Shared by Amanda and Edythe Weiss
The Raspberry Rugelach Recipe Rescued by a Daughter-in-Law
Yield: 48 rugelachTime: 1 1/2 hours
The Raspberry Rugelach Recipe Rescued by a Daughter-in-Law
Yield: 48 rugelachTime: 1 1/2 hoursFamily Journey
Chernivtsi, Romania (present-day Ukraine)New Britton, CT
West Hartford, CT
“In my head, Sabina sounds like a mythical character,” Amanda Weiss says of her great-grandmother who she never met. “They talk about her at every dinner table.” Baking was her forte — apple strudel, pineapple tarts, challah rolls, and more. And it’s because of Amanda’s bubby, Edythe, who was Sabina’s daughter-in-law, that she has tasted her great-grandmother’s famed raspberry rugelach.
Sabina was born in Chernivtsi, a city that now sits in southwestern Ukraine, around the turn of the 20th century. One of five sisters, her parents would often send the girls away to keep them safe from the Russian army. Meanwhile, the man who would become her husband, Benjamin, fought in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I and was stabbed while serving in the mountains. They both came to the U.S. and despite the fact that Benjamin was her first cousin, they married.
Edythe remembers Sabina as “a phenomenal cook and a wonderful person — and she was a wonderful poker player.” Sabina would bake for poker games she hosted when the family and friends rented a cottage in the beachtown of Woodmont, CT, which was a popular Jewish vacation spot. “My father-in-law had no interest in playing, but he was the enforcer — because these were tough ladies who didn’t like loosing and they had quite a vocabulary,” Edythe says.
When Sabina was living, Edythe says she never would have attempted to make one of her baked goods, but she sat down with Sabina sometime in the 1970s and attempted to write some of the recipes down, including the recipe for her rugelach. Others, however, were never recorded. “We thought life was forever,” Edythe says.
After Sabina passed away, Edythe took on the role of the family rugelach baker. A friend’s daughter who owned a restaurant liked them so much that she asked her to bake them for their dessert menu. Today, Edythe continues to bake the rugelach, but “I just do it for people I love,” she says.
Cook’s notes: A cream cheese based dough gives these rugelach a soft, buttery texture with a melt-in-your-mouth quality. When raspberries were in season, Sabina would pick them on trails along the beach and turn them into jam, but store bought raspberry jam works beautifully here. This recipe fills multiple tins; the rugelach can be made in advance, frozen after shaping and baked off when desired, straight from the freezer.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- ½ lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 egg yolks, whites reserved
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the filling:
- 8 oz. seedless raspberry jam
- 2 ½ cups finely chopped walnuts
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ cups granulated sugar
- Reserved egg whites
Preparation
Step 1
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese together until well combined. Beat in the sugar, then add the egg yolks and vanilla and continue beating until combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
Step 2
Gradually add in the flour and baking powder, beating until combined. Divide the dough into 4 quarters and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour, or until ready to bake.
Step 3
Flour a clean surface and work with one piece at a time, rolling out each quarter of dough into a large circle, around 10” wide and ¼” thick.
Step 4
Place ¼ cup of the raspberry jam on top of the dough and use a knife to smooth it over the surface of the dough, repeating with each rolled out portion of dough.
Step 5
Combine the nuts, cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl, then divide into 5 equal portions. Sprinkle ⅕ of the nut mixture over each quarter of the rolled out, jam spread dough, reserving the last ⅕ of the nut mixture to dip the rugelach into.
Step 6
Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut each round of dough into 12 equal triangular pieces. Starting at the wide end, tightly roll each slice toward the center of the circle to create the spiral rugelach shape.
Step 7
Use a handheld whisk or electric beaters to lightly froth the reserved egg whites, 3-4 minutes. Dip each rugelach into the egg whites, then into the reserved nut mixture.
Step 8
Place the dipped rugelach onto a parchment lined baking tray, leaving space between each one. Repeat shaping and filling the rest of the rugelach from the remaining 3 pieces of dough.
Step 9
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, chill the rugelach in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Once chilled, bake the rugelach for 17-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool the rugelach for 15 minutes on a cooling rack and serve.
