Rugelach ( ; , or and rōgalaḵ) is a filled baked confection originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is popular in Israel, commonly found in most cafes and bakeries. It is also a popular treat among Jews in the diaspora. Traditional rugelach are made in the form of a crescent by rolling a triangle of dough around a filling. Some sources state that the rugelach and the French croissant share a common Viennese ancestor, crescent-shaped pastries commemorating the lifting of the Turkish siege, possibly a reference to the Battle of Vienna in 1683. This appears to be an urban legend however, as both the rugelach and its supposed ancestor, the Kipferl, pre-date the Early Modern era, while the croissant in its modern form did not originate earlier than the 19th century (see viennoiserie). This leads many to believe that the croissant is simply a descendant of one of these two. An alternative form is constructed much like a strudel or nut roll, but unlike those, the rolled dough and filling are cut into slices before baking. Etymology The name is Yiddish, the historical language of Ashkenazi Jews. The ending () indicates plural, while the () can be a diminutive, as, for example, (, villages) is the plural of (, village), the diminutive of (, town). In this case, the root means something like "twist" so the translation would be "little twists," a reference to the shape of this pastry. In this context, note that () means "corner" in Yiddish. In Polish, which influenced Yiddish, can mean "corner", but can also mean "horn" – both the kind on an animal and the musical instrument. Croissant-shaped pastries, which look like horns, are called in Polish, see . is almost identical in pronunciation and meaning to the Yiddish word . Alternatively, some assert that the root is , meaning "royal", possibly a reference to the taste. This explanation is in conflict with Yiddish usage, where the word () is the dominant word meaning "royal". Ingredients Rugelach can be made with sour cream or cream cheese doughs, but there are also pareve variants (with no dairy ingredients), so that it can be eaten with or after a meat meal and still be kosher. Cream cheese doughs are the most recent, while yeast leavened and sour cream doughs are much older. The different fillings can include raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, marzipan, poppy seed,