A Sweet Start

Make a sweet start of your 2013! 
It's not too late!
I wished someone "Happy New Year" when I passed her in the pool parking lot today, and Sela said, "Mom!  It's not New Year's Day anymore!"
Well, I say the beginning of a whole year can last a pretty long time...

holy moly! raspberry jam roly-poly

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar, plus more for sprinkling
10 Tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) butter, frozen
2/3 cup ice water
5 Tbsp jam of your choice
1 Tbsp whole milk for brushing



Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt & sugar.
Grate butter into flour mixture & use your hands to lightly toss together.  If the butter starts to soften, pop the mixture into the freezer for 5 minutes to allow the butter to harden.
Stir enough ice water into the mixture to form a "soft, shaggy dough" (I love that description!) that can be squished into a loose ball.  If it's too dry, add more ice water 1 Tbsp at a time.
Transfer the dough to a lightly covered surface and knead 5 or 6 turns -- don't melt the butter.  Do you know why?
Roll the dough quickly into a rectangle approximately 9 x 13 inches.
Spread the jam over the surface of the rectangle, leaving a one inch border on each side.
Roll up the pastry, seal the seam with a little water and pinch the ends to keep the jam from seeping out.
Place your pastry, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet.  Brush lightly with milk & sprinkle (liberally!) with sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool briefly and slice into 6 portions with a serrated knife.

Given to me by a friend who clearly knows me well, this is just one of the recipes from this cookbook that we'll be digging into in 2013.  Sweet start, sweet year.  I hope you'll come over and share some with us!

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"Why is butter frozen?" author, Jill O'Connor writes.
Here's her answer:
"Grating the butter is an easy way to ensure that small, even pieces of butter are distributed throughout the dough.  When the pastry bakes, these little pieces of hard butter will melt, forming air pockets that make the pastry light, crisp and flaky."  SO easy!  Great advice for pies, too!