Delightful Jewish autumnal classic W

After the bizarre end-of-days orange skies of Storm Ophelia, the almost summery temperatures interrupting the descent into the colder conditions, and the wet slap in the chops that was Brian, we now seem set for a little chill.

And there’s nothing better on a cold, miserable day, than rolling up one’s sleeves and setting to with a bit of easy, pleasant baking – especially as this recipe contains those lovely, warming bakery spices that set the nostrils twitching and build an appetite.

This week, we’re making rugelach, a pastry that, while very popular both in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the USA, is largely confined in the UK to Jewish communities and their busy bakeries.

And this is a shame, because rugelach are lovely little things – a sweet, croissant-like dough, made with cream cheese and butter, rolled around a tangy filling and glazed with sugar.

Very much like croissants to eat, they are soft with a delightful crunchy topping, and the pastry is rich and ever so slightly salty, thanks to the cream cheese.

I tasted my very first rugelach recently, on holiday in Montréal (of which much more next week) and I have to say it was revelatory.

Next to our hotel was, auspiciously, a delightful little bakery called Cookie Stéfanie. We visited every morning for coffee and a pastry before heading off on our daily adventures.

They had incredible cakes and buns, cheese toasties and really great coffee. And many different rugelach. I simply had to try them. One, in particular, was truly memorable; rolled around a slightly tart blueberry jam filling, a spiral of gorgeous warm dough and a heavenly crust of golden sugar.

Out came the smartphone immediately, and notes were made. And here we are, baking our rugelach.

Originating in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, rugelach are baked in their millions daily, as they’re a great energy boost for the Israeli commuter on the go, or the New Yorker making their way down into a crowded subway.

It’s thought that the rugelach pre-dates the croissant, and can be seen as a rather less fancy precursor – croissants, of course, being made with yeast and involving much rolling and folding.

Rugelach, fortunately for us, are far easier to make.

A simple dough, made with butter and cream cheese, is rolled out and spread with a filling, and simply rolled into shape and baked.

A good recipe to make with the little ones, this, and almost any filling you can imagine will work. Nutella, jam, marmalade, or perhaps even more exotic versions may spring to mind.

I imagined a lovely version with walnuts, goat’s cheese and honey, or even a full-on sweet-savoury version with Swiss cheese and charcuterie ham. The world’s your rugelach.

For this recipe, I decided to make a batch of lovely spiced apple butter, a favourite of mine at this time of year.

Apples, cider, sugar and spices are slowly stewed down to a thick, dark purée, which sets soft and can be spread on hot toast, pancakes and waffles, or made into cakes and tarts.

A jar is nearly always finished within days, so make plenty!

And it does fill a rugelach really well.

This recipe makes about 24 small pastries, but you can always make larger, more croissant-y ones by dividing the pastry discs into quarters at the final rolling stage.