Sicilian Fig Pastries Recipes

Steps:

• Dough: In a food processor, pulse together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and pulse until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Add eggs, 1 tablespoon milk, vanilla, and orange zest; pulse until a dough forms. If dough seems dry, add remaining 1 tablespoon milk.
• Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a rectangle, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Filling: In a food processor, pulse together figs, raisins, honey, brandy, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, orange zest, vanilla, and salt until a thick paste forms. Transfer paste to a bowl and stir in pecans. Measure a heaping 1/4 cup of filling, place on a piece of plastic wrap, and roll into a log about 10 inches long. Freeze until firm. Repeat process with remaining filling (you should have 10 logs).
• Working with one rectangle of dough at a time, place dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment. Roll out dough to a 15-by-10-inch rectangle, a scant 1/4 inch thick. Transfer parchment to a baking sheet; refrigerate 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough.
• Cut each rectangle of dough crosswise into five 3-inch-wide strips. Position one strip of dough on work surface with long sides parallel to edge of work surface. Place one log of filling along the upper edge of the long side of each strip. Fold remaining dough over filling to enclose. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough and filling.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut logs into 2-inch pieces. Using a paring knife, make 2 cuts on one side of each piece, being careful not to cut all the way through. Shape each piece into a crescent, with the cuts on the outside of the crescent. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake, rotating halfway through, until bottoms are brown and tops are light golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
• Glaze: Whisk together egg whites and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a very small round tip. Pipe glaze over cookies; let stand until set. Glazed cookies can be stored in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment, at room temperature up to 2 days.

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine the flour, shortening and salt; cover and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water; stir in egg and vanilla. Gradually add to crumb mixture; pulse until dough forms a ball. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes., In a food processor, combine the figs, walnuts, water, grape jelly, orange zest and cinnamon; cover and process until blended. Set aside. , Separate dough into six portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 12x8-in. rectangle (dough will be very thin). Cut into 4x2-in. rectangles. Place a teaspoon of fig mixture on one short side of each rectangle; fold dough over filling. Press edges with a fork to seal. , Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375° for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it looks like coarse meal. Whisk the yolks, vanilla and lemon zest and juice, then add to the food processor and pulse until the dough holds together when pinched (stop before it gathers into a ball). Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and knead into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Pulse the almonds in a clean food processor until coarsely chopped; transfer to a saucepan. Pulse the figs in the food processor until finely chopped and add to the saucepan along with the orange zest, wine, honey and cocoa powder. Cook over medium heat, stirring, 5 minutes. Let cool.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into about 24 balls, then flatten into 2-inch disks. Place 1 heaping teaspoon filling in the center. Wrap the pastry over the filling, then roll into a ball, covering the filling. Put on the prepared baking sheets, cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake until the cookies are lightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar and orange zest and juice in a bowl. Brush the cookies with the glaze and top with the nonpareils. Let set, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Steps:

• FIG FILLING:.
• Remove stems from figs. Rinse thoroughly in warm water to soften. Drain.
• Season figs with cinnamon, mixing thoroughly. Coat with honey, then add orange zest and black pepper, blending thoroughly. Grind fig mixture, using an electric meat grinder (not a food processor), to a fine texture.
• After mixture is ground, mix thoroughly to blend all ingredients. Separate into 1- or 2-pound packages, wrapped in plastic food wrap and sealed in plastic bags. (Keep several weeks, refrigerated, or freeze for up to 6 months.
• CUCCIADATA DOUGH:.
• Add shortening to flour and blend (by hand or food processor) to a cornmeal texture.
• In another bowl, add warm water (not boiling) to sugar to dissolve. Gradually add sugar/water to flour mixture, blending until dough forms a ball. If dough is too dry, gradually add more water as needed. Cover and let dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Separate dough into workable-sized balls, about 3 inches across. Knead each ball to a smooth texture and return to bowl. Cover again; let dough rest several more minutes.
• Roll a 2-inch ball of dough to the thickness of pie pastry. Cut dough into strips about 4 inches wide by 12 inches long. Shape a piece of the fig filling into a rope about ½ inch wide and 12 inches long. Center the rope on a strip of pastry. Fold sides of pastry over filling, overlapping dough slightly. Turn over with seam side down and pat lightly to flatten.
• With a sharp small knife, cut the rope at an angle into 1-inch long bars, cutting slits in sides and one on top to allow for thorough cooking. Place on cookie sheets. Bake in a preheated 250-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes, until cookies are slightly browned on the bottom only.
• Allow to cool before icing.
• ICING:.
• Add almond flavoring to milk and gradually blend into sugar, mixing to a smooth paste. Icing should be the texture of heavy cream.
• Working over a small bowl, spoon icing onto each (cooled) cookie. Let excess drip into the bowl. Let cookie dry slightly before sprinkling with colored non-pareils.
• Cookies must dry completely before packaging.

Steps:

• Directions:.
• Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Run the blade a few times to mix.
• Add the butter to the bowl and pulse to combine. Add the eggs, and run the blade until forming a consistent dough.
• Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and wrap in a plastic foil. Place in the refrigerator.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the figs, raisins, candied orange, almonds, chocolate, apricot preserve, rum, cinnamon, and cloves. Pulse the blade until a smooth compound is obtained.
• Transfer the fig paste to a bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
• Prepare the egg wash by beating the eggs with a pinch of salt.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and unwrap it on a floured work surface. Add a small quantity of flour. Knead the dough to make it soft and smooth.
• Cut the dough into 10 - 12 pieces. With the help of a rolling pin, flatten each piece into a rectangle approximately 3 x 15 inch (7 x 35 cm).
• Brush the egg wash on the dough.
• Place approximately 1/3 cup of filling in the center of the rectangle lengthwise.
• Take one edge of the dough and bring it over the filling to form a roll.
• With the palm of your hands roll the cylinder to make it even.
• Cut the roll into 4-5 pieces approximately 3 - 4 inch (8 - 10 cm) long. Set them aside. Continue forming the rolls until all the dough and the filling are used.
• Using a sharp knife, cut 4 - 5 diagonal incisions on the surface of the rolls. You can also cut straight incisions on the surface of the rolls, and curve the cookies in a "U" shape.
• Transfer the rolls to 3 cookie pans lined with parchment paper.
• Brush the surface with the remaining egg wash.
• Optionally sprinkle with multicolored nonpareil.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Transfer onto racks to cool.