Kelly's Flour Shop: Grandma Diamond's Rugalach

For those of you that don't know me well, I love love love to bake. I always have. I have my mother and her mother and her mother to thank for that. My Great Grandmother lived on a farm and made everything from scratch, and I mean scratch. She milked her own cows, killed her own chickens and churned her own butter. My mother spent the summers with her and that is where she learned how to bake. Well, from her and my grandmother. They all had the great talent of being excellent bakers. Growing up, there was a dessert on the table every Sunday. My mother taught me all she knows, allowing me to help her from a very young age. I too always try to have my daughter help me in the kitchen, hoping that one day she will carry on the family recipes. Not everything I make is from scratch, (I wish I had the time for that) but everything is delicious! Just ask my taste testers! :)

I created my blog months ago with every intention of writing that first post right away. Unfortunately I've been diagnosed with an illness that has left me in pain, tired and most unfortunately, on a restricted diet. Due to this, I haven't been baking as much as I would like, but I still bake and at least get to enjoy seeing other people enjoy it (and always have to sneak a taste of what I make!).

This is a recipe that didn't come from my great grandmother, but from Darrell's. Authentic Jewish Rugalach (or rugalacccccchhhhhh as we like to joke). I've had the recipe for 3 or 4 years but have only made it twice because it is pretty time consuming. The two times I made it were for Darrell's Grandfather and I was told that it tasted just like his mom's. This was a great relief because you should have seen the recipe when I got it. There were no measurements so I had to do a lot of guessing and I guessed right!

Grandma Diamond's Rugalach

2 yeast cakes (or 2 packets of yeast)

1/2 c. warm milk

1/2 c. flour

1/2 lb. butter

3/4 stick margarine

4 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 c. sugar

4-6 c. flour

1 c. sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

softened butter

raisins

Pre-heat oven to 350. Dissolve yeast in the warm milk. Put the 1/2 c. flour in a large bowl and add the dissolved yeast, butter and margarine. Let it soften about 20-30 minutes.

Add eggs, sour cream and sugar to the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly. Add enough flour to roll (4-6 cups was my estimate but use your own judgment). Let the dough rise for 1/2 hour.

Divide the dough into four and knead. Roll each ball of dough into a circle on a floured surface. Combine the cinnamon and 1 c. sugar. Spread the dough with softened butter, cinnamon and sugar and raisins. Cut like pie wedges and roll each wedge from the outside to the point.