baking – Page 5

Teens bake for others

Teens from CTeens, NCSY and BBYO joined together for the Not Your Bubbies’ Babka Bake at Congregation Schara Tzedek on March 7. (photo from CTeens)

On March 17, teens from three local organizations – CTeens (Chabad Teens), NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth) and BBYO (B’nai B’rith Youth Organization) – joined together for a mitzvah. Around 30 teens from Richmond and Vancouver gathered for the Not Your Bubbies’ Babka Bake at Congregation Schara Tzedek, where they learned how to braid challah and make chocolate babka.

This wasn’t an ordinary get-together, it was a mitzvah event, timed to help celebrate Purim. The challot went to seniors in the Light of Shabbat Program, and the teens took the babkas home.

The Light of Shabbat Program is run by Chabad Richmond, in partnership with the Kehila Society. Every other week, a group of volunteers makes and delivers full kosher meals, along with Shabbat candles and grape juice, to Richmond seniors who are alone on Friday nights. To find out more about the program, visit chabadrichmond.com/lightofshabbat. Part of the meal is homemade challah, which was made by these teens as part of the mishloach manot (also referred to as shalach manot), or Purim food baskets, given on the holiday.

It’s a mitzvah and tradition for adults to send a gift basket of ready-to-eat foods to at least one friend during the day of Purim. The baskets should include at least two foods, often hamantashen, chocolate, fruit, cookies or candy. The source of mishloach manot is the Megillah, or Book of Esther, which talks about “sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.” The idea of sending gifts of food on Purim is to strengthen our bonds of friendship with fellow Jews, as one theme of Purim is friendship and unity.

Aiden, a 15-year-old CTeen, said the reason he joined the Not Your Bubbies’ Babka Bake event was to meet other Jewish teens, and help out. “I love to bake,” he said, “and it makes me feel good knowing that the challahs we’re baking are going to seniors in our community.”

A CTeen for two years, Aiden wanted to feel more connected to the Jewish community, so he started going to shul at Chabad Richmond. Then he met Rabbi Chalom Loeub, who leads the CTeen program. Among other things, the CTeens get together every Sunday to bake cookies and cakes for seniors. Aiden also mentioned going to the CTeen International Shabbaton in New York, which he said was “incredible.” He’s now trying to get other Jewish teens involved in CTeen, too.

Jillian Marks, 17, was another participant in the challah and babka bake. She came to the event through her involvement with BBYO. As a youth leader for the Vancouver chapter, she wants to create “a pluralistic environment for everyone who wants to meet other Jews and feel safe and be whoever they want to be.” BBYO holds different events, all of which have some Jewish element to them. For this particular event, BBYO joined with CTeens and NCSY to “work together, not compete. You can be in all of the groups, not just in one of them,” said Marks.

Each of the youth groups emphasizes leadership skills, and many of their events are teen-run initiatives. Marks added that “the purpose of this challah/babka bake was not just to meet other Jewish teens, but also to volunteer and help out the community.”

All the teens echoed the same sentiments – that making challah for seniors is a mitzvah and that it feels good to volunteer. It’s a nice perk, they said, that they also get to meet other Jewish teens, adding that they would “get the word out” to their friends.

Several teens from NCSY, including Neer, 16, Jessie, 17, and Romy, 16, also attended the challah and babka bake. They run Live to Give, a social action outreach program for the local NCSY chapter. One of their projects is to take homemade baking to Louis Brier Home and Hospital residents. One of the teens said, “For seniors who have no family, or very little, it’s special for them, and it brings a lot of light to their life.”

Members of the NCSY chapter also make and deliver food to people in Oppenheimer Park. “It’s a great opportunity to help out in the community and it’s very rewarding,” said the teen.

Enjoy these Pesach desserts

In Jerusalem, as soon as Purim is over, everyone begins to get ready for Pesach. Two-and-a-half weeks ahead, macaroons are already in the stores, as well as various other products for the holiday. Here are a few desserts you can make at home, from traditional to unusual.

CLASSIC ALMOND MACAROONS
Makes 20 macaroons. This recipe is adapted from an American food magazine (not sure which).

1 1/2 cups blanched almonds
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp confectioners sugar

Place almonds in a pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil 10 seconds. Remove one almond and see if it slips out of its skin. If not, boil a few seconds more. Spread on paper towels and pat dry once ready.
Preheat oven to 325 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
Grind almonds with 1/4 cup sugar in processor. Add egg whites and extract and blend 20 seconds. Add the 3/4 cup sugar in two batches, blending 10 seconds after each addition.
Roll one tablespoon of mixture between moistened palms into ball. Repeat until all mixture is used, spacing cookies one inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Flatten each to half-an-inch high. Brush each with water. Sift confectioners sugar over each. Bake for 25 minutes.
Lift one end of parchment paper and pour two tablespoons water onto cookie sheet. Lift other end and pour two tablespoons water under. Tilt to spread water. When water stops boiling, remove macaroons.

CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI
3/4 cup margarine or butter
2 1/8 cup sugar
6 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups matzah flour
1 1/4 cups potato flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tbsp Passover baking powder
5/8 cup ground almonds
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a cookie sheet.
In a bowl, cream margarine or butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.
In another bowl, combine matzah flour, potato flour, cocoa and baking powder. Gradually add to batter.
Add nuts and chocolate chips and combine.
Form into two logs and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool.
Slice. Return slices to cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes.

TOFFEE MATZAH
This is my favourite sweet for Pesach but this version is an Andrew Zimmern contribution from Food & Wine magazine with a few of my changes.

1 cup salted butter or margarine
5 pieces of matzah
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup mixed chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with vegetable spray. Line with parchment paper and spray again.
Arrange a layer of matzah on the sheet.
Melt butter or margarine with brown sugar in a saucepan. Cook five minutes. Pour over matzah. Bake five to eight minutes, until bubbling.
Remove from oven and spread chocolate chips on top, letting them melt for five minutes. Sprinkle nuts on top. Let cool or refrigerate to cool. Break into pieces.

MARILYN’S CHOCOLATE BRANDIED CANDY
Marilyn is a longtime friend of mine who came from the Boston area and has lived in Israel since 1949.

3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (a candy bar works fine)
1 cup raisins, soaked in cherry brandy
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup matzah pieces

Melt chocolate in a saucepan. Add raisins, walnuts and matzah and mix well.
Drop by tablespoon into small cupcake papers. Refrigerate.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, book reviewer and food writer in Jerusalem. She created and leads the weekly English-language Shuk Walks in Machane Yehuda, she has compiled and edited nine kosher cookbooks, and is the author of Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel.

Pinson writes definitive book

If I wrote that I had been trying to get a review copy of Rising: The Book of Challah by Rochie Pinson (Feldheim Publishers) since November 2016, readers would find that hard to believe, but the book only arrived at my door recently.

Pinson, who grew up in Vancouver, is co-founder of the IYYUN Centre for Jewish Spirituality with her husband, Rav DovBer Pinson, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. They have four children. She mentors women and teaches various classes. She also conducts a challah-baking workshop, which she teaches worldwide, including in Vancouver.

For Rising, Pinson has written 352 pages about challah. This book is about her philosophy, spirituality, history and everything you wanted to know about challah. And, yes, it includes recipes – 38 of them for challah and seven for toppings.

“The intent of challah,” writes the rebbetzin, “is to reveal our innate power to nurture and nourish, and reclaim our mothering potential in all the forms it can take.”

Section I, “The Story of Challah,” explains how, as a new bride, Pinson arrived in Kobe, Japan, which had no kosher bakery, and soon got into making 40 challot a week for the Jewish community.

The book then expands to other information about challah, spirituality and other topics, including a detailed examination of each ingredient and information on the concept of “rising.”

Section II is the cookbook, with reviews and details of ingredients and equipment and troubleshooting.

There are eight recipes, including her own classic challah recipe, gluten-free challah and vegan challah; eight holiday specialties, like apple-and-honey challah and pretzel challah; six recipes from around the world, including Moroccan challah, Yemenite challah and Bukharian challah; nine challah innovations, such as a “fish” challah (shaped like a fish with salmon, tuna, mushrooms and other vegetables), a deli challah (with deli meats) and a rainbow challah (using food colouring); and eight recipes for leftover challah, like babka, cinnamon bars and French toasts. Rising also has recipes for seven different challah toppings, including cream cheese frosting, and accompaniments for other dishes, such as challah stuffing and challah croutons.

Section III is called “Laws and Customs,” which is mainly self-explanatory, though it also includes challah meditations. A glossary and index conclude the book.

There are more than 100 colour photographs in Rising and many sketches, such as 37 ways to braid and shape a challah.

Rising really is the definitive “everything you ever wanted to know about challah” book, written with love and nurturing. It contains a huge amount of information, including the story of Pinson’s life “as realized through challah baking, and challah baking as a metaphor for balanced, integrated nurturing of our self and our loved ones.”

This is the book to give to anyone who bakes challah, and to anyone else who might be contemplating it.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, author, compiler/editor of nine kosher cookbooks and a food writer for North American Jewish publications, who lives in Jerusalem where she leads weekly walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.

The mitzvah of challah

On Rosh Hashanah, the challah is round and sweet, symbolizing our collective wish for a good, sweet year. (photo by Przemyslaw Wierzbowski)

It was two years ago that I fell in love with challah. I attended a challah baking workshop at a Jewish retreat and, at that point, the extent of my challah knowledge was that it’s sold in delis, comes in a plastic bag with a twist tie and makes great French toast. I was a challah virgin. This was around the same time that I was test-driving a more observant Jewish life, and figured it behooved me to learn more about our people’s famous braided egg bread. Little did I know how profoundly the workshop would affect me.

There we were, 40 or so Jewish women, up to our elbows in yeast dough, patiently following the instructor’s directions. She explained what each ingredient symbolizes, and how making challah each week is an auspicious time for Jewish women to pray for what they want and need. I was hooked. When it came time to make the blessing over the challah, that’s when I lost it, and became emotional. Something about a sisterhood of Jewish women gathered around tables doing something their mothers and grandmothers had been doing for generations struck a chord deep within me.

As I said the blessing, with my eyes closed and my hands atop the soft dough – “Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melech ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu, l’hafrish challah” – tears poured down my cheeks like they would never stop. The woman sitting next to me (almost a complete stranger) heard my sniffling and put her arm around me. I’m sure she was puzzled by my tearful response and, truth to tell, I was embarrassed, but I was overcome and just couldn’t help myself. Somehow, the mitzvah of making challah, and all that it symbolizes in our collective identity as Jewish women, hit me.

It mattered, in a deep-seated way, that I was part of something much bigger than myself – something inextricably tied to my Jewish roots, something to which I had paid scant attention over the years. I knew this activity would become a meaningful part of my life from that moment on. Challah is far more than just a food to sustain my family and me physically. It fills us spiritually as well. And that’s the most beautiful taste in the world.

Long story short, I now bake challah on a regular basis, for others and myself. It reminds me of who I am at my core. It draws me closer to my community of Jewish friends and acquaintances, and places me smack in the middle of what is real and true – my Yiddishkeit. Who knew that combining a few essential ingredients could produce such an inexplicable gift in my life?

It’s no secret that every Jewish custom is significant on a spiritual level. With Rosh Hashanah approaching, I set out to learn how to make one of the many unique symbols of the Jewish New Year – the round challah. The rest of the year, we make braided challot and dip them in salt, but, on Rosh Hashanah, the challah is round and sweet, symbolizing our collective wish for a good, sweet year. Its circular shape, which represents the cycle of life, has no beginning and no end, thereby symbolizing the continuity of the Jewish people. You could also say it’s a metaphor for the endless blessings that God sends us. Another interpretation is that the round challah resembles a crown, symbolizing the supreme power and authority of God.

As Rosh Hashanah nears, it’s a time for personal introspection and the beginning of our individual and collective teshuvah (return or repentance). We get ready to reflect, repent and ask for forgiveness. It’s a time to elevate ourselves and direct our thoughts and deeds toward a higher, more purposeful end. At precisely this time, when our thoughts turn to repentance and resolutions for improvement, the round challah reminds us that the opportunity for teshuvah is never-ending. This Rosh Hashanah, may we all be successful in elevating ourselves from our current reality into a higher, more spiritual state of being, on both an individual and collective level.

For those of you who want to learn more about the significance of baking challah, there’s a fascinating book called The Mitzvah of Challah by Esther Rivka Toledano (ArtScroll Mesorah Publications, 2018). The author dives deep into what is undeniably a mitzvah granted especially to women. She shares the history, the halachic (Jewish legal) guidelines, several recipes and lots more. The book goes far beyond the basics for those who really want to understand and embrace the mitzvah of challah.

May we all have a sweet, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. L’shana tova u’metuka!

Shelley Civkin is a happily retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly book review column for the Richmond Review, and currently writes a bi-weekly column about retirement for the Richmond News.

Sweet birthday party for kids

Jordana Saks gets great joy from baking. (photo from Saks of Sweets)

“I love baking, because it’s a fun activity that allows me to be creative. More importantly, there is nothing more fulfilling than the wide-eyed smiles I see on other faces when they enjoy something that I have baked.”

Jordana Saks’ love of baking inspired her to create Saks of Sweets, which plans and leads kids’ birthday parties. “What better way to celebrate a birthday than with friends while baking, decorating and eventually eating the delicious cookies?” she asks on the business’s website.

Born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ont., Saks studied cognitive science at McGill University in Montreal, before heading to San Francisco for a year. She arrived in Vancouver about 18 months ago, and has been in love with the city ever since.

Recalling her early sweet baking impressions, Saks said, “I started baking as young as 6 years old. My mom and aunt inspired me to bake, and taught me the tricks of the trade. When the eggs in my aunt’s fridge were past the expiry date, she used to call me over to practise the art of cracking an egg.

“Every year at Chanukah, for the family party, my aunt and I would make cookies and spend hours decorating them with unique designs. In addition to this tradition, we baked at least one new recipe each month. Still, to this day, when I visit home, we get together for a baking day – trying new recipes and recreating past ones.”

When Saks was studying at McGill, she used baking as a stress reliever, leaving her and her roommate with an abundance of baked goods.

“To prevent ourselves from eating an entire cake or a couple dozen cookies, I started an Instagram account called Saks of Sweets, where I could share when and what I was baking,” said Saks. “My friends would comment on what they wanted to try. I would find out where they were studying on campus and would deliver the goods, until nothing was left of that batch.”

When she moved to Vancouver, Saks recalls listening to a podcast called Side Hustle School, with Chris Guillebeau. “The entrepreneurial wheels in my brain were turning,” she said. “I was thinking about my passions and how I could channel those into a business. And, combined with my love for baking is my love for working with children. I’ve had many experiences working with kids and have enjoyed every one of them. After sitting down for an hour at a coffee shop and thinking about how to combine these two passions, the idea for Saks of Sweets quickly emerged.”

Saks of Sweets provides in-house baking birthday parties. Saks’ clients have loved the parties because, as parents, they do not need to stress or worry about anything except for inviting the children. The rest of the planning is in the hands of Saks of Sweets and Saks leads every party, along with one helper.

“We set up the individual baking stations, and the children will learn to roll out the Saks of Sweets shortbread cookie dough,” said Saks. “They will then choose from a wide variety of cookie cutters to create their cookies.

“While the cookies are in the oven, the children will decorate and personalize their baking aprons. Lastly, they will have a wide range of icing colours and sprinkles to decorate their unique creations. As an extra bonus, the take-home box for the cookies and the personalized aprons double as a loot bag.”

Prospective clients only need to provide a table for the rolling and decorating, and a working oven for the baking. Some parents like to provide a meal for the children, like ordering in pizza.

photo - Saks of Sweets brings the party to your children — Saks of Sweets brings the party to your children. *(photo from Saks of Sweets)*

For those not wanting to have the party in their own home, Saks of Sweets partners with the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, so that people can rent the centre’s party room for the birthday celebration.

“Right now, I am doing cookie cutting and decorating, but I’d like to move more into baking other delicious things, such as cakes, cupcakes, pies and more,” said Saks. “This expansion will happen soon, when the time is right.

“When I started this business, my hope was to channel my passions into throwing a creative birthday party that makes both the children and parents happy. I wasn’t overly concerned about the business scalability or strategy, because I didn’t want to get bogged down in the details or dissuade myself from taking that first step.

“From that perspective, my hopes have been met. Each party has been extremely well received by the parents, and the children are always smiling. My only new hope is that I can throw these more often.”

Saks of Sweets is Vancouver’s only in-house baking birthday party. The business concept is all about convenience. It is meant to be stress-free for parents, so they can also enjoy their child’s party.

Saks of Sweets can accommodate most dietary restrictions or allergies and works with clients to tailor the party to any needs or wishes. “For example, in the past, I’ve had to ensure all ingredients are kosher … and I can do parties for families that are kosher,” said Saks. “Furthermore, the ingredients and the cookies are all nut-free. However, they may contain traces of nuts, due to baking utensils that may have touched nuts in the past.”

The cost for a Saks of Sweets party for 10 to 12 children is $300, and each additional child after 12 is $22. For more information, visit saksofsweets.ca.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

More literary than practical

As a longtime reviewer of recipe books, I’ve come to realize there are two distinct categories in this genre. One is the practical cookbook you leave open on your kitchen counter while cooking. It delivers bright, inspiring images that lift you out of the doldrums of your everyday repertoire and offers concise, clear instructions using as little text as possible. Bottom line: it’s super-practical. The second kind is more of a bedside reading book, more literature than cooking aid. It comes with lengthy introductions and reflections on what particular recipes mean to the author and it’s not a book to pull out if you need to bake a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies for the last-minute guests about to arrive or the kids coming home from school.

This latter category perfectly fits Daphna Rabinovitch’s cookbook The Baker In Me (Whitecap Books, 2016), which received the top prize in the single subject cookbook category at the Taste Canada Awards earlier this year. The Jewish author of this 478-page tome has superb credentials that include director of Canadian Living magazine’s test kitchen, studies in Italy and co-authoring a host of other books, which have received accolades from culinary and literary critics. In this, her first solo book, she aims squarely at the ordinary baker and spends many pages explaining the basics for successful results making cookies, bars, chocolate, muffins, breads, cakes, pies and other desserts.

You’ll want to read these essays slowly and quietly before you tackle the recipes, which is why I recommend this book as good bedside reading. Thanks to Rabinovitch’s many years in the field, she has a plethora of baking tips and gems to share. She offers pragmatic advice on the art of measuring ingredients, the variety of cooking techniques (convection versus radiant) and what they are best used for, when to use chocolate instead of cocoa powder, and how to make your biscuits flaky.

Jewish readers will enjoy her challah, rugelach, Rosh Hashanah honey cakes and Passover recipes. Kid-size bakers will love the oversized peanut butter and oat cookies, the fudgy brownies and the peek-a-boo chocolate cupcakes. And grownup bakers will enjoy the challenge of a chocolate devil’s food cake with chocolate buttercream, One Damn Good Cookie, and the chocolate truffle pecan tart with spun sugar dome. There is lots here to impress friends and family with special occasion and everyday treats. But, as the title suggests, this cookbook is all about baking, so don’t approach it with a dieter’s caution. This is high-calorie fare. We’re talking the full mix of butter, sugar and chocolate with no concessions for waistlines.

Rabinovitch’s recipes aren’t that complicated or out of reach for a beginner baker, but there’s a fair amount of reading involved if you want to be sure you’re baking them the right way. For bakers who are keen learners, her expert viewpoint and strategic advice will add volumes to their knowledge of baking. For bakers who just want to get straight to the recipe with no lengthy reading process, this may not be the right choice for a handy kitchen companion.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

Enjoy summer’s many fruits

Who doesn’t look forward to summer’s bounty? Not only are fruits healthy – blueberries, for example, are low in calories but high in fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and have a high antioxidant capacity – and delicious on their own but they make for great desserts, salads and spreads. Here are some recipes for a few of my favourite fruits: blueberries, peaches and apricots.

REVERSED BLUEBERRY COBBLER
six to eight servings

base:
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp pareve unsalted margarine

cake:
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 tbsp unsalted pareve margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
2/3 cup non-dairy creamer

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a baking dish.
2. Combine blueberries, sugar, flour, grated lemon peel, nutmeg and margarine for base. Bake 10 minutes.
3. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and nutmeg for cake.
4. In another bowl, cream margarine with sugar and eggs. Add vanilla and lemon peel.
5. Mix in dry ingredients with non-dairy creamer. Drop batter atop blueberry mixture. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve warm with pareve whipped cream or ice cream.

BLUEBERRRY YOGURT CAKE 1

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup blueberry yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan.
2. Cream butter or margarine and brown sugar.
3. Add egg and vanilla and blend.
4. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, alternately with yogurt.
5. Pour into a cake pan. Bake for 50 minutes.

BLUEBERRY YOGURT CAKE 2

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups blueberry yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cardamom

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a cake pan.
2. Cream half cup sugar and butter or margarine. Add eggs.
3. Gradually add flour, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Stir in one cup blueberry yogurt. Add vanilla and cardamom. Pour half of batter into cake pan.
5. Spread remaining sugar and yogurt on the batter. Add rest of batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

SPICED PEACHES

4 cups sliced peaches
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
12 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp brandy

1. Place peaches, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon sticks and two cups water in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
3. Cool and add brandy. Pour into a jar with a lid or a bowl.

WALDORF PEACH SALAD
four servings

1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced grapes
1/2 cup chopped apples
1/4 cup chopped nuts
4 sliced peaches
4 pieces Romaine lettuce
1 tbsp brown sugar

dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup whipped cream
1 tsp grated orange peel

1. In a bowl, combine celery, grapes, apples and nuts. Toss lightly.
2. Place a piece of lettuce on each salad plate with a sliced peach on top. Fill with a quarter of the salad.
3. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Refrigerate.
4. In a bowl or jar with a lid, combine mayonnaise, whipped cream and orange peel. Spoon over each peach salad serving.

PEACH UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups chopped peaches
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 pound butter or margarine
1 egg
1 cup milk or non-dairy creamer or pareve almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan.
2. Toss together one cup brown sugar, nuts and peaches. Sprinkle on the bottom of a cake pan.
3. In a bowl, cream one cup brown sugar and butter or margarine. Add egg, milk and vanilla and stir.
4. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend. Spoon into cake pan. Bake for one hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool before turning out onto a cake plate.

APRICOT JAM
This is a Grace Parisi recipe taken from Food & Wine Magazine’s online recipe pages. It makes three half-pint jars.

2 pounds pitted apricots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1. In a nonreactive saucepan, toss the apricots with sugar and let stand, stirring until the sugar is mostly dissolved, about one hour.
2. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Simmer until the fruit is glassy and the liquid runs off the side of a spoon in thick, heavy drops, 20-25 minutes. Skim off scum that rises to the surface.
3. Spoon into three half-pint jars, leaving a quarter of an inch at top. Close and let jam cool to room temperature. Store in refrigerator for up to three months.

SPICED APRICOTS

2 cups apricots cut into halves
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
6 pieces stick cinnamon
1 tsp brandy

1. Place apricots, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon in a saucepan with a little water. Simmer until soft.
2. Add brandy and heat. Cool and spoon into a jar.

APRICOT BUTTER

five cups
2 pounds halved apricots
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp lemon peel
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Place apricots in a saucepan. Cook over low heat in their own juices until soft.
2. Puree in a blender and measure. Return to sauce pan, adding a quarter cup sugar for each cup of pulp.
3. Add cinnamon, cloves, allspice, lemon peel and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Spoon into jars, close and refrigerate.

APRICOT LEATHER

2 cups pitted apricots, cut into pieces
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 175-200°F.
2. Drop apricot pieces into a blender and puree. Add lemon juice and sugar.
3. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray. Spread pureed apricots evenly, quarter-inch thick on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in oven and keep door open. Bake until dry, three to six hours. Let cool.
4. Cut crosswise once, lengthwise three times, so you have six pieces.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and roll up.

Poppy seeds for Purim

Purim is coming the evening of Feb. 28, and if your schedule doesn’t allow time for making hamantashen, try poppy seed cookies. The Yiddish word for poppy seed is mohn, which some say sounds like Haman. Another story says Esther kept kosher and ate as a vegetarian; her diet including seeds, nuts, legumes and poppy seeds, so many Jews serve these foods on Purim. Another tradition says Esther subsisted on poppy seeds during her three-day fast. Whatever the reason, here are a few recipes.

MOHN KICHLACH

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 to 1/3 cup poppy seeds
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray.
In a bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in egg, water, vanilla and almond extract.
Mix in poppy seeds.
Add flour and baking powder and mix well.
Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes.

POPPY SEED COOKIES #1

1 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup hot milk
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray.
Soak poppy seeds in milk.
In a mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugar.
Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, raisins and, if using, chocolate. Add milk and poppy seeds and mix.
Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

POPPY SEED COOKIES #2

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
dash cinnamon
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable spray.
In a bowl, combine oil, butter or margarine, sugar and eggs. Mix well. Add vanilla and cinnamon.
Add flour and baking powder. Then add poppy seeds. If dough is pasty, add more flour until dough is easy to form into small balls.
Place balls on cookie sheet and flatten. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.

Some treats for Tu b’Shevat

(photo from pixabay.com)

Tu b’Shevat, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, begins at sunset Jan. 30. The Tu comes from the Hebrew letters tet and vav, which add up to 15, and the festival is also called the Holiday of the Trees and the Holiday of Fruit.

Tu b’Shevat is not mentioned in the Torah but in the Mishnah, the written combination of texts of Jewish oral traditions compiled in the third century CE. It is also mentioned in the Talmud, which is both the Mishnah and the Gemara, the elucidation of the Mishnah.

Beginning at the end of the 17th century, eating fruit became a custom associated with Tu b’Shevat, frequently the sheva minim, the seven fruits mentioned in Deuteronomy (Devarim), grown in Eretz Yisrael – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. It is also customary to eat nuts on the holiday. Here are some recipes to help you celebrate.

EASY ALMOND CAKE
8 servings

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup soft margarine or 3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk, yogurt or non-dairy creamer
2 tsp finely sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cake pan or a square pan.
Stir together flour and baking soda.
In a mixer, beat margarine or oil, sugar, almond extract and eggs. Stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, yogurt or non-dairy creamer and blend.
Pour into greased bake pan. Sprinkle top with almonds. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a pick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

DATE NUT CAROB TORTE

1 cup chopped dates
1 cup ground nuts of your choice
1/4 cup carob powder
4 separated eggs
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, toss dates and nuts with carob powder.
Separate eggs, adding yolks to mixing bowl. Place whites in a separate bowl and beat with cream of tartar until they hold stiff peaks. Add to date-nuts-carob-egg yolk mixture and blend.
Spoon into greased cake pan and place in oven for 15 to 25 minutes. Test every five minutes with a pick inserted into the centre until it comes out clean.

BAKED FIGS
8 servings

24 dried figs, with a horizontal slit part of the way in each fig
zest of 2 oranges, cut in strips
1 cup almonds
1 cup sweet wine

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Stuff each fig with one piece orange zest and one almond. Pack into a small baking dish that will hold them tightly in one layer.
Pour wine over figs. Place another glass baking dish on top to weigh them down and to get the figs flat and covered in wine. Remove that dish, and then place the first baking dish into a second dish, then put in the oven. Bake 20 minutes.

A homemade taste of Israel

You don’t have to go to Israel to savour the perfect Israeli sufganiyot. (photo from IMP)

Here is a favourite Israeli Chanukah recipe courtesy of Tnuva, an Israeli company that makes kosher cheese and dairy products.

ISRAELI MINI SUFGANIYOT
(12 servings)

3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 1/4 cup of 1% milk, lukewarm
2 tbsp butter
1 egg, at room temperature
oil for frying
8 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

In a small bowl, mix together yeast, milk and eggs.

In a separate bowl, mix half a cup of flour with the sugar. Then add in the yeast mixture and blend together. Add in the remaining flour and continue stirring until the dough is elastic.

Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in volume.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about half an inch thick. Make circles using a medium-sized cookie cutter.

Place the dough patties onto a well-floured baking tray and let them rise again until they have doubled in volume (about an hour).

Heat oil in a medium saucepan and fry the dough patties until they are golden on both sides.

Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon and coat the sufganiyot with the mixture.