MG Ukrainian Scuffles

What looks like rugulah, tastes like babk and melts in your mouth like French puff pastry (almost) ? Ukrainian Scuffles. I had this recipe in my files and made it a long time ago (in hotel school actually) and it got supplanted by other rugulah recipes. This is NOT traditional rugulah as you might know it but it rolls like it. It is made with a yeasted dough (no rising) that is a joy to work with (i.e. it stays put when you roll it). My colleague Joan Nathan mentioned it to me recently and it reminded me to decant the recipe anew. What a treasure – and what a taste reward. I made this mini, medium and large as bakery-style pastries – all amazing and slightly different textures. The trick in this recipe among many is rolling the dough on a cinnamon sugar board (not a floured board). The 'twist' shown in my photo is just a variation on what you can do with this marvellous dough. When you make the crescents small, it tastes like a cookie or pastry. When you make larger crescents, it will taste a bit more like Danish or babka. Dough ¼ cup water 1 tablespoon instant yeast 2 eggs 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1/2 cup cream (whipping or light) 1 cup unsalted butter, softened Sugar Cinnamon Roll-In 1 cup sugar 3 tablespoons cinnamon For the Dough, in the work bowl of a food processor, add water and yeast and let dissolve a minute. Then add in the eggs, flour, salt, sugar, butter and cream. Process to make a soft dough or batter/dough holds together. Remove to a lightly floured board and shape into a round. Cut in two and put both portions in a Ziploc bag. Refrigerate four hours or overnight. For Sugar Cinnamon Roll-In, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stack two baking sheets together and line the top one with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 F. For small pastries that are pastry/cookie like in shape use one-quarter of the dough (or half of the portion you refrigerated). For larger crescents that are a little softer, once baked, use a whole portion (half the batch) and roll out ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle work surface generously with sugar cinnamon roll-in. Roll out to a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle sugar-cinnamon on top very generously. Cut in wedges (about 12) and roll each into a crescent. Place on baking sheet. Bake a batch (20-25 minutes or until set up and lightly browned) and prepare more pastries. Makes 2 dozen large or four dozen or so small pastries

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