Apricot Pistachio Pinwheels Food

APRICOT PINWHEELS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine apricots, water and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to a blender; cover and process until pureed. Stir in pecans; set aside., In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours or overnight., Divide dough into two portions. On a baking sheet, roll out each portion between two sheets of waxed paper into a 15x9-in. rectangle. Refrigerate 30 minutes., Remove waxed paper. Spread half of the apricot mixture over one portion. Roll up tightly jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; wrap in plastic. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm., Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Pipe onto cookies. Let stand until set., To Make Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days in advance. Wrap logs in plastic and place in a resealable bag. Store in the refrigerator., Freeze option: Place wrapped logs in resealable plastic freezer bags and freeze. To use, unwrap frozen logs and cut into slices. Bake as directed.

PISTACHIO PINWHEELS

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse the pistachios until they're very finely ground but not yet forming a paste, about 25 second-long pulses. Transfer the ground pistachios to a small bowl and set aside.
• To the same food processor (no need to wash after grinding the pistachios), add the butter and confectioners' sugar, and process until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the yolks and almond extract, and process until the mixture is smooth and light. Add the flour and salt, and pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, until you have a stiff, uniform dough.
• Transfer two-thirds of the dough (about 10 ounces/240 grams) to a medium bowl and add the almond flour to the bowl. Use a flexible spatula to work the almond flour into the dough until you have a uniform mixture.
• Scrape the almond dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Pat it down with your hands into a thinner layer, then place a piece of parchment paper on top. Roll out the dough between the sheets of parchment into a slab measuring about 12-by-8 inches and ¼-inch thick. (Uncover the dough and use a small offset spatula to shape the dough into a rectangle if necessary.) Slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and refrigerate the slab until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the ground pistachios to the food processor with the remaining dough and pulse until the mixture is thoroughly blended and the dough has taken on a green color, about 7 pulses. Set aside at room temperature while the almond dough chills.
• Remove the almond dough from the refrigerator and plop tablespoon-size pieces of the pistachio dough across the surface of the slab. Use the offset spatula to spread the pistachio dough across the length of the slab in an even layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the longer sides. Starting at one of the longer sides and using the parchment paper to help you, roll the dough into a tight spiraled log. Wrap the log in parchment paper and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill until the dough is very firm, at least 1 hour.
• When ready to bake, arrange two oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 350 degrees. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Sprinkle the demerara sugar across a cutting board. Remove the log from the refrigerator, unwrap, and roll across the board in the sugar, pressing down very firmly as you roll so the sugar adheres. Continue to roll and press until the entire log is coated. Using a sharp knife, shave a thin crosswise slice off of each end so you have straight sides with the full spiral exposed. Cut the log in half crosswise, then cut each half in half again to make quarters, and cut each quarter in half again for eighths. (This ensures even, equal slices.) As you cut, roll the pieces on the cutting board to prevent the pinwheels from gaining a flat side and losing their round shape. Cut each piece into 4 equal slices to make 32 cookies.
• Divide the cookies between the two prepared baking sheets and space them evenly. Bake the cookies on the upper and lower racks until they are golden around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes, switching racks and rotating the sheets front to back halfway through baking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheets.

APRICOT PINWHEEL COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, 1/2 cup sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a thick rectangle; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm or overnight., In a small saucepan, combine the apricots, water, remaining sugar and, if desired, liqueur; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; cook until liquid is almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in pecans if desired; cool completely., On a floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a 12x9-in. rectangle. Evenly spread half of the apricot mixture over each rectangle to within 1/2-in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm., Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

APRICOT PINWHEELS

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until light and fluffy. Stir in flour and salt. Cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes or until firm.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheets with shortening. On generously floured surface, roll dough into 16x12-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle into 48 (2-inch) squares, 8 rows by 6 rows. Use metal spatula to place squares 1 inch apart on cookie sheets.
• Spread each square with about 1/4 teaspoon jam. On each square, cut from each corner to 1/4 inch from center. Bring every other point to center and press together to form pinwheel. Sprinkle each with almonds.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool.

APRICOT & PISTACHIO STUFFING

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Heat the oil and 40g of the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 15-20 mins or until they are golden and caramelised. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min. Remove from the heat, tip into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool down a little.
• Put half the sourdough into a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Tear the remaining bread into small pieces. Add both to the bowl with the onions and mix through 60g pistachios, the chopped sage, apricots and eggs, then season. Tip into a shallow 30 x 20cm baking dish. Will keep in the fridge for up to 24 hrs. Bake for 20 mins or until golden brown and crunchy on top (check after 10 mins and cover if it's already brown).
• Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan, add the sage leaves and fry until crisp. Pour over the stuffing just before serving. Top with the remaining pistachios.