Baked Goods and Deserts

Bubby Ginsberg’s Strudel

February 7, 2013

Author: Shira Ginsberg

The women in my family were always busy in my Bubby’s Kitchen, mixing three cups of wisdom for every two cups of Matzo meal into whatever recipe they were preparing.

And there was always something mouthwatering in the over, the smell of the mandel bread and rugalach alone could make you cry…but to taste – forget about it, heaven on earth..

And then there was my Bubby’s Strudel. Saved for ‘the company’ NOT, for your everyday meal. Bubby’s strudel was served on her finest dishes, table set, and ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS with a glazele tea made from a re-used tea bag sitting in a little dish on the windowsill.. waste not want not.

To eat this strudel is to be back on 103 Nyroy Drive, surrounded by family, love, comfort, and of course, a table filled with ‘company’

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Ingredients:

Dough:

4 cups of flour

4 sticks of butter

1 cup sour cream

Mix all together. Knead.

Refrigerate apx. 2 hours

Filling 1 jar strawberry preserves

1/2 cup walnuts chopped

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine sugar, nuts cinnamon

Preparation:

Roll 1/4 dough into large circle on slightly floured surface. Spread filling. Sprinkle with nut, sugar and cinnamon.

Fold top and then sides and roll to form log. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Remove, cool, slice, share with some local yentas.

 

 

 

Indian Rolled Sweet Potato with Nuts

March 12, 2013

Author: JDCEntwine

 

 

A specialty of the Bene Israel community; recipe courtesy of Rosy Solomon Moses of Mumbai, India. Read more about the JDC in India.

Ingredients:

• 1lb sweet potatoes

• 2 tablespoons mashed dates • Almonds, pistachios, and

cashews

Preparation:

Boil sweet potatoes with a little salt. When tender, peel and mash potatoes. Add the mashed dates.

Mix and create small balls.

Crush equal parts almonds, pistachios, and cashews together (around 1/2 cup). Roll the balls in crushed nuts and serve.

 

 

Amma Zahara’s Ka’aka

April 8, 2013

Author: Leah Hadad

Not my grandmother, Amma Zahra is my honorary Bubbie. She treated my siblings and me, as she would have had her own grandchildren. Growing up, I spent more time with her than I did with my grandmothers. When my mother was at work, she babysat us. She was my maternal great aunt. Yemenite Arabic draws a distinction between maternal and paternal aunts and uncles. Amma is the word denoting a paternal aunt. Zahra was also my mother’s name until she immigrated to Israel, upon which time she was assigned the name Sarah. Her aunt kept her original name – Zahra, the morning star.

Amma Zahara always seemed very old to my young eyes. She was believed to have been born at 1895, which would place her in her mid 60s when I was born. When I think back, she had to have been older than that. Even in my early memories, her face is a weave of deep, close-knit wrinkles. Her eyes imparted kindness and wisdom, and I remember her as warm and good-natured. From many miles away years later, she still occupies a special place in my heart.

In those simpler times, Amma Zahra fit the bill of an Eshet Hayil. I watched her cook, bake, clean, and do the laundry. She also found time for sewing, Yemenite style embroidery, and basket weaving. Her ‘kitchen’ was a small corner of her one room residence. There, she squatted in front of a portable, single-burner kerosene stove, prevalent in 1950s Israel. She practiced old-world cooking, utilizing every edible portion of the raw food; nothing was wasted.

While she kept herself busy, she always made time for her afternoon Yemenite coffee into which she dunked ka’aka. It was the time to visit with family, friends, and neighbors. Shoot the breeze. That generation knew to take the time for rest and to find joy in the small things. It is those simpler pleasures that I miss when I think about Amma Zahra and to which this ka’aka takes me back.

Ka’aka is a pastry type prevalent in the Arab world and is known also as ka’ak. There are many variations, sweet and savory. By sweet, I do not mean the sweet concoctions to which we are accustomed these days. Sugar was then used as a condiment, not a main ingredient.

In the recipe I offer here, I re-imagine the ka’aka I remember. In Israel, Yemenite immigrants adapted their cooking to local, cheaper ingredients. This pastry was most likely been baked originally with ghee – clarified butter – or olive oil; today, in Israel, it is baked with margarine. I am using butter and a mix of all-purpose flour and whole grain wheat because even the ‘clean’ flour in Yemen was in all likelihood less refined than ours. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Makes 14-16 cakes

1 c unsalted butter

3 c AP flour  (350 g)

1 1/3 c whole wheat flour (150 g)

1/2 c sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

1/4 c ice cold water

2 Tbsp. Sesame or nigella (black seed)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°;

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or by hand until dough comes together.  It will be soft and a bit tacky.  Alternatively, use a food processor and mix for about 7-10 min.;

Tear a chunk from the dough and with cup of your hands form into a ball (65 g).  It should be 2 “ in diameter;

Place on an oiled or parchment-covered baking sheet.  Press the ball gently with the palms your hands to flatten;

Spread seeds on top and bake for 25 min.  You could brush top with egg wash, but it is not necessary.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Savtah’s Custard

April 9, 2013

Author: Kitchen Tested

 

When I think back to my Savtah’s kitchen growing up, I can still taste the Israeli cous cous, sweet and sour tongue, candy cane ice cream, fluffy meringues and lots of pistachios. But one memory I don’t have is of this breakfast custard that my sisters rave about. My Savtah used to bake a dozen (or more) individual custards and leave them in the fridge for everyone to snack on all week. You could eat them at any time of the day but they were especially delicious at breakfast. So how could I not make this recipe in my own kitchen and hopefully start a new tradition with my husband and children. When I tasted my very first bite, I tried to picture myself standing in my grandparent’s kitchen with my sisters, snacking on custard right in front of the fridge. Sure, the memory isn’t real, but the custard sure is!

Originally published on Kitchen Tested.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups water

1 1/4 cup non-fat dry milk

3 eggs

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp vanilla

nutmeg, for garnish

*if you want sweet custard, add 1 Tbsp vanilla sugar

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare six custard cups with cooking spray and place them in a baking pan filled half way with water.

With an immersion blender, blender or food processor, blend the water, dry milk, eggs, vanilla and honey. If you want your custard to be sweet, add the vanilla sugar and blend. Ladle the custard into the cups and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Bake until set, around 35 minutes. Cool 1-2 hours on the counter then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days…if they last that long.

 

 

Baked Cinnamon Doughnuts with Quince Cardamom Preserve

November 4, 2013

Author: Itta Werdiger Roth

For years now, Chanukka has been synonymous with doughnuts. While gentiles are stringing up their lights, saddling up reindeer, and racking up huge electricity bills, we Jews are probably more focused on our usual preoccupation: food. Yes – miracles and wonders, olive oil, lights, transcending the physical too, but mainly food – deep fried food. We’re imaging the crispy and salty latkes and the moist creamy doughnuts. Many years ago, some clever person had the great idea to connect every single Jewish holiday to different foods, and these foods have become rituals in their own right. The whole idea at it’s core is pure outreach (so I guess a Lubavitcher thought of it?): the lost Jewish soul comes back to his grandparents’ Shabbos table with one good bowl of chicken soup.

The only thing that really connects doughnuts with Chanukka is the fact that doughnuts are deep fried, which is supposed to remind us of the miracle of the oil in the Temple. Considering the recipe I’m about to give you is for baked doughnuts, not fried ones, which might seem sacrilege to some, let me just defend myself in advance; I would never choose to deep-fry something if I could make it just as good another way. Deep-frying is messy, costly and when it’s all over, the smell lingers, and someone needs a facial.

If you’re thinking that you’d be better off just buying doughnuts, then yes, you have a point. It would be so much simpler if I could just bite into a commercial doughnut and taste good quality jam or REAL custard filling, but anyone who eats discerningly knows that most of the time, food you buy just isn’t all that great. It’s one of the big reasons I bother to cook at all (unless you thought it was the calluses and burns!).

If you make your own doughnuts and fillings this year, no matter which recipe you use, let your mind wander back to the story of Chanukka, and add some personal meaning to your own recipe. Think about the heroes of the story: The Maccabim, the people that physically cleaned the desecrated Temple, and the heroine Yehudit who seduced the Syrian-Greek general Holofernes with cheese and wine before beheading him. Deep fried food? We can be more creative than that – just the same way we are probably capable of deep-frying anything, I am almost certain we are capable of attributing connection and meaning to absolutely anything.

The idea of ‘transcending the physical’ stems from the fact that the miracle of Chanukka features the number 8. To explain; a 7-day week is the norm, and the bane of our existence, but the miracle of the oil burning lasted for a full eight days. Eight is not just any random number, it is just one more than seven. 8 teachers us to try and go beyond our comfort zones and our natural state of being.

So, as this Chanukka approaches, ask yourself, “do I want another average doughnut from an average bakery, or am I going to go beyond my usual limitations and make it myself?”

Originally published in http://balaboostas.com/2012/12/baked-cinnamon-doughnuts-with-quince-cardamom-preserve/

Ingredients:

For the Doughnuts (adapted from 101 Cookbooks):

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)

1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

5 cups all-purpose flour (I use a blend of whole wheat and white or whole spelt)

A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated if possible

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the Quince Cardamom Preserve:

3-5 quinces, peeled and chopped

3-4 apples and/or pears, chopped (no need to peel if you plan on blending).

3 tablespoons sugar

zest and juice of one lemon

1 cinnamon stick

1 vanilla bean cut lengthwise

3 cloves

4 cardamom pods.

An Optional Glaze (rather than the cinnamon and sugar):

1 cup unfiltered apple juice (“cider”)

2, 1 inch pieces ginger

1 cup powdered/icing sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

Directions: place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Be sure your milk isn’t too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt – just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. This is where you are going to need to make adjustments – if your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead just a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Use an upside down small drinking glass or a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to make circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes – start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a bowl and the sugar and cinnamon in another bowl, plate or ziploc bag.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and using a pastry brush (or you can actually dip the doughnut into the bowl of butter) brush butter over each doughnut, then a quick toss in the sugar. Depending on how many you’re making, you can just throw all the doughnuts together in the ziploc bag and give it a shake. When I’m making a ton of these I spread the sugar mixture onto a baking tray and after brushing the butter, I turn the doughnuts around once to get coated.

Makes 1 1/2 – 2 dozen medium doughnuts.

For the Quince Cardamom Preserve:

Here’s how: add everything to a heavy-bottomed pot. (Don’t mess around with the numbers of the spices unless you have a really good memory! Remember, whatever you put in, must come out so this way you have 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5…). Add enough water to barely cover the fruit, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Stir often, keep reducing the liquid and be careful not to let it burn. Some people use a crock pot and cook the fruit overnight and you can do that, but you can also just let it bubble for as little as an hour. The longer you let it cook, the thicker it will be. When enough is enough, remove all the spices (1, 2, 3, 4!) and blend if you prefer a smoother consistency.

You can preserve the fruit by doing the whole mason-jar 10 minute hot water bath but don’t bother with that right now. When the fruit has cooled, just slice ⅓ of the way through the doughnut and spread the fruit with a knife. You can also inject it like I did one year, getting very sticky hands and wasting a lot of time.

An Optional Glaze

Like this: put the apple juice and the ginger into a small pot and boil. Keep reducing until less than half is left. When cooled, prepare the icing by combining the sugar and cinnamon and slowly add tablespoons of the reduced apple ginger mixture. Whisk until smooth. Place a wire cooling rack over a piece of parchment paper. When doughnuts are cool, dip tops into the glaze and let them rest on a wire rack until the glaze hardens.

 

My Signature Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Challah

December 4, 2013

Author: Allison Josephs

I’ve made challah most Shabboses since I got married. The reason? Whenever I’m at someone else’s house for a Shabbos meal and the challah cover is over the loaves, concealing their identity, I always silently pray for delicious homemade challah to be revealed! I figure my guests may feel the same way.

I’ve made a bunch of different recipes since I started baking challah but several years ago I thought of how much I love cinnamon raisin bagels and wondered if I could take that taste and combine it with challah. Then my mother was diagnosed with cancer shortly thereafter and our family was in shock. We tried to combat the news in all sorts of ways: she changed her diet, we prayed, asked people to do extra mitzvahs in her merit, we did extra mitzvahs.

But I decided that we needed more sweetness in our lives. So I began to tackle this cinnamon raisin challah recipe I had been dreaming of and after many different attempts came up with a cinnamon sugar raisin walnut challah which my family (and guests) have adored ever since.

Check out the video my daughters and I made to show you how to create this challah in your kitchen and I hope it adds a bit more sweetness to your life too!

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Stars

December 12, 2013

Author: OOGIAH

 

 

Long before I actually baked up these boxes full of Chocolate Chip Cookie Stars to donate to our preschool silent auction, I had to order the labels! The ingredients were set in print so I had to stick to them. I tweaked the recipe here and there, and consulted an expert cut-out cookie baking friend on her chilling/cutting timing. I went through a couple of batches that weren’t perfect enough for me shape-wise, and those became much enjoyed snacks at Tot Shabbat services and dinners with family friends! Once I had it all down, I packed five star cookies per box, with the sticker label of course!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Cream the butter and sugars. Add the the egg yolk and vanilla. Add the flour and salt. Mix in the mini chocolate chips. Roll out the dough to 1/4″. Cut with Star of David cookie cutter, pushing it through the chocolate chips. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet, and chill in the freezer for 5 minutes. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. They are great frozen too!

 

 

Hamentaschen

February 11, 2014

Author: Vicky Pearl

You know, I never tire of hearing stories about the past. Whether they’re stories about what life was like for my relatives in the Old Country or what travails they faced when they arrived in the United States. Many of these stories, it seems to me, also revolve around food. For example, there is a lovely story about my great-great grandmother’s jelly cookies. First, you have to understand that my great-great grandmother was famous for her cookies. Friends and neighbors would rave about them. Once, or so my great grandmother has told me, she was serving them to her guests who simply couldn’t believe that she had made themselves herself and informed her that she must have in reality gone out and purchased them at a local bakery. They were that good!!

So good, in fact, that for years, my own grandmother kept the recipe a secret. For years and years she kept it a secret. That is, until about 18 years ago, when she decided to share it with me. Since then, I deemed it my mission to replicate these delicacies for a gluten-free lifestyle. No easy matter, let me tell you. Although my grandmother recited the recipe to me verbatim over the phone, she is a “touchy-feely” baker. That is to say, she knows merely by feeling the dough and by the temperature in the room, whether it needs a bit more flour or a bit more moisture. My goal, of course, was to make the dough replicable in any kitchen using the alternative flours that were available to me. The recipe that follows is my imitation of the original dough. It is the dough that I use not only for my Hamantashen, but also for my jelly cookies and for Chanukah shaped cookies.

Ingredients:

¾ cup potato starch

¾ cup brown rice flour

½ cup sweet rice flour

½ cup tapioca flour

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

½ tsp kosher salt (do not double when you double the recipe)

1 cup trans-fat-free margarine, room temperature (2 sticks)

½ cup xylitol or granulated sugar

1 large egg

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

approximately 1 jar apricot jam

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, stir together potato starch, rice and tapioca flours, xanthan gum, and salt.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat margarine and sugar together for 2 minutes, or until somewhat combined. Add egg and vanilla; mix for 1 minute.

4. Add dry ingredients, mixing until well blended. If the dough is sticky, flour the baking surface and rolling pin with rice flour.

5. Divide dough in half. Roll dough, one piece at a time, between 2 pieces of parchment paper until ¼-inch thick. Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter or glass to form circles.

6. Place ¼–½ tsp apricot jam in the center of each circle.

7. Bring 2 side arcs toward the center, overlapping them on top to form a point. Then bring bottom arc to center, creating a secure pocket of jam. Transfer to prepared baking sheets.

8. Bake in center of preheated oven for 17 to 18 minutes or until tips are slightly golden.

Remove pan to rack to cool completely.

Cookies freeze very well for up to 4 months.

Yield: 30 hamentashen.

Sidebar: This is a great classic cookie dough. It’s used below in the jelly or shaped cookies. It freezes beautifully and is handy to have on hand to turn into an afternoon event with your children. It’s very easy to work with and would be lovely simply baked with multicolored sprinkles on top. You’ll notice that this is one recipe where agave is not given as an option. This is because the cookies need to be a touch crispy, so xylitol (or sugar) is the ideal sweetener.

Originally published in Gluten-Free Goes Gourmet.

 

 

 

Fluden

March 6, 2014

Author: Shirley Bemel

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Came from Russia and enjoyed through the generations. They are known as “bricks”. Great to freeze them and bring them out for any occasion. Lovely with tea/coffee.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

¼ cup vegetable shortening

¾ cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

¼ cup milk or orange juice

1 ½ tsps pure vanilla

¼ tsp orange oil

½ tsp salt

2 ¼ tsps baking powder

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour

For the cornucopia filling:

6 cups peeled, shredded, and finely chopped apples

1 ½ cups cranberries, coarsely chopped

⅓ cup dried cherries

1 cup raisins

⅓ cup ground walnuts

⅓ cup apricot jam

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons flour

Preparation:

For dough, in a medium bowl, cream the shortening and butter with sugar.

Blend in eggs, milk or juice, vanilla, and orange oil. Fold in flour, salt, and baking powder and stir to make a stiff dough. Pat dough out and knead gently on a lightly floured surface.

Wrap and chill for about an hour.

For filling, in a large bowl, combine the apples, cranberries, cherries, raisins, ground nuts, and apricot jam. Toss with sugar to combine and fold in remaining ingredients: lemon juice, cinnamon, and flour. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 9-inch-by-13-inch pan.

Divide the dough into 3 portions. Roll out one portion, or simply pat and trim the dough to fit the pan bottom. Spoon on half the filling. Roll or pat another portion of dough on top of the fruit.

Cover with the remaining fruit mixture, then the last portion of dough.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top of the pastry is lightly golden.

Cool and cut into squares to serve. Cover the pastry well to store. (This ages well.)

Makes 25 to 35 squares, depending on size.

 

Baked Apples

March 6, 2014

Author: Poppy Dave

My grandfather was a kosher caterer and had many recipes, I am sure. This simple one, however, sticks out in my mind. My grandparents lived in a basement apartment below us and every night my brother and I would go downstairs, after our evening showers, hair still wet. We would eat these apples (possibly sans brandy) and fall asleep in their arms.

Ingredients:

Apples

Cinnamon

Brandy

Brown sugar

Preparation:

Core the apples. Cover them in brown sugar and cinnamon- as much as you like. Pour the brandy all over and cook for at least 30 minutes or until the grandkids show up. Serve with ice cream.

 

Raw Chia Seed Pudding

March 6, 2014

Author: Marcus Freed

 

 

I got to LA, discovered my body worked better on a diet that’s gluten free, sugar free and dairy free, but I like desserts, so someone’s bubbie taught me this one!

Ingredients:

6 cups of coconut milk

1 cup of organic chia seeds

2 tsp vanilla flavoring

1 tsp xylitol

3 splashes of stevia

Preparation:

Mix it all up. Stir thoroughly. Leave in fridge for 1 hour. Eat & enjoy!

 

The Butcher’s Daughter

March 6, 2014

Author: Sarah Horowitz

It’s 9 AM. I hear the familiar voice of the nine o’clock newsman on the radio. The pots stop rattling. It’s time for my mother to stop and listen. From my bed the Yiddish news takes over the smells from the kitchen.

The smell was overpowering, the mixture of chopped liver with cooking onions and fresh made cookies. That mixture for sure did not get me out of bed for breakfast. Instead I quietly listened to news from the gentle mans voice. The news about American Jews, Israeli Jews, what the weather was.

I knew my mom would review these news items with my aunts and neighbors. So I listened carefully. It was hot out. The day was waiting for me but I knew that my mom would make me eat. She was going to make me try the fresh meat for breakfast. I hate meat but I love cookies. The only way to get the cookies was to eat the meat.

Tried both and again my mom told me what a good girl I was. The butcher’s daughter has to eat meat for breakfast!

Ingredients:

10 cups flour

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1tsp vanilla

1tbsp baking soda

1 glass orange juice

1lb margarine (salted)

1 glass oil

Preparation:

Mix-use cookie making machine. Try not to use the cutters with holiday themes e.g. trees, crosses, stars. Drop cookies brush with egg whites. Decorate with sprinkles and sugared nuts. Bake ten minutes. Cool on racks. Store in large pickle jars.

 

 

 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

April 2, 2014

Author: Rebecca Tannenbaum

 

 

Ingredients:

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 cup chopped nuts

Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

Preparation:

PREHEAT oven to 325° F.

BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

* If using frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly.

 

Ruth Levy’s Apple Chrimslech for Passover

October 2, 2012

Author: Myrite

Ruth Levy left Germany soon after Kristalnacht as a child but took this special passover tradition with her. Chrimslech are like apple latkes and in her family they were always served on a green plate. Her four sons devoured them for breakfast, and she passed on this tradition to her family. The original Green plate cracked years ago, but she glued it together and still serves chrimslech on it for her grandchildren (who have also mastered the recipe). You can see Ruth’s video making chrimslech with her granddaughter Raphaelle Levy- soon! For now check out the trailer of Dishing up The Past.

Ingredients:

2 Matzah

3 eggs

1 grated apple

a few tbsp. of chopped almonds (can be bought whole and chopped in food processor)

sugar (to taste)

cinnamon

salt

Matzah Meal (if needed)

Olive or vegetable oil or butter

Powdered Sugar

Preparation:

1. The night before – soak the 2 pieces of Matzah in water. Let sit overnight. In the

morning, squeeze out all the water.

2. Separate egg yolks and whites. Reserve whites. Place yolks in a bowl and beat.

3. Place egg whites in a second bowl. Beat until stiff. Place in refrigerator.

4. Add soaked, drained Matzah, apple, almonds, a few tsp. of sugar, a pinch of

cinnamon and a dash of salt. Mix well.

5. Fold in egg whites. If the mixture is very liquid, add some matzah meal

6. Heat up oil or butter

7. Cover the bottom of a pan with oil or butter, when it is hot spoon the batter into

circles as you would a pancake. Flip over when brown.

8. Place cooked Chremslach onto paper towel-line to drain oil

9. When ready to serve, heap onto a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Posted in Appetizers

Tags: almond, almonds, Apple, Apple Chrimslech, Apple Chrimslech for Passover, apples, butter,Chrimslech, Chrimslech for Passover, cinnamon, egg, eggs, matzah, matzah meal, Matzah, Matzah Meal, matzos, matzos meal, oil, olive oil, Passover, Pesach, powdered sugar, salt, sugar, vegetable oil

 

Chocolate Tart

April 4, 2014

Author:Tannaz Sassooni

 

 

Ingredients:

The crust:

40 ginger snaps

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), melted

pinch of salt

The filling:

1/2 stick butter, cut into pieces

10 oz chocolate (70% cacao or more), broken into pieces

1 1/2 C heavy cream

3 Tbs honey

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

The topping:

1/4 cup Fat Uncle Farms Ass Kickin’ Ginger Almonds

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300F.

For the crust, grind snaps in the food processor. Add butter, process to combine. Press into 9 inch tart dish. (note: i used 9 inch springform.) Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

For the filling, place chocolate and butter in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream, honey, salt, and cayenne to a boil over medium heat, whisking to dissolve honey. Pour cream mixture over chocolate mixture; allow cream to melt chocolate for about a minute, then whisk until smooth.

Pour chocolate mixture into crust; chill for at least 4 hours.

Coarsely chop almonds.

Before serving, top tart with almonds.

 

 

Hamantaschen in a Hurry

April 4, 2014

Author: Ali Berzon

 

 

Ingredients:

Dough:

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

1 cup sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1/2 orange

2 tablespoons brandy

Filling:

Any fruit flavor jam

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, egg yolk, sugar, both juices and brandy until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until a sticky dough is formed.

Knead dough. Form small balls with dough and then push dough with thumb to form a flat circle around 3 inches across (or something resembling a circle). Put about 1/2 to 1 tsp of apricot or raspberry jam (or any other filling) in the middle. Fold up three sides to form a triangle. Place on buttered cookie tin. Cook for about 15 minutes until browned.

 

 

Chocolate Chip Brownies

June 16, 2014

Author: Kaila1

 

I’ve been eating my mom’s delicious homemade brownies for a while and the recipe still runs in the family. I really like this recipe because her brownies always make me feel happy.

Ingredients:

Brownie mix

1 egg

1 cup of vegetable oil

Preparation:

Get out the mixing bowl

Mix ingredients together

Put in oven for 32 minutes

Posted in Baked Goods and Desserts

Tags: brownie, chocolate, dessert, egg, JCC, JCCSF, San Francisco, vegetable oil, yummy

 

Grandma Rosenthal’s New York Style Cheesecake

May 5, 2014

Author: Mitch Rosenthal

Ingredients:

Automatic Mixer:

2 8 oz cream cheese

2 eggs

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

Hand Mix:

1 pint of sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon

round spring pan pan

follow recipe for graham cracker crust

Preparation:

Mix automatic mixer ingredients with mixer. Carefully pour over crust, bake at 350 for 20 minutes, cool 10 minutes.

Mix ingredients by hand. Very carefully, pour on top. Sprinkle cinnamon and bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

Cook and refrigerate.

Honey Ball Tower

June 17, 2014 

Author: Lauren Berman

 

 

Growing up in an Italian family Sunday dinners were a whole day affair. The meal began about noon (yea, dinner?) and ended around 6, generally with half the clan fast asleep in a lawn chair or at the table. If it was a “special dinner” celebrating a birthday or holiday, we would have this tower of honey goodness piled high with sprinkles and love. Only my grandmother has been able to get the consistency of the dough just right… the two generations since have been hard as rocks.

Ingredients:

No recipe, wing it!

Preparation:

No preparation instruction.

Posted in Baked Goods and Desserts

Tags: Delicious, dessert, holidays, honey, San Francisco

 

Bubbie’s Hamantaschen

July 28, 2014

Author: Anne Samachson

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Sugar cookie dough

strawberry preserves

mohn (Poppy)

lekvar (Prune or apricot butter)

Directions:

Roll dough until thin

Cut in circles with overturned glass

Put tablespoon of filling in circle

Fold and bake

Eat! You’re too skinny!