Ethnic Flavor: Well, I Tried

Whenever Rachel and I go to LA, we are treated to the wonderful pretzel challah from Got Kosher? Rebecca, of course, lives in LA, so she can have pretzel challah any time she wants! And now, with the magic of boiling water and baking soda, so can you!


One of my oldest childhood friends moved to Chicago today. She is going to make the world a better place through teaching sixth grade math, and everyone should wish her the best of luck! She came to my house for a long-delayed Shabbat dinner on Friday, and I thought that in her honor, I would make these tasty loaves. I found the recipe in Kosher By Design: Teens and 20-somethings, which my parents thoughtfully bought for me when I moved out of their apartment. 


I titled this post "Well, I Tried," not because of the taste of the challah (amazing) but rather the way it looks, which is totally wonky and strange. I had a lot of trouble extracting the loaves after I dipped them in the boiling mixture, and one ended up kind of weirdly extended while the other one just got completely misshapen. But whatever. Salt! How can you go wrong? (But if you have a better method for extracting them than desperately and spastically maneuvering two spatulas, do let me know.) I halved the recipe and made two loaves but the challot stretched out in the water and were fairly sizable. I doubt that larger loaves would have fit in my boiling solution, but if you have a wider-mouthed pot, be my guest. Also, the dough is very sticky with only 3 (or 6, if you make the whole recipe) cups of flour, so be sure that your hands and your surface are well-floured when you braid the loaves.


As I said, it tasted amazing; plus, it takes less time to rise than my usual challah recipe, so good if you're in a hurry. There's a distinct baking soda taste - unsurprising, in a recipe that involves 2/3 cup of baking soda. It's definitely best warm but I found that it was still moist and delicious the next day. There was no next day after that; Brianna and I ate an entire loaf between us on Friday night, and then my roommates and I made short work of the rest on Saturday. You can find the recipe here; now you don't have to go all the way to Los Angeles to get your fix!

Cream-Colored Ponies and Moist Strawberry Streusel

Hey there, long time no Baking Sisters. Wassup.

When you are a prolific baker, it’s good to have what I like to call “back-pocket recipes” on hand. These are foolproof recipes with simple ingredients that don’t take long to make but always impress. Some of my favorite back-pocket recipes are tarte noire, Emily’s apple pie, and chocolate (fake) soufflés. But when I am called upon to make a dessert that is both parve and non-chocolate, this cake from Kosher By Design: Short on Time is always the one that I go to. The problem with most parve cakes is that you can really taste the lack of butter. Not having frosting goes a long way towards helping this, but usually the cake itself is still dry and crumbly. Not so this cake. It’s light yet satisfying, it stays moist and delicious for days, and it’s incredibly simple to make. Try this out, and you’ll want to keep the recipe in your back pocket, too.

I am aware that Rachel had already blogged about this. I would like to state that I have made this cake many, many times and I've never had the problems she had - thus proving categorically that I am a better person than Rachel. Just kidding. But seriously, this cake is fool-proof. Thus proving that Rachel is a fool. Just kidding again. Before I get myself into more trouble, here's the recipe.

Adventures with the Ice Cream Maker: Keeping It in the Family

Note: Today's double-header is brought to you by Sarah and the Baking Sisters' dad, Irv.

If you're like me, then you believe that there are certain things that define summer. Beautiful sunset walks along the Hudson in Riverside Park...

Sunflowers...

And these small, ripe, intensely flavorful strawberries that start to pop up in farmers' markets around June.

For me, this summer has also brought some exciting news - I finally got a job! I started last week and I love it so far. Conveniently, the night before I started my job happened to be Erev Rosh Chodesh Av. For those of you scratching your heads, that means "the evening of the first day of the month of Av" (Av being the fifth month on the Jewish calendar, and Jewish days starting at sunset.) Despite my happy employment news, Av is considered the saddest month on the Jewish calendar because both of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on the Ninth of Av, plus a lot of other sodding things supposedly happened on that date that I won't get into here. One of the ways that we show our sadness is by not eating meat or doing various other happy things for the nine days leading up to the Ninth of Av. So between our impending meat deprivation and my entry into the world of wage labor, the situation obviously called for some meat. And when the situation obviously calls for some meat, there is an equally obvious call for parve dessert.

My contribution came in the form of brownie bites from Kosher by Design: Short on Time. They are a snap to put together, they are moist and fudgy and last for ages, and when I gave one to my friend she didn't even realize they were parve! You obviously don't have to cut them just the way the recipe says but I agree with Susie Fishbein that it's waaaay fun to eat the edges around the brownie circles. I didn't do all that business with flipping the brownies out of the pan; I found that if you just use a biscuit cutter, they come out pretty easily. I also didn't roll them into balls because in my experience that's always made a huge crumbly mess, but if you want to try it best of luck to you.

Brownie Bites

From Kosher by Design: Short on Time (page 240)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted margarine, melted and placed in refrigerator to cool for 10 minutes

3/4 cup good-quality Dutch process cocoa powder

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 cups sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Coating: confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, chopped nuts, edible glitter, colored sanding sugars

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a 7- by 11-inch brownie pan with parchment paper and coat with non-stick cooking spray.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the melted margarine, cocoa powder, oil, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla. Beat to combine.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place into the refrigerator for 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle.

When the brownies are cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan. Flip the brownie out onto a piece of parchment paper on a hard word surface in one whole piece. Using a 1 1/2 inch diameter round cookie cutter, cut circles from the center of the brownie, leaving the harder crust. Roll the circles between the palms of your hands to form into balls, and roll into coating of your choice.

Store in airtight container.

Over to you, Dad!

The Baking Sisters’ father is glad to be back for a guest blog. When Sarah graduated from college and returned home with her ice cream maker, I decided to experiment. (I guess it’s in my blood, since my father owned a drive-in ice cream store when I was growing up, and I worked there every summer when I was a teenager.) This recipe was one of my best finds.

Everyone knows that there are two kinds of strawberries: those made for travelling and those made for eating. The travelling kind – the ones you get in the supermarket year-round that are bred to make it across the country in one piece – look beautiful but are hard and white on the inside and have no taste. The eating kind are small, sometimes misshapen, but red all the way through and almost oozing sweet juice. So while summer lasts, get to a greenmarket or farm stand and buy some locally-grown berries. Then turn them into this amazing strawberry sorbet with flavor even more intense than the berries themselves. You can make it with “travelling” berries, but why bother?

This recipe is adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. It makes about 4 cups.

1-1/3 lbs. (yes, pounds) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

1 cup sugar

1-1/3 tsp. kirsch (optional, but it adds a nice punch)

1-1/3 tsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Slice the strawberries and toss them in a medium bowl with the sugar and kirsch, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand for one hour, stirring every so often.

Puree the strawberries and their liquid with the lemon juice and salt in a blender or food processor until smooth (I prefer the blender). There is no need to strain out the seeds.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Enjoy, and plan to make more soon, since this batch won’t last.

Le Souffle (or something)

This is one of my favorite recipes! I've never been able to blog about it before now because I usually make it for Shabbat and don't have time to photograph it between baking and serving. Luckily, this time I made it for a dinner party, with dairy ingredients for the first time ever! Yes, the amazing thing about this cake is that it tastes the same whether it's dairy or parve, so it's perfect for after a meat dinner, maybe served with some delicious raspberry sorbet or fresh fruit. It's not really a souffle but it has all of the great taste with none of the temperamental-ness; you can whip up the whole thing in about half an hour and it's pretty foolproof. (After all, it is from the wonderful Kosher By Design: Short on Time.) It has a rich but not overwhelming chocolate flavor, and if you cook it for the right amount of time, the cake will be moist around the edges and hot like delicious chocolatey molten lava on the inside. That's really all one can ask for in life, amirght? Okay, here's the recipe.

Warm Runny Chocolate Souffles
From Kosher By Design: Short on Time by Susie Fishbein

4 ounces good-quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine

4 large eggs

1½ cups sugar, plus a little more for coating the ramekins

¾ cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Generously coat 8 (6.8 ounce) ramekins with nonstick cooking spray and lightly cot them with granulated sugar. Hold a ramekin on its side. Tap the sides, turning the ramekin to coat the sides with sugar as well. Repeat with remaining ramekins.

Break the chocolate into small pieces; place it and the butter in a small microwave-safe dish. Microwave on medium power for 15-second intervals, stirring between, until the chocolate is completely melted.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the eggs on high speed until foamy. Slowly pour in the sugar, and continue beating until very fluffy and pale yellow. On low speed, stir in the flour and vanilla, until thoroughly combined.

Increase speed to high, and while beating, slowly drizzle in the melted chocolate mixture. Once added, beat until all the chocolate is incorporated, about 1 minute.

For ease of pouring, transfer the batter into a large measuring cup. Fill each ramekin halfway. Set the ramekins onto a baking sheet and bake for 14-15 minutes, or until the tops are brown and the centers are warm.

Alternatively, the filled ramekins can be refrigerated. Just leave at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.

Serve immediately, being careful because the ramekins are hot!

Get Your Antioxidants: Dessert Style

I have a few theories about why I was the sister who was originally left off of the blog. The first is that my sisters like to gang up on me. The second is that I was not living with them at the time that the blog was conceived. The third is that, unlike Rebecca and Sarah, I do get a little squeamish about recipes that call for endless amounts of butter. And the fourth is that I lack much of their fancy equipment and patience for baking things that require endless steps.


So while the truth may never be known, this green tea and applesauce cake from Kosher by Design Lightens Up that I made is an excellent rebuttal to those who would say that baking has to be complicated, and that things have to be bad for you to taste good. This cake is more of a spice cake than anything else, and I really love the flavors of ginger and cinnamon that flavor the lightness of the cake. Susie Fishbein writes about the benefits of the antioxidants in green tea, but mostly, I would recommend this cake because it's delicious.


I've made this cake three times now, and this time I finally got it right. It's really easy to make-- the challenge is just making sure that you bake it for just the right amount of time. Otherwise, it ends up either a little dry, or kind of raw in the middle. I haven't tried this yet, but my hunch is that it would also make some really delicious muffins.

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Green Tea-Applesauce Cake From Kosher-by-Design Lightens Up, by Susie Fishbein Ingredients: Topping: 1/3 cup coarsly chopped raw, blanched almonds 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Cake: 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond or vanilla soy milk 1 green tea bag 1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil 1/4 cup honey 1 large egg, slightly beaten 1 2/3 cup flour 1/3 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves Icing (optional): 1/3 cup powdered sugar 1-2 teaspoons remaining brewed tea Directions: Make the topping by combining the almonds, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside. Spray a 9-inch round springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 325. In a small saucepot, heat soy milk over medium heat just until bubbles start to form around the edge of the pot. Remove from the heat and add the tea bag. Let steep for 3-4 minutes; stir to make sure it steeps, and then remove the bag. In a small bowl, combine the applesauce, oil, honey and egg. Set aside. Sift together the flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves. Add the applesauce mix and 1/2 cup of the brewed tea. Stir just until combined. Pour in the prepared pan and sprinkle the topping evenly over the cake. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Make the icing: In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and 1-2 teaspoons of the remaining brewed tea. Stir until the lumps are gone and it is of good drizzling consistency. With a small spoon, drizzle the icing in a zigzag pattern over the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Ethnic Flavor: Passover Dessert Roundup Part II

Ebony and Ivory from Kosher By Design (and Passover by Design)

Do you ever make a dessert that looks so fancy that people oooh and ahhh over it, but you feel secretly smug because it didn't take very long and it wasn't very hard?  This is one of those desserts.  I have mande it many, many times and it always comes out great.  The only tiny tweak that I would make is that the coffee flavor seemed to be stronger this time than other times I have made it.  It might be the kosher for Passover coffee, so just be careful if you don't like coffee.  Usually the coffee just enhances the flavor of the chocolate.   The best Passover chocolate I have found is Alprose Swiss baking chocolate.  If you can't find it near where you are, I ordered it from Oh Nuts!  They are a great website and I highly recommend them.  This dessert was a total hit with everyone at the table.  It is also wonderful because it requires no fake Passover ingredients.  Everything is already kosher for Passover!


Mama Penny's Lace Cookies

The first Passover my husband and I spent together, he asked me to make lace cookies (as though everyone knows what those are).  It turns out they are a combination of matzah farfel, sugar, eggs, margarine, almonds and a little bit of luck.  They are a little bit like florentines, but because they are for Passover, they are very, very thin and sticky.  The recipe comes from my mother-in-law, by way of a friend of hers.  


They are good cookies on their own, but this year I made them even better by adding a twist.  I sandwiched two cookies together with chocolate (I used leftover dark and white from the cake) and they were delicious.  My husband thinks I ruined them, since he doesn't like chocolate, but we had some of both so there was something for everyone.


A silicon mat is a MUST here, otherwise your cookies will stick like crazy.  Seriously.  We have made them without one, and they often end up a in a crumbled (but delicious) mess.


Recipes for the cake and the cookies are after the jump.

One Ring (of cheesy goodness) to Rule Them All

I don't really know what to write about the Pizza Bubble Ring. The name kind of says it all. The Baking Sisters were having Shabbos lunch at the house of their other sister (yes, there are three of us) and flipping through her copy of Kosher By Design: Kids in the Kitchen. Kosher by Design is a fabulous series of kosher cookbooks that includes Kosher by Design, Kosher by Design Lightens Up, Passover by Design, and my personal favorite, Kosher by Design: Short on Time. They are totally kosher. Anyway, we saw Pizza Bubble Ring and decided that it was just crying out to be made, so we heard its cry and saw its oppression, and took it out of the oven with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Note: This is the recipe as sent to us by our sister Rachel, but we added some more details because there was confusion. Luckily, everything turned out just as planned but we thought that we would not leave our readers who wanted to try this recipe wandering through the wilderness for 40 years. (Wow, I am feeling biblical today.)

1 stick of butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
Pizza dough (We used a bag and a half of Trader Joe's pre-made pizza dough)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Grated parmesan cheese (optional- we topped it with mozzarella cheese instead and it turned out fine)
Marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a tube pan with non-stick cooking spray. Melt the stick of butter in the microwave and then mix the garlic, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder
and pepper into the melted butter. Stir until evenly distributed.
Cut the dough into small balls (they don't all need to be uniform in size). Flatten one of the balls and place some cheese in its center. Roll the dough around the cheese. Repeat this for each ball of dough.
Dip each ball into the butter mixture. Allow excess butter to drip off and place the ball into the pan. By the end, you should have one layer that totally fills the pan. Sprinkle parmesan (or whatever) over the dough balls. Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.  (It took ours about 50 minutes.)
Serve the bubble ring with warm marinara sauce.