Phineas Farnsworth III
Jack popped a piece of the chocolate rugelach into his mouth.
“Extraordinary,” he said.
“Yes, extraordinary,” Jillian agreed.
Joan Mermelstein’s Extraordinary Chocolate Rugelach
Makes 32 Rugelach
Prep: Preheat oven at 350°. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet.
Pastry Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
½ lb. unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
Cream the cream cheese and butter in a bowl until light and smooth. Add sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Add flour and mix until just combined. Roll into a ball and cut into quarters. Wrap each quarter section in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
Filling Ingredients:
6 oz. semisweet chocolate bar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Break up chocolate bar into small pieces and place in top of a double boiler on low to medium heat. Add butter and stir until melted. Take off heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir until smooth.
On a well-floured board, use a rolling pin to roll one portion of dough into a nine-inch circle. Spread the chocolate filling evenly over the surface, leaving 1/8 inch of uncovered dough around the edge. Cut circle into eight wedges. Starting at the wide end, roll each wedge and place on the cookie sheet, with the point end tucked under. Repeat for the remaining portions of dough.
Egg Wash Ingredients:
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
Whisk egg and milk. Using a pastry brush, brush egg wash on each rugelach.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool cookies on wire rack for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar—and lots of love, at your own discretion.
Fineman’s Fine Butterscotch Basil Brownies
Makes about 16 Brownies
Prep: Preheat oven at 350°.
Brownie Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup flour
¼ cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butterscotch chips
1 heaping tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter and brown sugar on low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature. Add egg. Place flour, salt, baking powder, and chopped basil in a small bowl and whisk carefully. Add dry ingredients to butter and brown sugar. Stir in butterscotch chips. Add vanilla extract and stir. Spread evenly in a square eight-inch greased pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before spreading frosting.
Frosting Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Beat sugar and butter until smooth. Blend in vanilla and milk until spreadable. Stir in cinnamon. Spread evenly on brownies and enjoy!
Oooh La La Lemon Bars
Makes about 24 bars
Prep: Preheat oven at 350°.
Crust Ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 cup butter
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Crust: Mix flour, confectioner’s sugar, butter, and vanilla extract with a pastry blender. Pat “crumbly” batter into 9 inch x 12 inch greased pan and bake at 350° degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.
Filling Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Filling: Blend eggs, sugar, and lemon juice. Beat until thick. Add flour and baking powder. Pour over finished crust and bake for 25 minutes at 350°. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into squares with wet knife.
Acknowledgments
The $150,000 Rugelach began as an inside family joke. What if we created a Jewish grandmother who was so baking-impaired that her attempts at making a simple blueberry pie brought emergency vehicles rushing to her door? Good start, we thought. Better yet, let’s give her a granddaughter with extraordinary skills in the kitchen and see how the plot, uh, cooks. It was quickly decided that our kindhearted comic foil would be named Grandma Rita.
Now here’s the punchline: The real Grandma Rita, Wayne’s mother, is a baker of supreme gifts—a wizard with a whisk, a maven with a mixer. So much love radiates from her Hanukkah dessert tables that to gaze upon one is to stare directly into a thousand suns. Hyperbolic? Try a thick slice of her lemon roll or a piece of her cherry-covered cheesecake and then we’ll talk.
Beyond inspiring us with her baked goods, Rita Marks has been a thoughtful reader, patient listener, and, like her fictional namesake, the most loving grandma, mother-in-law, and mother anyone could ever hope for.
We are also forever indebted to all those who have provided us with heaping tablespoons of support: our children, Claire and Elliott; Allison’s father, Chet Geary; our siblings Craig Marks, Pat Johnson, and David Geary; Ellen and Abby Marks, who have shared many a laugh with us at holiday gatherings; book critique friends Meryl Gordon and Tami Lehman-Wilzig; and dear friends and generous readers Lois Reaven and Lisa Bansen-Harp.
Special shout-outs go to Catriella Freedman, Rachel Goodman, and everyone at PJ Our Way for believing in our work and helping to put our stories in the hands of young readers. We have a double batch of gratitude for the team at Yellow Jacket, especially Brett Duquette and Courtney Fahy, who encouraged us to take the story to places never imagined. And a million thanks to Ariel Landy, whose illustrations spectacularly bring The $150,000 Rugelach to life.
Lastly, it is our deepest regret that Wayne’s father, Burton Marks, could not be here to see the book in print. A sweet, humble man and author of his own children’s books (co-written with his wife, Rita), he reveled in our talks about how to handle plotting and pacing. Even in his last days, his eyes would light up when our discussions turned to the struggles and joys of writing. He is greatly missed by all.
Allison and Wayne Marks
$150,000 Rugelach Page 15