Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

I love a good sweet roll, especially one that is cinnamony. Throw in a little cream cheese and I'm in heaven. These cinnamon rolls are just right. They're moist, but not gummy or soggy in the middle. They have a great ratio of bread to filling. And even though the long directions may sound complicated, they're really very easy. You can even do all the work the night before and bake them the next day (perfect for Christmas morning). I already made these again this morning for New Year's Day (no wonder my stomach looks like a cinnamon roll).

 CREAM CHEESE CINNAMON ROLLS

Yield: 8 large rolls

Dough:
1 (¼-oz.) package active dry yeast
½ teaspoon plus ¼ cup sugar
½ cup milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 ¾ cups flour, sifted, plus more for kneading
¾ teaspoon fine salt
1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature), plus more for the pan

Filling:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup finely chopped pecans
¼ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup raisins
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons maple syrup
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Icing:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ cup buttermilk

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1.      Make the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a hook, combine yeast, ½ tsp. of the sugar, and ¼ cup water heated to 115° F. Stir to combine and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined, 1 minute. Turn mixer off and add the flour and salt. Mix on medium speed until the dough just comes together. Turn mixer speed to high and knead dough for 4 minutes. Add the butter and continue kneading until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place. Let the dough rise for 1 ½–2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

2.      Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in a large bowl; stir to combine. Stir in maple syrup. Set aside.

3.      Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a heavily floured surface. Gently knead the dough until it's no longer sticky, adding more flour as necessary, about 1 minute. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10" x 10" square. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese with a rubber spatula until it's smooth and spreadable. Spread the cream cheese evenly over the dough square; then fold square into thirds as you would fold a letter to fit it into an envelope. Take the open ends of the resulting rectangle and fold into thirds again, to make a smaller dough square. Invert the dough so that the seam is face down and, using the rolling pin, gently roll into a 10" x 20" rectangle.

4.      Turn the dough so that the short sides are parallel to you. Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter. Drizzle the reserved filling over the dough, leaving a 1" border at the edge farthest away from you. Lightly press the filling into the dough. Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder. Place dough cylinder, seam side down, on a cutting board and, using a thin, sharp knife, trim off the ends; cut cylinder crosswise into 8 equal-size slices. Nestle the slices, cut sides up and evenly spaced from one another, into a buttered 9" x 13" light-colored metal baking pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 2 hours. (Alternatively, the rolls may be refrigerated overnight.)

5.      Heat oven to 375° F. Uncover the rolls. (If refrigerated, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.) Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the rolls comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

6.      Make the icing: While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth.

7.      Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack; brush with remaining melted butter. Let cool for 5 minutes. Dip the tines of a fork into the icing and drizzle all over the rolls. Serve immediately.

from saveur.com

yeast, sugar and water

yeast foamy; adding remaining sugar,
milk, brown sugar, vanilla and egg

adding flour and salt

adding butter

The dough never really pulled away from the sides
and it looked so soft to me, I was a little worried
I'd done something wrong - but as you can see,
it all worked out. Adding lots of flour as you
knead and roll helps get the right consistency.

all the filling ingredients mixed
(I used golden raisins, so they're hard to spot.)

dough risen

kneading the punched down dough (or more
accurately, trying to knead the dough with my right
hand while I take a photo with my shaky left hand)

dough rolled into a 10" x10" square (roughly);
starting to spread the cream cheese

cream cheese spread

first fold

second fold

third fold

fourth fold

dough rolled into a 10" x 20" rectangle
(again, roughly)

dough brushed with butter
and topped with filling

rolling

rolled

sliced into 8 pieces

placed in the pan

rolls after rising

I made mine the night before and put them in the fridge
right away because I was going out. And even though
the recipe says to take out and leave at room temperature
for only 15 minutes, it was chilly in the house, so I let
them sit out for about 2 hours so they would rise enough.

baked cinnamon rolls

brushing with butter

drizzling with icing

I didn't use all the icing, it seemed like a little too much.

cream cheese cinnamon rolls

cinnamon roll cross section

In case you're wondering why my kitchen looks so different...I didn't move;
I was at my in-laws' house (these were baked on Christmas morning).

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Pumpkin Rugelach

Happy Thanksgivukkah! I couldn't resist making at least one merged Thanksgiving & Hanukkah treat this year. After all, they say these two holidays won't intermingle again for another 79,000 years, so it's now or never (at least for me). I like to think that in 79,000 years people will no longer eat because they'll have evolved to be more like plants and simply photosynthesize. It just seems so much more elegant. So enjoy some rugelach while you still have a mouth.

 PUMPKIN RUGELACH
Yield: 2 dozen

Dough:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Pumpkin Filling:

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup fine maple sugar or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Optional:

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk (egg wash)
2 tablespoons raw sugar

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1.      Dough: Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl until well blended. Stir in vanilla, sugar and salt. Stir in flour to create a soft dough. Remove dough from bowl, form into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use, at least 1 hour.

2.      Pumpkin Filling: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine pumpkin, butter, maple sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon; stir occasionally until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes, or until mixture thickens and water has evaporated. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and allow to cool completely before using.

3.      Place half the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a 9-inch round. Spoon half of pumpkin mixture onto center of dough. Use an offset spatula or back of a spoon to spread mixture out evenly toward edge. Sprinkle with half the chopped walnuts and about 2 tablespoons maple sugar or brown sugar. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the round into 4 wedges, then cut each wedge into 3 wedges to create a total of 12 wedges.

4.      Preheat oven to 350º F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silplat mats.

5.      Starting from wide end, roll each wedge into a crescent. Place "point down" on lined baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining dough and filling. Refrigerate rugelach for 30 minutes.

6.      Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar, if desired.

7.      Bake for 20-22 minutes or until lightly browned, turning halfway though. Cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

slightly adapted from shawnsplate.com

pumpkin, butter, sugar and spices

pumpkin mixture thickened

pumpkin mixture spread on dough circle
and sprinkled with walnuts and sugar

I forgot to take photos of making the dough, but clearly I did.

dough cut into triangles

rolled into crescents

I didn't do the egg wash or sprinkle with
raw sugar. It looks pretty, but isn't necessary
if you don't have time (which I didn't).

I've been so ridiculously busy lately that I only managed to take one photo of the baked final product (at the top of the page). I made these last week and froze them, so I could go to the basement, get them out of the freezer and do a rugelach photo shoot, but that's just not going to happen.
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Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes

I realize this looks like a hot mess, but don't hold that against the dish (that was just me not taking the time to plate delicately). Which is a compliment really, because this is so good, I didn't want to bother taking my time - I just wanted to dig in. If this looks familiar, it's probably because you've ordered it at the Cheesecake Factory. It's a clone of their recipe (if we can do it with sheep, we can do it with tamale cakes).

SWEET CORN TAMALE CAKES

Yield: 10 cakes (5 appetizers)

Salsa Verde:

2 tomatillos, papery skins removed and chopped

1 (4 oz.) can mild green chilies

1 green onion (scallion), chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin

salt & freshly ground pepper

Tomato Salsa:

1 medium tomato, diced

1 tablespoon minced Spanish onion

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

1/4 teaspoon lime juice

1/2 jalapeno, minced

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Southwestern Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon water

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

salt to taste

garlic powder to taste

Tamale Cakes:

3 cups sweet corn, fresh or frozen (4 to 5 ears)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup masa harina (corn flour)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Garnish:

1/2 cup sour cream

1 avocado, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

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1.      Combine all Salsa Verde ingredients in a food processor on high speed. Cover and chill.

2.      Combine all Tomato Salsa ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

3.      Combine all Southwestern Sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

4.      Preheat oven to 400°F.

5.      Coarsely puree 2 cups of the corn in a food processor.

6.      Combine pureed corn with softened butter, sugar and salt. Blend well with electric mixer until smooth.

7.      Add masa and flour and blend well.

8.      Mix in the remaining 1 cup corn by hand.

9.      Measure 1/2 cup portions and form into 8 (3 inch) patties.

10.  Arrange patties on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cakes are browned on the bottom.

11.  Carefully flip cakes with a spatula and bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until the other side is browned.

12.  While the cakes are baking, spoon some salsa verde onto a platter (coat the bottom with about 1/4 inch).

13.  Arrange the tamale cakes on top of the salsa verde.

14.  Top each tamale cake with tomato salsa, a dollop of sour cream, chopped avocado, cilantro and Southwestern Sauce (preferably in a nice zig zag pattern using a squirt bottle).

slightly adapted from a copycat recipe from “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes" by Todd Wilbur (original dish from The Cheesecake Factory)

tomatillos

salsa verde ingredients

salsa verde

tomato salsa

southwestern sauce

corn kernels

adding butter, sugar and salt

adding masa and flour

whole corn kernels mixed in

formed into patties

baked sweet corn tamale cakes

two sweet corn tamale cakes over salsa verde with
dollops of southwestern sauce haphazardly plopped on top

For that size/shape plate, I should have put
just one cake on there, but I wanted two!

sweet corn tamale cakes topped with
tomato salsa, sour cream and avocado

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Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone and Honey

This isn't much of a recipe, more of a reminder to people that you can grill peaches. I'd kind of forgotten about grilled peaches until they were making free samples at the Wegmans recently and serving them with macarpone and honey. My daughter had a taste and declared we must make these! So I did. Of course when I made them, she wasn't as jazzed as she was at the grocery store. I probably shouldn't have had that plate of brownies sitting right next to them. 

  GRILLED PEACHES WITH MASCARPONE AND HONEY

peaches (ripe, but still firm), sliced in half and pitted

canola oil (or other no-taste oil)

mascarpone

honey

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1.      Heat the grill to medium.

2.      Brush the peaches with oil.

3.      Cook peaches on the grill until just cooked through (tender, but not falling apart),
      about 4 minutes per side (depending on the size of your peaches). Rotate 90º halfway
      through if you want crosshatch grill marks. 

4.      Serve peaches cut side up with a dollop of mascarpone and drizzling of honey.

peaches, halved and grilled

oiled peaches on the grill

grill marks

grilled peach with mascarpone

drizzling on the honey

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