Last week’s recipes were two variations of apple pie; this week are two apple cakes. Both made with vegetable oil instead of butter, they are a perfect way to celebrate a sweet and fruitful New Year for Rosh Hashanah.
Apple Cake
YIELD: Makes 8 servings
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups crisp apples, peeled, cored and diced
3 teaspoons cinnamon
6 tablespoons, plus 2 cups, sugar, divided
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
icing (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350 F. In medium bowl, mix apples, cinnamon and 5 tablespoons sugar until combined. Set aside.
In large bowl, mix flour, 2 cups sugar, baking powder and salt until combined. Form well in middle of mixture. Add oil, eggs, orange juice and vanilla; mix until blended.
In springform pan, pour half of batter. Add apple mixture. Pour remaining batter over apple mixture. Sprinkle remaining sugar over batter. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until top is golden brown and tester comes out clean and dry. Drizzle with icing, if desired.
Apple Coffee Cake
YIELD: Makes 10 servings
INGREDIENTS:
5 cups tart apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark raisins
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg, beaten
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan.
DIRECTIONS:
In large mixing bowl, combine apples with sugar and raisins; mix well. Let stand 30 minutes. Stir in oil, vanilla and egg.
Sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Using about 1/3 of mix at a time, add to apple mixture, stirring just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Turn batter into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake slightly before serving.
On the web:
Check out a recipe for Crown Raisin Challah at www.tbrnewsmedia.com
The traditional dishes served year after year at your family’s holiday gatherings may bring comfort and a sense of nostalgia, but you can open your loved ones up to a whole new world by incorporating recipes from around the globe.
People of all different cultures across the Earth are often connected by food, whether it’s a classic holiday dish or a unique take on a traditional dish, like this raisin-infused Challah. While the dishes themselves may drastically differ, using similar ingredients can be a unifying thread.
For those looking to pull off worldly cuisines this holiday season, consider a familiar and nearly universal ingredient like raisins, an innovative and delicious addition incorporated in culturally diverse dishes. On top of their versatile flavor, Sun-Maid Raisins offer a better-for-you whole fruit option with no added sugar per 1/4-cup serving.
Crown Raisin Challah
Crown Raisin Challah
YIELD: Makes 3 loaves
INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
2 envelopes (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
3 cups warm water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup olive oil
2 extra-large eggs, plus 3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup Sun-Maid raisins
3 cups bread flour
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Egg Wash:
2 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
DIRECTIONS:
In big bowl, mix yeast, sugar, honey and warm water. Let yeast bloom about 7 minutes. Add cinnamon, oil, eggs, egg yolks and salt. Mix well. Add raisins. Add flours and mix until sticky. Dough should be creamy yellow. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead 12-15 minutes, or until smooth. Oil bowl, place dough back in bowl and cover tight with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place about 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled.
Punch dough down, cover and let rise another 45 minutes. Punch down again and cut into three equal pieces. Let rest about 10 minutes then roll each piece into snakes about 30 inches long; taper at one end. Starting with thick end, roll each snake into spiral shape like snail shell. Use a little water and stick tapered end onto body of spiral. Mold into place with hands.
Oil loaves lightly, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until poofy, about 25 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 F. In small bowl, whisk eggs and sugar. Gently brush loaves with egg wash, taking care not to deflate them.
Bake 45 minutes, or until loaves are golden. Let cool completely before serving.
————————-
Consider these global recipe ideas enjoyed at holiday gatherings around the world.
Germany
Apple Strudel: Quite possibly one of the most famous German desserts of all, raisins add a delicious chewiness to this traditional strudel.
Lebkuchen: A traditional German cake similar to gingerbread that’s full of sweet spices, walnuts, dates and raisins.
Italy
Cuccidati Siciliani: Typically at their most popular during the holiday season, these Italian fig cookies feature raisins inside the deliciously fruity filling.
Panettone: Also a holiday favorite, Panettone is a towering round of sweet bread speckled with raisins, citrus and almonds.
England
Fruitcake: Traditional fruitcake is chock-full of dried raisins, golden raisins, cherries, dates, pineapple and apricots soaked in dark tea overnight.
Bread Pudding: This English staple uses stale bread, spices, sweetener and raisins to create a dense and delicious cake.
Poland
Cinnamon-Raisin Rugelach: These flavorful pastries are characterized by a melt-in-your-mouth cheese-based dough with a sweet cinnamon, raisin and walnut filling.
Greece
Christopsomo: Considered sacred in many Greek households and translating to “Christ’s Bread,” this revered dish is usually prepared the day before Christmas Eve and is served with nothing but bare hands at the table. Raisins, nuts, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg are all found throughout the loaf.
Armenia
Ghapama: A baked pumpkin stuffed with partially cooked rice, raisins, nuts, cinnamon and honey.
Ireland
Irish Soda Bread: The cakey texture of this Irish favorite is complemented by sweet, chewy raisins throughout the loaf.
Visit SunMaid.com to find more recipes perfect for holiday gatherings.
For me, the real inauguration of autumn is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish holiday when apples and honey signify a sweet New Year. This is when I tie on my apron and bake apple upside down cake, appleBundt cake or apple dumplings. Occasionally I’ll do an apple crisp or tart apple pie with honey instead of brown sugar.Whatever I make, the combination of apples and honey is a delicious treat.
Apple-Honey Upside Down Cake
Apple Honey Upside Down Cake
YIELD: Makes 8 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup +1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup honey
1 cup + 1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons orange juice
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 F. In a greased 9” x 9” baking pan. Arrange apple slices; sprinkle with the one tablespoon flour and cinnamon; drizzle with half a cup of the honey. In a large bowl thoroughly combine the cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk togetherremaining half cup of honey, egg, butter and orange juice; add to dry ingredients and stir just until thoroughly blended. Pour batter over apples and bake 30-35 minutes, until top is browned and cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes; invert onto platter and serve warm with crème fraîche.
Apple-Honey-Spice Cake
YIELD: Makes 10 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup + one tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup honey
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tart apples, peeled cored and shredded
1/4 cup warm water
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease inside of Bundt pan with the one tablespoon oil. In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg and ginger. In another large bowl combinehoney, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. With mixer on medium-high speed, beat until light and fluffy, about 3 – 31/2minutes. With mixer speed on low, beat in dry mixture just until completely blended; with rubber spatula fold in apples, then transfer batter to prepared Bundt pan. Bake until cake tester comes out clean and top of cake is golden, about 45-55 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes, then invert onto cake platter. Glaze, if desired, and serve warm or at room temperature with a sweet dessert wine.
Old-fashioned Apple Dumplings
YIELD: Makes 6 servings
INGREDIENTS:
2 pie crusts
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups sugar
3 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Butter a 9 x 13”shallow baking dish. On a lightly floured surface roll the pie crusts to form a 16 x 24” rectangle, then divide into six 8-inch square pieces. Place one apple, stem end up, in center of each square, stuff the same end of each apple with 6 pieces of the butter and half the brown sugar. (This is best done by poking the brown sugar into the apple with your finger). Sprinkle remaining brown sugar around base of each apple; sprinkle top of each apple with cinnamon and nutmeg.
With wet fingers pull one corner of pastry to top, then do likewise with diagonally opposite corner and pinch two corners together; repeat procedure with two remaining corners, then pinch all 4 corners together to completely enclosed in pastry. Place in prepared baking dish.
In medium saucepan combine sugar, water, vanilla extract and remaining two tablespoons butter; bring to boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes, until sugar is dissolved. Pour over dumplings and bake 55 minutes, until crust is light golden and apples are tender. Spoon sauce over apples and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Though Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the High Holy Days, are late in our secularcalendar, they will soon once again be upon us. I am honored to have been asked to bringwords of greeting at this important time from my family, from Temple Isaiah and frommy own heart.
One message contained in the High Holy Day liturgy is that at this time of year, ourdestinies are determined. On Rosh Hashana it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed,who will live and who will die, and what will become of us in the year ahead.
To be honest, this is not a statement that many of us believe literally. We may not thinkthat our destiny is pre-determined. But the message still is significant. We realize that there are times in our lives that do determine what happens to us. Even the liturgy we read states that our actions can help alter the outcome of what is to be.
Whether or not we are participating in the Jewish holy days, let us all. as human beings,realize the awesome nature of our ability to affect our own lives and the lives of thosearound us. This can happen in many ways, and is different for each of us. Yet oneprivilege we all share is exercising our freedom to vote.
Rabbi Joel Mosbacher of Temple Shaarey Tefila in New York City wrote the followingduring a previous election year: “In our traditional morning blessings which we call Nisim B’Chol Yom, ‘Daily Miracles,’ we offer gratitude for being free. As American Jews, we do not take for granted thetremendous gift that we have in being free and enjoying the freedoms that everyAmerican has. This is a freedom that Jews have not always been afforded. What a gift we have to be Jews living in America today, with the right to express our opinions and raise our voices through voting.”
With the gift of freedom comes responsibility. This message applies to all Americans and indeed to all free people. In this spirit, I want to encourage our exercising one of ourfundamental rights and privileges. Here are some easy steps to follow:
Register to vote: Check to see if you are registered to vote and if you are not, register online today.
Mark your calendars to vote: on Tuesday, November 8.
Make a plan to vote: Finding your polling place by visiting nyc.pollsitelocator.com or vote.org.
We give thanks for our freedom, and for being gifted with the privilege of voting. Maywe all make good use of this precious gift, this year and in years to come.
Best wishes to the Jewish community, and to entire community, for a shana tova u m’tuka, a good and sweet year; one of joy, health and freedom.
L’shalom.
Rabbi Paul Sidlofsky is a rabbi at Temple Isaiah in Stony Brook.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.We all know the saying and it does seem to be true. It also captures nicely the spirit of the Jewish New Year season which starts Monday night, Sept 6th, with the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. What do I mean?
In synagogues around the world, we read the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, on a yearly cycle reading a portion every week. As the New Year holidays begin, we find ourselves coming to the end of the annual cycle with the reading of the Book of Deuteronomy.That book is read over the course of 11 weeks, about a fifth of the year. And for those not familiar with its subject matter, Deuteronomy is primarily a review of the events of the previous four books.
We spend a fifth of the year, and a fifth of the Torah, doing review. This is intentional because our New Year season is meant to be one of review and reflection.We consider our shortcomings, failures, and misdeeds of the past year, actively seek to mend hurt and broken relationships, and plan for how to do better in the year ahead.
That is a lot to do! If you hadn’t started yet, you’d have a lot to accomplish between now and Monday! Judaism is an optimistic faith. We do not believe anyone is condemned to be bad with no hope of changing. Every year at this time, we celebrate the idea that people can change. But our tradition, as reflected in our liturgical calendar, also understands it is a lot of work to change what’s wrong in our lives.
Using the annual reading cycle as a guide, we probably should be spending a lot more of our time reflecting on what we do so that we can learn from our mistakes and try again — try again carefully and with the wisdom of experience to guide us.
If you will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah, I wish you a sweet and happy new year. And to everyone, I strongly recommend a life with ample time carved out for reviewing who you are, who you want to be, how to become that person, and never giving up on that process. A lifetime dedicated to such a process will be one well lived.
The author is the rabbi ofNorth Shore Jewish Center in Port Jefferson Station.
Rabbi Chaim Grossbaum sounds the Shofar, a hollowed-out ram's horn used to usher in Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Photo from Village Chabad
By Rabbi Chaim Grossbaum
Can we cancel 2020? Like simply skipping directly to 2021? Will anyone be upset about it?
I have seen many funny memes about 2020. But one particular meme got me to laugh pretty hard. It’s actually not about 2020 but about the current Jewish calendar year we are about to close, 5780.
“They say our actions on the High Holidays determine what will be decreed for the upcoming year. So whatever the heck you guys did last year, please don’t do it again!”
LOL.
After LOL’ing, it got me thinking about “cancelling 2020” and “cancelling 5780.” And then, a quote came to mind. A quote that is simply so perfect for our situation.
The quote is from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe. He was imprisoned and tortured in Soviet Russia because of his work to spread Judaism behind the Iron Curtain.
After he was released from prison, his disciples asked him how he felt about it. He replied, “If I would be offered millions to experience one more moment of suffering – I wouldn’t buy. And if anyone would want to pay me millions to take away one moment of my suffering – I wouldn’t sell!”
The Rebbe didn’t elaborate further, but I think that the message is simple. Challenges are difficult, but they can also uplift you. One should never choose to experience challenges, but in hindsight we can appreciate how it made us better.
So I don’t want to cancel 5780.
Not the moments that forced me to take a step back from the hustle of life.
Not the moments that reminded me what’s important and what’s less important.
Not the new appreciation of what is essential, and what is not truly essential.
Not the beauty I saw all around me, when the entire country simply rallied to help one another.
Not the feeling of closeness to G-d when I prayed from the bottom of my heart that things should get better already.
Not the time spent with my family with very little distraction.
Do I want more of it? Not even if you pay me millions. But I do know that 5780 had many gifts. Hidden, but gifts nonetheless.
Onward and upward!
May we all be blessed with a Shana Tova U’metuka. A happy, healthy and sweet new year up ahead for ourselves and our loved ones.
Rabbi Chaim Grossbaum is the senior rabbi and spiritual leader at the Village Chabad Center for Jewish life & Learning in East Setauket. Visit EnjoyHighHolidays.com for a schedule of COVID-safe outdoor holidays at Village Chabad. Masks, social distancing, and preregistration is required. To RSVP for a “60 Minute Power Hour” Rosh Hashanah service and Shofar blowing on Sept. 20, visit MyVillageChabad.com/HHPowerHour.
Like so many holidays, Rosh Hashana, which begins the Jewish New Year on the evening of Sept. 9, features an assortment of traditional foods. Among them are carrots, pomegranates, fish and, last but not least, bread, apples and honey. Each of these has a symbolic association with the idea of plenty, prosperity, newness, beauty and sweetness — all very happy and positive bodings for the new year. I would love to go into what each means, but my editor would have a conniption if I wrote all that. Anyway, below are recipes that feature three of those very important elements of the Rosh Hashana table … apples and honey for a sweet and happy new year and challah for a prosperous one.
Apple-Honey Loaf Cake
Apple-Honey Loaf Cake
YIELD: Makes two 9×5×3-inch loaves.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 apples peeled, cored and shredded
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour loaf pans. In a large bowl combine sugar and oil; add eggs and beat until mixture is pale yellow. Stir in ¾ cup of the honey and vanilla. In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir into egg mixture just until moistened. Fold in apples. Pour batter into loaf pans; bake 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Heat remaining quarter cup of honey until warm. Let cake cool 15 minutes, then invert onto plate, prick with a fork and drizzle warm honey over top. Serve with dessert wine, coffee or tea.
Holiday Challah
Holiday Challah
YIELD: Makes 2 large loaves.
INGREDIENTS:
Four ¼-ounce packages quick-rise yeast
4 cups warm (105–115 F) water
2 tablespoons salt
¾ cup sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening, melted
4 eggs
10 to 12 cups bread flour (approximate)
1 egg
¼ cup poppy seeds
DIRECTIONS:
In large bowl, sprinkle yeast over water; stir to moisten. Stir in salt, sugar, shortening and the 4 eggs. Gradually mix in flour, one cupful at a time until dough becomes slightly sticky but not wet. (You may not need all the flour.) Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Grease two baking sheets and set aside. Cut dough into two equal pieces, then divide each of those pieces into 3 equal pieces. On a floured surface, roll each of the smaller pieces into a 12-inch rope about the thickness of a thumb, but thicker in the middle and thinner toward each end. For each loaf, braid the 3 ropes, pinch together and tuck under at ends. Gently pat each loaf into a circular shape and lift onto baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel let rise in a warm place until double in size, 60 to 90 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F. Beat remaining egg with ½ teaspoon water and brush top of each loaf with mixture. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake until tops are shiny and golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool before slicing.
