1,000 Jewish Recipes (281 page)
Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1
1
â
4
cups milk
1 pound sweet apples such as Golden Delicious
6 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1
1
â
2
teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter a 5-cup baking dish. Remove crust and cut challah into chunks. Put it in a large bowl. Bring milk to a simmer in a small saucepan. Pour it over bread and let stand about 5 minutes to soften.
2.
Peel, halve, and core apples. Slice them very thin.
3.
Mash challah with a fork. Add 4 tablespoons sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and mix well. Add apples and mix well.
4.
Whip egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gradually beat in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff and shiny. Gently fold whites, in 2 batches, into bread mixture. Transfer mixture to baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining
1
â
2
teaspoon cinnamon and scatter butter pieces on top. Bake about 50 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in pudding comes out dry.
5.
The pudding is best served warm. Although it sinks when cool, it still tastes good.
Jewish homemakers originally designed challah puddings or kugels to use up stale challah, but they turned into such popular desserts that modern cooks buy extra challah to be sure there is enough left for pudding. This one is flavored with dried cherries, kirsch, and lemon zest. If you like, substitute golden raisins or chopped candied citrus peel for the cherries. You can also use orange juice for soaking the cherries instead of kirsch.
3
â
4
cup dried cherries
1
â
4
cup kirsch or cherry brandy
8 ounces challah or egg bread (
1
â
2
of a 1-pound challah), day-old or stale
1
â
2
cup sugar
1
â
4
cup chopped walnuts
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon strained fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted margarine
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil a 6-cup baking dish. Combine cherries and kirsch in a jar; cover, shake, and let stand about 10 minutes.
2.
Remove crust and cut challah into chunks. Soak it in cold water until softened. Squeeze out excess water. Put challah in a large bowl and mash it with a fork.
3.
Mix 1 tablespoon sugar with walnuts; set aside. Add remaining sugar to challah. Add eggs, lemon juice, lemon rind, and oil. Mix well. Add cherries with their kirsch and mix well. Transfer mixture to baking dish. Sprinkle with walnut-sugar mixture. Bake about 50 minutes or until set. Serve hot or warm.
SIMPLE CAKES
This easy-to-make French-style cake makes a lovely Shabbat dessert on its own, or with a fresh fruit sauce like
Kiwi Sauce
or
Mango Sauce
. If you don't need it to be pareve, make it with butter. If wrapped well, the cake keeps up to four days at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
5 tablespoons pareve margarine
3
â
4
cup whole blanched almonds
1
â
2
cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1
â
2
teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons orange liqueur or orange juice or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.
Grease an 8-inch round cake pan, about 2 inches deep. Line base with a round of wax paper or foil; grease liner. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2.
Melt margarine in a small saucepan over low heat; let cool. Grind almonds with sugar in a food processor to a fine powder. Sift cornstarch with flour and baking powder.
3.
Beat 1 egg with almond mixture at low speed of mixer until blended, then at high speed for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and smooth. Add remaining eggs one by one and beat at high speed about 3 minutes after each. Beat in liqueur. Sprinkle cornstarch mixture over almond mixture and fold it in gently. Gently fold in margarine in a fine stream.
4.
Transfer immediately to cake pan. Bake 28 to 30 minutes or until cake comes away from pan and a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Carefully turn cake out onto a rack. Gently remove paper. Turn cake over again so smooth side is down. Let cool. Wrap it and keep it at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
 or
Â
A simple pound cake is many people's favorite dessert. This scrumptious tea time cake is featured prominently at Jewish bakeries but is very easy to make at home. This one is dotted with dried cherries. For a different flavor, try dried cranberries.
One advantage of pound cakes is that they keep very well. Wrap this cake in plastic wrap or foil, and it will keep 3 days at cool room temperature or up to 1 week in refrigerator; or you can freeze it for about 2 months.
1
1
â
3
cups all-purpose flour
1
1
â
4
teaspoons baking powder
2
â
3
cup dried cherries
3
â
4
cup unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons whipping cream, half and half, milk, or water
Powdered sugar (optional)
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a nonstick 9 à 5-inch loaf pan, tapping pan to remove excess flour. Sift flour with baking powder. Sort through cherries to be sure there are no pits. Rinse cherries and pat them dry.
2.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter until it is soft, smooth, and most of it clings to side of bowl. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat at medium speed until mixture is very pale, smooth, and fluffy. Beat in 2 eggs one at a time at medium speed, beating thoroughly after each addition. Beat third egg in small bowl. Gradually add it to batter, beating well.
3.
With mixer at low speed, add about
1
â
4
of flour mixture. Blend in vanilla and 1 tablespoon cream. Blend in remaining flour in 3 batches, alternating with remaining cream. Stir at low speed just until blended. Lightly stir in cherries until blended.
4.
Spoon batter carefully into pan. Smooth top with spatula. Tap pan a few times on work surface to level batter. Set pan in oven with a short side of loaf pan facing back of oven.
5.
Bake about 50 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on rack 10 minutes. Run metal spatula or thin knife around edges of cake. Turn cake out onto rack. Carefully turn cake back over and cool it completely.
6.
Serve cake at room temperature. Sift powdered sugar over it, if using. Cut cake into
1
â
2
-inch slices with serrated knife.
 or
Â
When I was growing up, my mother often made marble cake. This simple but really appealing cake entices with its swirled appearance and then delivers a delicious chocolate and vanilla taste.
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1
3
â
4
cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
1
1
â
4
cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9 à 2
1
â
2
-inch springform pan, tapping pan to remove excess flour.