Chocolate Rugelach

Pastry dough

1. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder to the food processor and process to combine.
2. Add the cream cheese and pulse 10 times.
3. Add the butter cubes and pulse 20 times. You should not be able to see any large cubes of butter.
4. Add the cream and water and pulse another 10 times. You should be able to pinch the mixture together between your fingers.
5. Divide the mixture evenly into two plastic kitchen bags. Keeping your hands on the outside of the bag, knead the mixture for a minute or two, pulling the bag away from the dough as needed, until the dough forms a smooth ball. Divide this first bag into two balls, flatten them slightly into disks, and place them in the refrigerator to rest. Repeat with the other half of the dough in the other bag. To freeze the dough at this point, wrap the disk in two layers of plastic wrap and place them in a freezer bag for 3 to 6 months.

Chocolate filling

1. While the dough is resting, melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler or heatproof bowl over a pot of barely simmering water.
2. When the chocolate has nearly completely melted, remove the bowl from the pot (dry off the bottom) and stir in the cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, orange zest, and salt. Let cool briefly.

Assembly and finishing

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. Lightly dust your countertop with flour. Remove a ball of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out to a thin circle about 9 inches in diameter.
3. Add ¼ cup of chocolate filling to the dough circle and spread it with a knife or offset spatula to about one half inch from the edge.
4. Use a bench scraper or knife (being careful of your countertop) to cut the circle into quarters and then cut each quarter circle into four wedges (i.e. each wedge will represent about one-sixteenth of the circle).
5. Take one wedge. Starting at the outside edge, roll tightly towards the center of the circle.
6. Place the cookie on a cookie sheet so that the final tip of the wedge is face down on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 15 wedges on one cookie sheet and put this sheet in the freezer while you roll out the second circle. Rugelach will not spread significantly, but do not crowd them on the baking sheet.
7. Repeat with the second dough circle. When you have finished filling and rolling this second sheet, remove the first cookie sheet of rugelach from the freezer and put in the second.
8. Brush the first sheet of rugelach lightly with the beaten egg wash. Then bake for 23 to 25 minutes, until the rugelach are a golden brown.
9. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then move to a cooling rack. Once cool, rugelach can be stored at room temperature for a week or two or frozen for 3 to 6 months.