Jewish New Years! A Sweet New Year
Celebrating the Earth's Birthday with Hallah & Honey Cake
Celebrating the Earth's Birthday - Rosh Hashanah- Jewish New Years. Start the New Year with apples, hallah (egg bread) and honey cake! It starts at sundown on Sept. 22nd!
Rosh Hashanah is the world's birthday. It's a time for prayer and forgiveness and introspection and casting away your earthly cares and concerns. It's also a time for settling disputes, forgiving others and to evaluate the past year and to look forward to the new one.
Rosh Hashanah is also a joyous occasion when families sit down to a festive meal with wine and grape juice for children. A fish head is placed at the head of the table, representing prosperity. Jewish people eat round bread, denoting the circle of life that they dip in honey. Apples dipped or baked in honey are a treat for everyone especially children. Fruits like pomegranates- not eaten the rest of the year- are served on this day. A special symbolic meal for a sweet fruitful new year!
Apples symbolize the sweetness of life. Here's a simple recipe your kids can prepare.
FRESH APPLE DISH
Cut a hole at the top of your biggest apple and pour honey in. Cut up the second apple (I use an fruit cutter circle) and spread it at the bottom of the first apple. Do this just before the meal. If you want to keep the apple slices from yellowing sprinkle just a little lemon juice on them.
We use the big honey apple like a dish to dip the bread and apples in.
HALLAH - EGG BREAD
On Rosh Hashanah Jewish families traditionally eat Hallah - white flour egg bread and dip it in honey. The New Years Hallah differs from the regular all year around kind because its round - symbolic of the year round calendar cycle and life. Raisins are added for extra sweetness. I've always found bread baking a fun relaxing activity I enjoy doing with friends or family. Here is an easy fast version of the traditional bread recipe.
Mix and heat up water, potato water, sugar, and shortening. In another bowl, mix 3 ½ cups of flour, salt and dry yeast. Mix together both dry and wet ingredients and then add 2 eggs.
Knead in the remaining- 1cup flour. Vigorously need dough for at least 5 minutes. Dough should be smooth.
Cover the dough with a wet towel or large garbage bag. Raise it in a high place or in an unheated oven away from drafts, until doubled for about 30 or 40 minutes.
Shape dough into one long strand. Put raisins inside the dough. Now shape the dough strand into a circle. Let rise for ½ hour.
Mix beaten egg with honey and spread over bread. Sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds over the bread.
Put in the oven on 400' till golden brown for about 30 to 40 minutes.
HONEY CAKE
Honey cakes are a great make ahead desert and a favorite all year around. Here is a traditional honey cake recipe.
Make the coffee. Mix honey with coffee and set aside. Separate 4 eggs. Put the yolks in the larger bowl with the coffee and honey mixture. Mix flour, brown sugar, oil, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves together. Pour the coffee mixture into the dry ingredients. Whip up the egg whites till peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the other ingredients. Add walnuts, almonds, and raisins. Pour into greased pan and bake at 325' till set about 1 hour.
The traditional Jewish New Year greetings are: "May you be written in the Book of Life!" and "May you have a sweet and prosperous year!"
Here's my Rosh Hashanah blog
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Devorah Stone's Seasonal Cooking topic, please visit the Discussions page.