by Marcy Goldman
by Marcy Goldman
Chanukah is more than just oil and latkes. It can also be creamy cheesecake, fudgey rugulah, and other dairy delicacies! Set a new tradition with sweet finales to your Chanukah meal (but don’t forget the latkes!)
Like many Jewish holidays, Chanukah isn’t popular just because of the miracle and the history; it’s also loved for the delicious spin-off foods. Making the Chanukah food tie in appropriately so that menu and memory are fused nicely, – now, that’s a challenge.
Chanukah used to be a ’little’ holiday with modest presents, silver dollars and gelt, and potato pancakes or latkes. Foods made with oil are focal; hence the latkes fried in oil.
With that in mind, deep-fried doughnuts, or soufganiot (I make the best!) got into the act. Anything with oil seemed apropos and thus oil-based mandelbrot was deemed a Chanukah meal finale.
With a nod to Judith the Chanukah heroine, dishes made with cheese became synonymous with Chanukah fare and cheesecakes, blintzes, and wonderful cream cheese based rugulah joined the fray. As a baker, I like this part of the tradition because it allows me to go all out with some lovely, cream-cheese based desserts. I serve these things with a dairy Chanukah meal but more often, during the afternoon, when people drop by and throughout the holidays.
Truth to tell, we’ve come a long way from the first Chanukah when it was all about an eight-branched candelabrum and nine burning lights.
We’ve come a longer way still from those childhood holiday meals of simply brisket and mountains of potato pancakes and applesauce. Pretty well anything goes these days. I am of two minds: the purist in me says – just potato pancakes and maybe the doughnuts. And that’s it! But the pastry chef (and mom) in me says, what the hey – be happy, come hungry, spin a dreidle, have something sweet and decadent to nosh on, and let’s broaden the holiday.
Why not? As my grandmother used to say, what could be so bad?
At my website, www.betterbaking.com, my New Age Latkes recipe gets a lot of hits but these desserts, created especially for you here, leave a lasting impression. Who knows? You may become a Chanukah heroine in your own right.
Whatever recipe you choose, make extra as gifts, taste, taste, taste all the way through to make sure it is just so, and don’t forget to light the candles to usher in the Festival of Lights.
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Chanukah Chocolate Tunnel of Cream Cheese Cake
A luscious "tunnel" of cream cheese and chocolate chips makes this cake a winner with kids and adults alike. Cake Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease a 10 inch Bundt or tube pan (Bundt is best for this recipe). Combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat for one minute until smooth. Add remaining cake ingredients and beat (mix on medium) for two to three minutes (use a whisk of doing by hand). Set batter aside. For filling, cream sugar with cream cheese. Add vanilla, egg and chocolate chips. Blend until smooth. Ladle half of batter into pan. Spoon filling evenly over this layer. Cover with remaining batter. Bake for 70 minutes or until cake tests done. Top should spring back when touched. Let cake cool at least 30 minutes before removing from pan. If cake sticks, place on a warm burner to loosen up and help release cake. Cake will firm up as it comes to room temperature. For glaze, combine all ingredients to form a pourable liquid. Thin with hot water if necessary. Pour over cooled cake. This cake freezes well and keeps for several days covered at room temperature. Serves 12 to 16. |
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Chanukah Chocolate
Cream Cheese Rugulah Lovely delicate chocolate dough and two fillings to choose from. 2 cups all-purpose flour Add in chunks of butter and cream cheese and vanilla and pulse, to cut these ingredients evenly into flour. Then process a bit longer to make into soft mass or dough. Remove and work on a lightly floured board a few minutes to create a firm dough. Divide dough in two. Wrap well and chill 1-3 hours or up to three days. For fillings, keep jam aside for spread on dough. For remaining ingredients in each filling, toss all items in a small bowl. Use half of the mixture for each half of the dough. To prepare the pastries, remove dough from fridge. Have filling ingredients nearby. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out a portion at a time into a circle of about 10 inch diameter. Using a pastry wheel, cut the portion of dough into 10-12 wedges. Smear on jam, and then sprinkle on sugar, cinnamon, raisins and pecans. Roll each pastry, from the outer edge into the center, into a small, snug crescent. Using a pastry brush, brush pastries with egg wash and sprinkle with fine sugar. Place pastries, about 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake on middle rack of oven, until nicely golden brown, about 25-32 minutes. Makes about 24-30 pastries. Once cooled, you can also dust these with confectioners’ sugar. |
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Cream Cheese Topped
Chanukah Schnecken These are a work of art. A rich-but-no-knead yeast dough, a sticky, gooey bottom and a luscious cream cheese glaze. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s all delicious. Basic Rich Yeast Dough Combine yeast and water and let stand 10 minutes. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a good food processor. Using the metal blade, pulse until mixture is grainy. Mix the yolks and sour cream together. Add this and the yeast mixture to the flour. Pulse to combine ingredients slightly and then process, about 30-60 seconds to get soft dough. Remove from the work bowl and pat into a round disc. Wrap well and refrigerate one hour or up till three days. At this point, dough can also be wrapped well in plastic and frozen. If you intend to use it for small pastries, divide dough in appropriate-sized portions. *Reserve egg whites for other recipes. Can be frozen in ice-cube trays. Top Fondant Glaze Prepare the recipe for Extra Rich Yeast Sour Cream Dough. Refrigerate one hour. Preheat oven to 375 F. For the filling, toss together, in a small bowl, the brown, white sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Into the muffin liners, deposit a dab of butter, teaspoon of brown sugar and teaspoon of honey or corn syrup. Divide dough in two. Roll each section of dough on a lightly floured board to a thickness of 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inch. Spread with filling mixture and sprinkle on raisins. Roll up into a 1/4 inch log. Cut in 1/2-3/4 inch thick slices and place in prepared muffin molds. Allow to rise for 15 to 20 minutes. Place on baking sheet. For the glaze, combine confectioner's sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and cream cheese. Add water to adjust consistency. Cool rolls ten minutes and then invert (removing papers) onto a large baking sheet or serving platter. Using a small metal spatula, smear on the top glaze or alternatively, add some water to glaze and just drizzle it on Schnecken. Makes 2 dozen. |
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