By Melinda Strauss, The Nosher
I basically made myself speechless with this recipe. I mean, it’s chocolate rugelach and it’s cheesecake and it’s bread pudding — and it’s absolutely heavenly.

If you are wondering, no this isn’t just rugelach with cheesecake batter, which really wouldn’t be so bad. The batter for this cake has been thinned out with milk to soak into every crevice of the rugelach. Dairy, dairy and even more dairy!

If you want to make this completely homemade, go ahead and bake your own rugelach but store bought will do the trick.

If you have any cracks after the cheesecake bakes, just cover them with more rugelach. Seriously, make this cheesecake for Shavuot. I dare you.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
6 cups cubed rugelach (around 20 pieces)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, grease a 9-inch springform pan and line it with parchment paper. Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with foil so no batter leaks out and place it on a baking sheet. Put the cubes of rugelach into the pan and set it aside.

In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and salt and mix until combined. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, until all three eggs are incorporated into the batter.

Lastly, add the milk and mix on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all of the cream cheese and sour cream is combined with the milk.

Pour the batter over the rugelach and set it aside to soak for 30 minutes.

Bake the bread pudding cheesecake for one hour and 15 minutes, until the edges have set and the center is still a bit wiggly. Turn off the oven, prop open the door and leave the cheesecake inside the oven for two hours to cool. This will keep the cake from cracking too much on top.

To read the complete June 2019 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.