Chocolate Challah Bread Pudding

I usually don't have leftover challah, even when I make my giant size recipe. 

But for Yom Kippur I make TWO giant size challahs, one for the pre-fast dinner and one for break-the-fast.

So, for the kids, there's usually a hunk or two left for French toast.

But this year I had bits and pieces left over: crusts from the pieces that went into the French toast (for the kids who don't like crust). And a few pieces of "insides" left from the grownups who picked off some of the crust.

I hate throwing food away, especially something as delicious as challah.

Waste not, want not.

I put all the leftover pieces into a bowl and made it into chocolate bread pudding.

You can't go wrong mixing challah, milk, sugar and chocolate.

Chocolate Challah Pudding

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 12 ounces leftover challah,including crusts, (about 7-8 loosely packed
•                                                                         cups of small pieces)
• 3 cups whole or 2% milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Butter a large, deep baking dish or (8-cup) souffle dish. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool. Break the bread into pieces into a bowl. Pour the milk over the bread and let it soak for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally so all pieces of bread absorb some milk. In the bowl of an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat the eggs with the sugar for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Stir in the vanilla extract. Stir in the melted chocolate. Mix in the bread-milk mixture. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared baking dish. Place the dish inside a larger pan. Add enough water to the outer pan to come up one-inch of the sides of the baking dish. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Makes 8 servings

Plums - as Crisp, not Torte

A few weeks ago I spotted Italian prune plums at Fairway. It was 96 degrees out, in the middle of a heat wave, and here I was looking at the first culinary signs of autumn.

But there they were, the plums, and of course I bought several pounds of them.

My thoughts went immediately to Plum Torte, the iconic Rosh Hashanah dessert. I make one every year.

But those plums are too good to reserve for just one holiday.

So I made these Italian Prune Plum Crisps.

Crisps are a more homey-style dessert than a stately looking Plum Torte. However, I think they are just perfect for the holidays. Easier too.

Or, why not serve both?

Plum Crisp with Oat Streusel

Filling:

• 36 Italian prune plums
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Crust:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking or rolled oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, cut into chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the plums, brown sugar, lemon juice and flour in a baking dish. Set aside. Place the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and mix ingredients to distribute them evenly. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Place the oat mixture over the fruit. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is crispy and brown.

Makes 6-8 servings.

How Sweet It Is!

After Labor Day the entire social structure of my life changes along with everyone else's. All of a sudden we switch gears from grilling and walks on the beach to back-to-school stuff and fall fashions.

And the High Holidays.

Everywhere I look now there's a Rosh Hashanah reminder. Even though it's late this year (Jewish holidays are always early or late, never on time). The first night is October 2nd. Not so far away!

And so, to paraphrase the poet Shelley, I ask you: when Rosh Hashanah comes can Apple Cake be far behind?

No way! Because Apple Cake is one of the culinary icons of the holidays, a rite of passage for all would-be Jewish bakers. It wouldn't be a proper holiday without this dessert.

But not every apple cake is quite like Amy Kritzer's! This delectable new version, fragrant with chai-inspired spices (cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves) and cloaked with a soft, maple-infused cream cheese frosting is a standout for its creative take on an old-fashioned classic. It's a beauty as well, with its creamy drizzle and, if you wish, chopped walnuts for garnish.

The recipe is from Amy's new book, Sweet Noshings, which is loaded with magnificent recipes that feature modern updates to and new ways with traditional Jewish baked goods. Everything from Mandel Bread (Amy's includes espresso powder and dried cherries), to Chocolate-Lime Sufganiyot (perfect for Hanukkah) to Flourless Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes with Beet (!) Frosting (I can't wait to try that one!).

There's even a riff on the classic egg cream (it includes strawberries and almond milk).

Anyone who is familiar with Amy's popular blog, WhatJewWannaEat, knows that her recipes always surprise, always inspire. The cookbook does too. Satisfying those of us who like to go beyond ordinary when we cook.

And it certainly satisfies a sweet tooth.

Apple Chai Cake with Maple­ Cream Cheese Drizzle

Prep time: 30 minutes  • Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes  • Makes: 12 servings

 For cake

• Butter, oil, or cooking spray for greasing pan
• 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour, 
• plus more for flouring the pan
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (235 ml) neutral-flavored oil (such
• as canola, vegetable, or grape seed)
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• ¼ cup (60 ml) orange juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (400 g) sugar, plus extra 5 tablespoons for apples
• 4–5 Granny Smith apples, (3½ cups/440 g), sliced
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

 For drizzle

• 4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (113 g) powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon (plus 1–2 teaspoons, if needed) milk (or water or almond milk if keeping parve), at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/ 180ºC. Grease a 12-cup (2.8 L) Bundt pan with butter and a dusting of flour (or use nonstick spray) and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate large bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer or spoon, mix together oil, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla. Then mix in 2 cups of the sugar until combined. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, switching to the beater attachment (or continue to mix by hand). Mix until combined, being careful not to over mix. Batter should be thick but pourable. 

4. Peel and core apples and cut into thin, 1/8-inch (3 mm) wedges.

5. Combine apples in a large bowl with remaining 5 tablespoons sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

6. Spoon a third of the batter in pan. Add half of the apple mixture in an even layer, add another third of the batter. Follow with other half apple mixture and last of the batter.

7. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a cooling rack. 

8. To make drizzle, beat cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Then beat in powdered sugar, butter, maple syrup, salt, and enough milk to get a thick but runny glaze. Keep beating until smooth. Drizzle all over your cooled cake. 

Blueberry Streusel Pie

Recently I bought a load of blueberries because they were on sale (Fairway: $1.00 per pint carton!) and I couldn't resist.

So then of course I had to use them.

Pie came to mind first. It's always pie first for me.

My mother, who was a master pie baker, never baked blueberry pie because she said the insides were either too thick and gloppy or too runny. I experimented with the fruit, sweetener and thickening agent a few times before the filling consistency was right.

Here it is: 

Blueberry Crumb Pie

Crumb crust:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, margarine, shortening, coconut oil or a mixture

Combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter in chunks and work it into the dry ingredients with fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse meal. If you use a food processor, add the ingredients to the work bowl and mix using 18-24 quick, short pulses (enough for the mixture to resemble coarse meal). Set aside.

 Filling:

•  6 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 unbaked pie crust bottom

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the blueberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and lemon juice in a large bowl. Pour the filling into the pie crust. Cover the top with the crumbs. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until  golden brown.

Note: you can use almost 3 “1-pint” boxes of blueberries. Although a liquid pint equals 2 cups, a dry pint of blueberries from most markets is about 2-1/2 cups.

Makes 8 servings

Banana Chocolate Cake

My grandson wanted to bake a cake with me. I think he actually liked the licking-out-the-bowl part the best and I actually was most thrilled that he came up with the idea about combining banana bread and chocolate cake.

I looked through my recipes for endless variations of banana bread. And chocolate cake. I fooled around with them, combining this and that from several of the recipes and came up with the one here. It's dairy-free, so his sister, my 3-1/2 year-old grand daughter, could eat some too. And we added some chocolate chips, just for good measure.

He did like the licking-out-the-bowl thing.

He also told me the cake was too dry. But I think that was because the temperature indicator on my oven has been cleaned so often for so many years that the numbers have disappeared and I can only estimate the proper cooking temperature. I do have an oven thermometer but that also needs "updating." so I don't know if the cake baked at exactly the right temperature.

Also, I forgot to set the timer.

Anyway, everyone else declared the cake delicious. Even my grandson said it was and would want it again when I finally decide what oven I want to get to replace the old one.

So here it is, the creation.

Banana Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cake

• 1-3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 4 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch (8-cup) bundt pan. Mix the flour, cocoa, salt, cinnamon and baking soda together in a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the shortening and sugar at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until well blended. Add the bananas and blend them in thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and blend them in thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and beat until batter is well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes 16-18 servings

Passover Orange Almond Cake

A few weeks ago I was going through my Passover recipes file and came across a recipe for Italian Almond Cake with Poached Fruit from the Jerusalem Post. Unfortunately, it didn't say whose recipe it was. Also I didn't have the second page of instructions.

I made some changes and figured out how to proceed based on similar cakes I've baked.

 First, I converted all the metric measurements. 

I figured out how much, in cups, came from 3/4 cup whole almonds.

I didn't use blanched almonds, figuring that almonds with skin were just as good.

I switched to coconut oil because I don't like margarine. 

I deleted the liquor and used orange juice instead, and added some freshly grated orange peel. 

I separated the eggs and whipped the whites with sugar to provide a lighter texture than I thought the cake would have without fluffed whites.

I didn't serve it with poached fruit (I used fresh oranges and sorbet).

Some would say that with all these changes the recipe is now mine, and I understand that.

Still, the cake was delicious and I would have preferred to give credit!

Btw, it's gluten free!

Here's my version of Passover Orange-Almond Cake.

Passover Orange Almond Cake

• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 6 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange peel
• 1/4 cup potato starch

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a small amount of the coconut oil, lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper. Set aside. Melt the remaining coconut oil and set aside to cool. Place the almonds and 6 tablespoons sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and stir at low speed for a minute until the ingredients are well distributed. Add the egg yolks, orange juice and orange peel and beat them in at medium speed for about one minute. Stir in the potato starch. Stir in the cooled coconut oil. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites for 1-2 minutes, going from low to high speed, or until the whites stand in soft peaks. Add the remaining sugar and beat until the mixture stands in stiff peaks. Fold them into the almond mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 6-8 servings

Rich Tangerine-Chili Chocolate Truffles

I love the tradition of mishloach manot -- giving away food to family, friends and even strangers during Purim. Besides the actual mitzvah of giving, it is an opportunity to do what I love: cook a lot and give the food away. It's like having the thrill of eating -- without the calories.

If you make edible gifts for Purim or as a host/hostess gift when you are invited to someone's house or for any other occasion, you might want to try truffles. They take some time but are actually quite easy to make and I guarantee they're rich and tasty and anyone would be thrilled to get them.

Check out the photo and you'll notice that I don't make my truffles perfectly rounded. Candy truffles get their name because they look like the the underground fungi, the ones that are highly fragrant and are dark, small and irregularly shaped. So the sloppy look is actually more authentic.

I made this recipe using tangerine juice and cayenne pepper. I had once tasted tangerine-chili chocolates and thought they were amazingly wonderful. The extra bit of heat pops the citrus and chocolate into one harmonious whole.

Yes, orange juice and peel are fine, though not as flavorful. And you can leave out the cayenne pepper, though I think the truffles are better with the heat.

Pack these in small cardboard or wooden boxes or small cellophane bags (you can get them at most craft stores) and you have a beautiful homemade gift for any occasion.

Or treat yourself and your family. They'll be happy.

Tangerine-Chili Chocolate Truffles

• 12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons tangerine juice
• 6 tablespoons butter at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh tangerine peel
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, approximately
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sprinkles, toasted coconut, ground nuts, etc. (approximately)

Chop the chocolate in a food processor. Heat the cream over medium heat until it is hot and bubbles form around the edges of the pan. With the processor on, pour in the cream through the feed tube and process until smooth and well blended with the chocolate (you may have to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice). Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes (in the processor bowl). Add the juice, butter, tangerine peel and cayenne pepper and blend them in thoroughly. Spoon the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour or until the mixture has firmed enough to form a soft “dough.” Take small pieces of the dough and shape into small balls (they don’t have to be perfectly rounded) (I do this wearing disposable gloves). Place the balls on waxed paper or aluminum foil on cookie sheets. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes. Roll the balls in cocoa, sprinkles, etc.

 Makes about 3 dozen. 

Classic Dairy Hamantaschen

You can't get through Purim without eating at least one hamantaschen.

It's tradition, and for me, a treat I look forward to every year. Hamantaschen are among my very favorite desserts.

Over the years I've tried dozens of different kinds from a variety of bakeries: the classics, filled with poppy seeds or with prune, apricot or raspberry lekvar, and in recent years some with more contemporary fillings including white chocolate and halvah and fig and rhubarb and so on.

The traditional fillings are the ones I love best. 

I usually buy hamantaschen at a place called The Bakery, in Plainview, New York. It's right across the street from my contact lens doctor, so in the past, whenever I had an appointment with him I'd go to the bakery and stuff my trunk with a dozen hamantaschen (also mandelbread, babka and a few other treats I can't get (as delicious) in Connecticut).

However, this year I had cataract surgery and don't wear contact lenses anymore! A good thing too because my contact lens doctor retired.

So am I going to drive all the way to Plainview, Long Island for hamantaschen when there is no other reason to go?

Well, I might.

But in the meantime I decided to make my own. I never made dessert hamantaschen before (I did make lamb-phyllo hamantaschen for a recipe contest though and won a jar of tahini from Soom Foods!).

Here's my dairy version of classic sweet hamantaschen. The dough is tender and vaguely flaky and very rich. The ones in the photo all got gobbled in a flash.

I will make more for sure. With classic prune and apricot lekvar filling.

Dairy Hamantschen

• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, cut into chunks
• 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks
• 1 medium or large egg, beaten
• lekvar (about one cup)

Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix briefly. Add the butter and cream cheese and mix on low-medium speed for a minute or so until the mixture is crumbly. Raise the speed to medium and continue to mix until a smooth dough has formed. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using small chunks of dough at a time, roll the dough thin (about 1/8th-inch) and cut out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Brush each circle lightly with the beaten egg. Place one slightly mounded teaspoon of lekvar in the middle of each circle. Bring up the sides to shape the circles into a triangle. Press the sides tightly to keep them from opening when they bake. Place the triangles on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes about 36

Apple Bundt Cake

I've been hearing a lot about Minnesota in recent days, probably because of politics. Both the Democratic and Republican caucuses are on March 1st, a/k/a Super Tuesday.

But someone on Facebook also posted quiz about Minnesota foods. You had to pick the state specialties from a group of choices to determine whether you actually came from there. 

I didn't. 

I knew that!

But I wanted to see if any of the foods was familiar anyway, and was surprised that I knew as many as I did. My result was something like: I may have been born and raised in Minnesota but probably moved away.

Nope. I haven't even been to visit Minnesota although I would like to.

One thing I was surprised about though. Minnesota is the home of bundt pan and bundt cake, and they didn't include that in that quiz!

Millions and millions of people throughout the United States -- the world, even -- have a bundt pan. The original one was trademarked by H. David Dalquist, founder of Minneapolis, Minnesota based Nordic Ware in 1950 (the Nordic Ware website does give credit to Dave's wife Dotty for her part in creating this cake pan). Apparently there was a baking contest sometime in the 1950s and a bundt cake won and thus the popularity of the now familiar dessert was assured.

So, okay Minnesota. I know there is such a thing as National Bundt Cake Day (November 15th, which happens to be my wedding anniversary so I will have to remember that later this year) but I made this one in honor of your day in the political sun (along with all the other Super Tuesday States) and may the best man/woman win. In any event, this cake is a winner.

Apple Bundt Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 large, tart apples, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a bundt pan. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Mix the apples, 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside. Place the vegetable oil and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until thoroughly blended. Add the 1-1/4 cups sugar and beat for another 2 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Add the orange juice and vanilla extract and beat for another minute. Add the flour mixture and beat for another minute or until the batter is smooth and uniform. Spoon about 1/3 of the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Add 1/2 the apple mixture. Cover with another 1/3 of the batter, top with remaining apples and cover with remaining batter. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 servings

German Apple Pancake

 

The next few days are loaded with holidays, all delicious. I will acknowledge all of them and eat accordingly.

So, for Chinese New Year, maybe some Kung Pao Gai Ding and Chinese Cookies.

Valentine's Day? How about a Chocolate Cake? Or Chocolate Chip Cookies? Or maybe some homemade Buttercrunch?

I'm thinking, buttercrunch now that I actually wrote out that word.

But among my favorite holidays is one I don't even celebrate: Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (tomorrow). In days gone by when the Catholic Church was stricter about such things, those who were observant would refrain from eating fats during Lent, which starts this Wednesday, so they would make "fatty" foods the day before, to use up all the butter and eggs, cream and so on that they had in their homes.

Like pancakes. Pancakes are loaded with eggs and butter, which is why they are always so fabulous. 

I love pancakes and don't eat them that often, though I will indulge in a buttermilk pancake when the grandkids come. And occasionally, make pancakes with the leftover oatmeal.

But my very very very favorite is German Apple Pancake. For breakfast, lunch and even a meatless dinner. Great as is, or, for dessert with some whipped cream or ice cream.

German Apple Pancake

• 2 large, tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1-2 teaspoons sifted confectioner’s sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the apple slices in a bowl. Add the sugar and cinnamon, mix and set aside. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in another bowl, add the flour mixture and whisk the ingredients into a smooth batter and set aside. Heat the butter in a heavy skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the apples, including any juices, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the apples are soft and caramelized. Pour the batter over the apples. Place the pan in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the pancake is puffed and golden brown. Invert onto a serving platter. Serve as is or sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

Makes 4 servings