Rosh Hashanah Dessert Recipes

Rosh Hashanah is coming up in a week and a half! Are you prepared? Have you cooked everything in advance? Or are you just now starting to scramble? (Here are some tips on cooking ahead!)

Homemade rice milk (to use in parve recipes), apple raisin muffins, apple cookies, and apple cakes for Rosh Hashanah! All of this took me only one morning to cook and can easily serve many people for dessert.

A friend recently asked for some easy Rosh Hashanah dessert ideas. Of course there is the classic and inevitable honey cake.  Now, I personally don’t like honey cake.  Every one I taste seems dry and flavorless.  Usually I only like cakes overflowing with decadent chocolate or full of fruit.  But since this year I have to make my own honey cake, I turned to one of my favorite cooking blogs, Smitten Kitchen.  I made her recipe, which she got from Marcy Goldman, and it turned out to be delicious!  Next time I would cut the white sugar in half, but otherwise keep the recipe the same (we don’t like things TOO sweet).  However, taste tests reveal that even with all the other flavors inside, the cake STILL tastes like honey, with just enough spice to make it exciting. Yum! Check it out and try baking it yourself:  http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/09/majestic-and-moist-honey-cake/

Of course what goes with honey on Rosh Hashanah? Apples! Apples and honey! So you could always serve baked apples, but if that seems like the “easy” way out or you want something fancier, here are some good but easy ideas:

Apple cake is easy – here’s a recipe with good ratings.http://www.food.com/recipe/grated-apple-cinnamon-cake-183836 I like the ones with grated apple because I can just toss them through the food processor and not deal with chopping or slicing. I always double a recipe like this and use my grater blade for half the apples and my chipper blade for half (gives bigger chunks to bite into) but it’s not necessary if you don’t have a chipper blade. I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I expect I will. I followed a different apple cake recipe last time and I can’t find it again.

You could also try making apple compote. I just peel & core all the apples & toss them with a splash of water into a pot on the stove and slow cook them, stirring occasionally. I use whatever apples I have lying around, but Granny Smiths are the best for baking (although because they are a bit more sour, you may need to add some sugar). (If you don’t feel up to messing with apples on the stove, you can just chuck a bowl in the microwave for 7 minutes or so – same effect, less time!)

Homemade apple strudel is easy to do with leftover or extra apple compote as filling and store-bought filo dough or puffed pastry dough.

Apple compote is really versatile, so you might want to make a LOT. Remember, apples cook down quite a lot! You can serve compote on its own or with some whipped cream. You can also use it as filling for apple strudel (use filo or puffed pastry dough – lay out one sheet, use a pastry brush to “paint” it with melted butter or margarine, fold in half lengthwise twice to form a long thin rectangle, put a spoonful of apple compote mixed with cinnamon & vanilla on the end, and fold it in triangles like a flag, paint the outside with butter, then bake on a tray in the oven).

Or use apple compote as a filling for apple pie! This is my grandmother’s recipe… YUM and easy!  http://caloriecount.about.com/memas-apple-pie-recipe-r1423869

I hope you enjoy these recipes.  There should be enough variety there to keep you enjoying a different dessert at every meal, but without having to overdo the cooking.

Shana tova and be’te avon!