressed in crust

Lemons:

1 lemon sliced in thin slices

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

Place water and sugar in small saucepan and bring to a boil, add the lemon slices and boil until the slices are almost translucent and cooked through. Remove from heat let cool and place in covered container.

Filling:

3 8 oz packages of cream cheese softened to room temp

2 tbs flour

good pinch of salt

1 1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs saffron

zest of one lemon

4 large eggs at room temp

Fresh raspberries to garnish

Put the lemon juice in a ramekin and add the saffron, stir and let sit while you are preparing the other ingredients.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, flour and salt until very smooth and no lumps remain. It’s very important for the cream cheese to be lump free at this point so stop and scrape the beater and sides of the bowl frequently. Add the sugar, sour cream and lemon juice infused with the saffron and beat until well blended and smooth, stopping to scrape beater and bowl several times. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just blended, stopping to scrape beater and bowl before each addition. (Don’t over beat the filling once the eggs have been added or the cheesecake will puff too much.) Tap the bowl several times on the counter to release some of the air bubbles. Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Using the tip of a small knife or a toothpick, pop any air bubbles on the surface.

Bake at 300°F until the center jiggles like jello when nudged, 63 to 68 minutes. The cake will be slightly puffed around the edges and the center will still look moist. Set on a rack and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours or overnight or up to 3 days. The cake can also be frozen up to 1 month.

When you are ready to serve, arrange the lemon slices on the cake brush top of cake with some of the syrup, dip each raspberry in the lemon simple syrup and arrange on cake.