Kiffles

Join me as I make Kiffles – From Tika’s Cookbook for the first time! This is a recipe from Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home sourcebook, originally released in 1987. The recipes are compiled by Tika Waylan Majere. You can buy Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/309152/Leaves-from-the-Inn-of-the-Last-Home?term=leaves+from+the+inn+of+the+last?affiliate_id=50797

From Tika’s Cookbook

A kender favorite, these are also known as “Traveling Kiffles” for the fact that when the kender cook sets the dough out to chill it is often absentmindedly carried off by another kender. The dough and resultant pastry may go through several households in this way until the kiffles are finally baked. As they are immediately shared with everyone in the vicinity, no one really minds.

Pastry:

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 pound softened butter
2 cups flour

Filling:

1 cup fruit preserves or jam
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Mix preserves into cornstarch until smooth and thick; set aside. Cream butter and cheese together until smooth and well blended. Add flour a little at a time; mix until smooth. Refrigerate dough in a tightly covered container for 2 hours or overnight. (Either keep a strict eye on it or prohibit kender from entering your dwelling!)

After dough is hardened, use a floured rolling pin and surface to roll it less than 1/4 inch thick; cut into 3-inch circles. Transfer circles onto ungreased cookie sheets at least 1 inch apart. Spoon a teaspoon of filling into the center of each cookie, being careful not to get any near the edges. Fold circle in half and seal edges together by pressing them with the tips of fork tines ¼ inch into the cookie.

Bake at 400 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes, until pastry is light golden brown. Makes 5 dozen.

Transcript

Cold Open

These are pretty good with a cool glass of milk.

Intro

Today I am making Kiffles from Tika’s Cookbook in Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home. If you have made this recipe, share your thoughts in the comments below!

Discussion

I start by assembling my ingredients, knowing this will take two days to create with the dough needing to rest in the fridge. For the pastry I collect eight ounces of Softened cream cheese, one-half pound s oftened butter, and two cups flour. For the filling, I have one cup fruit preserves and one tablespoon cornstarch. Now I am able to start the pastry dough. In a glass bowl, I combine the butter and cream cheese, mixing them together thoroughly. Then I add the flour, a little at a time until it is mixed well. I will cover it and place it in the refrigerator for the evening.

The next morning I mix the cornstarch with the preserves, mixing it thoroughly enough so it is a fim consistency. Then I set it aside, and lightly flour the rolling pin and counter. I roll out the dough to about a quarter inch thick, and then cut out nearly 3 inch wide circles. I had nothing that was three full inches, so I used a jar cover which is just under that. Also, it says to add a teaspoon of jam to the center of each, and I added decidedly more in the first batch. It made a massive mess which I did my level best to clean up before placing them in the oven at 400 degrees for ten minutes. I am convinced my oven is messed up as every duration is completely wrong, and I end up putting it in for nearly double the amount stated just to get some golden brown parts.

When folding over the dough to create the pocket, you need to crimp the ends of the fold with a fork, about a quarter inch in. This will keep the jam from falling out, though I would love to see how a professional does this. None of my crimping worked flawlessly. The second batch was a bit better, as I used a teaspoon but it was still too much jam, and the recipe is supposed to make 5 dozen of these fruit filled pockets, but my pastry wasn’t nearly enough. So either they don’t know what a quarter inch is or I don’t.

After it cooked til it was lightly browned, I let them cool and tried them with a cool glass of whole milk. I never understood milk less than whole, why not just drink water? On that note, why do we drink other animals’ baby food in the first place? This is a nice recipe that if the dough is thinner than mine, would probably work out a lot better. In the future a little sprinkling of crushed nuts on the top would add a nice texture.