Apricot Raisin Nut Swirls Recipes

APRICOT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Soak apricots in warm water for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, cream the sugar, butter and egg. Stir in orange juice. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into creamed mixture just until combined. Drain apricots well; add to batter with nuts. Pour into a greased 9x5-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until bread tests done. Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to a wire rack.

APRICOT RAISIN RUGELACH

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until well blended. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture and mix well. Shape into four 5-in. logs; cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight., On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 log into a 12x8-in. rectangle. Spread with about 1/4 cup spreadable fruit; sprinkle with 5 tablespoons walnuts and 1/4 cup raisins. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle 2 tablespoons over the top. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Repeat with remaining logs. Chill., Place rolls, seam side down, 4 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with cream; sprinkle with remaining sugar. With a serrated knife, make 1/2-in.-deep cuts 1 in. apart on roll-ups. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a cutting board; cut each roll into 12 slices. Cool on wire racks.

APRICOT-RAISIN CHUTNEY

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add onion; cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer onion to a large saucepan. Add apricots, sugar, honey, raisins, and vinegar. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 25 minutes.
• Pour chutney into a large bowl. Let cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH APRICOTS, RAISINS, AND ORANGE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix the orange juice, water, cranberries, sugar, apricots, raisins, and orange zest. Stir constantly until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Bring to a boil, and cook 10 minutes, or until cranberries have burst. Remove from heat, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight, before serving cold.

APRICOTS IN RUM-RAISIN SAUCE

Steps:

• Boil apricot syrup in heavy small saucepan until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 15 minutes. Mix in 3 tablespoons raisins, 2 tablespoons rum and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 minute. Transfer to medium bowl and mix in 3 tablespoons honey. Refrigerate sauce until cold, at least 1 hour. Mix in apricots. (Rum-raisin sauce can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.) Scoop ice cream into bowls; top with apricots and sauce.

CRANBERRY NUT SWIRLS

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine first four ingredients; beat until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally.
• Combine the dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• In a small bowl, combine cranberries, walnuts and orange peel; set aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-inch square; combine brown sugar and milk; spread over the dough then sprinkle with the cranberry mixture, leaving about a 1/2-inch edge at both ends of the dough; roll up tightly, jelly-roll style.
• Wrap with waxed paper; chill several hours or overnight.
• Cut roll into 1/4-inch slices and place on a well-greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375° for 14-15 minutes, or until edges are light brown.

DANISH PASTRIES

Steps:

• Pulse together the dry ingredients plus 2 tsp salt in a processor, then pulse in the milk and egg, plus 100ml water, until you have a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 1 min, using a little flour, until just smooth. Put into an oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr until doubled in size (overnight in the fridge if you like).
• Flour your surface, then pat the dough out to a rectangle, 1cm thick. Lay the butter slices out over the middle of the dough, in a rectangle. Fold the pastry over the top, bottom and then sides until the butter is completely hidden. Press the edges down.
• Roll the dough out to a 50 x 30cm rectangle, first tapping out the dough with the rolling pin in gentle ridges, so that you can tell the butter is being squashed out evenly inside the pastry, before rolling properly. Turn dough 90 degrees, then fold the right third over and the left third over that. Do this three times, chilling for 15 mins after each roll.
• Cut the dough in half, into 2 squares. Roll one piece of dough to 35 x 35cm. Cut into 9 squares, then follow the instructions below for each filling and shape. If you want to make more than one shape, it's easy to divide the filling quantity. Don't worry if your squares rise as you work, just roll them out a bit again.
• To make 18 pecan pinwheels, whizz 85g pecans until fine, then stir in 50g light muscovado, 1 tbsp maple syrup and 25g softened butter. Cut each square of pastry almost to the middle from each corner, spoon on 1 tsp filling, then fold each point over and press into the middle. Scatter more chopped pecans and a little sugar over before baking. Drizzle with a little maple syrup to serve.
• For 18 apricot custard turnovers, you will need 150g tub custard, 2 x 320g cans apricots and a few tsps apricot jam. Put 2 tsp custard in the middle, sit two apricot halves on top, dot with jam, then pull 2 corners over and pinch to seal.
• To make 18 raisin swirls, mix 50g raisins, 25g caster sugar, 1 tsp mixed spice and 50g soft butter. Instead of cutting the dough into 9, leave it whole and spread the filling over. Roll up, slice into 9 rounds, then squash each one. Blend 50g icing sugar and a few drops of water to drizzle over once baked.
• Once shaped and filled, let the pastries rise for 30 mins until puffed and doubled in size. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush with beaten egg, make sure you pinch any edges together again, then bake for about 20 mins until golden and risen.

RASPBERRY AND APRICOT RUGELACH

Steps:

• In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat margarine or butter with cream cheese until blended and smooth. Beat in vanilla extract, salt, 1 cup flour, and 1/4 cup sugar until blended.
• With spoon, stir in remaining flour. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• To Prepare Filling: In medium bowl, with spoon, stir walnuts, apricots, brown sugar, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon until well mixed.
• Line 2 large baking sheets with foil and grease foil.
• On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of chilled dough into a 9-inch round, keeping remaining dough refrigerated. Spread dough with 2 tablespoons raspberry preserves. Sprinkle with about 1/2 cup apricot filling; gently press filling onto dough. With pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut dough into 12 equal wedges. Starting at curved edge, roll up each wedge, jelly-roll fashion. Place cookies on foil-lined cookie sheet, point-side down, about 1/2 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough, one-fourth at a time.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• In cup, mix remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. With pastry brush, brush rugelach with milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
• Bake rugelach at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) on 2 oven racks about 30 to 35 minutes until golden, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower racks halfway through baking time. Immediately remove rugelach to wire racks to cool. Store in tightly covered container.

GLAZED APRICOT TWISTS

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 12- by 10-inch rectangle, then cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 4 (5- by 3-inch) strips (for a total of 8 strips).
• Spread each strip with 1/2 tablespoon jam, then fold strips in half lengthwise to form 1 1/2-inch-wide strips. Twist each strip 3 times and place on baking sheet.
• Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer twists to a rack set over a sheet of parchment. Stir together confectioners sugar, cream, and lemon juice until smooth, then brush over warm twists. Serve warm.

APRICOT RAISIN NUT SWIRLS

Steps:

• Mix powdered milk with warm water and stir in sugar until disolved
• Sprinkle the yeast over sugar water and allow to sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs until lemon colored
• Add salt, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and 2 cups of flour
• Stir in yeast mixture and enough flour to make a moderately soft dough
• Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead for 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic
• Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease suraface of the dough
• Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour
• In a small microwave safe dish, mix the apricots, raisins, and lemon juice; microwave for 30 seconds, cover and allow to cool
• Punch down dough, turn onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest about 10 minutes
• Mix the 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar with nutmeg
• Roll the dough into a 12x8 inch rectangle
• Spread dough with remaining 1/4 cup melted butter, sprinkle with nutmeg mixture, spread with apricots and raisins, sprinkle with chopped cashews
• Roll-up jelly roll fashion and slice with bread knife into 7 equal slices
• Spray a non-stick round 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray
• Place dough slices in prepared pan, cover and allow to rise about 30 minutes
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees, place rolls in oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown
• Mix the ingredients for glaze and drizzle oven warm rolls, serve immediately
• Please note the cooking time reflects time to allow the rolls to rise and bake