Honey Cake: A Rosh Hashannah Tradition

By definition, a custom is a traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a particular society, place, or time. Customs are handed down through generations, but the “why” of the custom sometimes becomes lost. “Tradition,” often becomes the answer. The truth is, the reason behind the tradition is more profound than we may realize. With the Jewish Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur coming up, I wanted to explore the traditions that my Jewish relatives observe. The custom is to dine on foods laden with honey, but why?

The simple explanation is that as Judaism spread from the Middle East, in order to fulfill the laws and customs, people adapted their recipes to use what foods could be found locally. The Ashkenazim lived throughout Central and Eastern Europe beginning in the Middle Ages. The “honey” of the Bible times is believed to be more of a date paste or syrup, but dates do not grow in cooler European climates. They adapted their recipes to what was available - bee’s honey, so apples are dipped in honey, and tzimmes and cakes are made with honey as the sweetener. However, the honey is not just used as a culinary substitute for date sugar; the sweetener holds a religious significance.

A Shofar, blown to announce
Rosh Hashannah
Image Courtesy Olve Utne

Rosh Hashanah is a two-day celebration and begins on the first day of Tishrei. The day is believed to be the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of humanity's role in God's world. In addition to liturgical observances, the holiday is celebrated with meals shared by family and friends. The customary greeting is “L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" - "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." These meals include enjoy symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey and tzimmes - fruit or vegetable tzimmes cooked in honey - to ensure a “sweet” year, and round cakes made with honey symbolize the continuity and circular nature of the year.

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, falls ten days after Rosh Hashannah. During the period of Days of Repenteance between the holidays, it is customary to ask for and receive "lekach", or sweet (honey) cake. The reason behind this custom is twofold. On Yom Kippur, the book of God’s Judgement is sealed. In order to be sealed favorably, one must have atoned for his sins against Him, but in order to be prepared to do so, one must atone for his sins against others first. In asking for cake, you are humbling yourself and begging a kindness of the person you have wronged; in giving the cake, you are granting forgiveness. Simply asking is not enough; you must also give when asked and show you will not hold others’ wrongs against them. Secondly, it reinforces that all things come from God -- the cake is given by a human, but the resources to make it are a gift from God. In having the cake to give as a gift of forgiveness, the giver and receiver rejoice in the blessing from God.

There are as many recipes for lekach as there are families.  This is one we found and adapted.  We'll eat ours at snacktime, while we read two books Mom bought for Jude and Damien:  The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story by Katherine Janus Kahn and New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashannah Story by April Halprin Wayland.

 

L'shana tovah titatev v'tahatem, friend! 

Lemon-Honey Cupcakes

 Note: Ingredients with brand names are what we use because these companies are currently safe for our allergies.  Please double check they are safe for you, too.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Gluten Free Flour mix
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) Earth Balance margarine
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of one lemon (reserve 1/2 tsp if making the Lemon-Honey Buttercream)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup SoDelicious unsweetened coconut milk

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the margarine and brown sugar until smooth.

Pare the zest from the lemon.  Chop finely if it comes off the lemon in longer strips.  Add to the mixer bowl.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.


Mix in the honey.

Hint:  Use the wrapper from the margarine to grease the measuring cup and the honey will not stick.

 Turn the mixer down to LOW SPEED and slowly stir in the flour mixture.

Add the milk and stir until all of the liquid has been absorbed.

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake liners. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.

Note: Check them for doneness with a wooden pick.  If you're using wheat flour, check them at about 15 minutes.  (Gluten Free baking sometimes takes a few extra minutes.)

Remove from oven and cool completely.

Lemon Honey Buttercream Frosting

Note: for this one, I'm including the weight measurements.  We weighed out the ingredients because all of our spoons were already in the dishwasher from the cake.

3/4 c Spectrum Shortening (180g)
5Tbsp Honey (75g)
1/2tsp Lemon Zest
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/4tsp Salt
3 c powdered sugar (360 g)
juice of one lemon

Place all of the ingredients EXCEPT the lemon juice in a mixer bowl.  Mix together on low speed until combined, then increase the speed and beat until light and fluffy.

Add juice, one teaspoon at a time (we just used an iced tea spoon) until the frosting is the consistency you like.

Try not to eat it all while you wait for the cupcakes to cool!

Frost cupcakes.  If you have leftovers, store loosely covered.

Special thanks to our friend Sara for all of her help with research on the tradition of the lekach,  and the blogs  Overtime and To Serve, With Love for inspiration.











©2012- 2014 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

A Rosh Hashanah Bundkuchen to wish you a sweet New Year!

Long days, short years.  That's what people say about raising children.  It seems like we just studied and celebrated Rosh Hashana, and here we are again.   Last year, we read about Sammy Spider's First Rosh Hashanah, and made round Challah.  We learned about some of the traditions surrounding Rosh Hashanah from Sammy, including the tradition of eating apples dipped in honey in the hope of a sweet year.  This year, our house is celebrating our family's heritage by reading a new story - Even Higher!  A Rosh Hashanah Story by I. L. Peretz and adapted by Eric A. Kimmel  and making cake with apples and honey.

Even Higher! is a beautiful story about a rabbi who disappears every year just before Rosh Hashanah.  No one knew where the Rabbi of Nemirov went, and no one could find him.  Since he was gone just before God opened the Book of Life and decided what He would write about each person, the townspeople assumed the Rabbi must have gone to heaven to beg God to forgive the people any wrongdoings.  His ability to come and go was thought to be a miracle.  What makes this story interesting for our family is there is one man who does not believe Rabbi has gone to visit heaven.  His name is Litvak - which is what a person from Lithuania is called.  Neal's great-grandparents emigrated to the United States from Shavel, Lithuania in the early 20th century.  Litvak in the story is a skeptic, and doesn't believe the Rabbi has gone to heaven, so he secretly follows him.  He finds he has done something even greater than going to beg for mercy -- he has gone to help a neighbor, bringing her firewood and lighting a fire to warm her cold rooms.  A good reminder to all of us - Jew or Christian - that sometimes the greatest miracles are the little things we do for each other, especially when we do it because we should, not for any glory.
 

And since in Jude's mind, no lesson is complete without a craft, we made Apple Honey Cake.  Like last year's challah, we baked the cake in a circle, to symbolize life and how each year returns to its beginning.  To make the round shape, we used a bund pan.  Some believe the etymology of the word bund is "gathering," and a bundkuchen is a cake meant to be shared with friends.  Our cake is variant on a recipe my own father has made more times than I can count - I have no idea where his recipe came from, just that it is extremely popular in our family.  I am almost positive he learned it from his Lutheran German father.  I'd like to think that somewhere, back in time, the recipe belonged to a Jewish neighbor of our family, a cake and its recipe were shared among friends, and now has worked its way through both families.  It is naturally dairy free (so it can be served at any Kosher table), but we adjusted it to be gluten free as well.  We also traded the granulated sugar for honey, to make it more fitting for Rosh Hashanah.  Please allow us to share our cake with your family.

Apple Filling:

5 small or 3 medium apples, diced
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Cake Batter:

1 c. vegetable oil
1 3/4 c. honey (or 2 1/4 c. granulated sugar)
4 eggs
1/2 c. orange juice
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 c. gluten free flour mix (King Arthur or Better Batter)
1 Tbsp. xanthan gum (if using Better Batter, decrease to 1 1/2 tsp.)
1 Tbsp. baking powder

Optional: 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar for finishing

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease and flour a 12 cup bund (bundt) pan.  (You can also use a 10 inch tube pan, or 2 - 8" x 4" loaf pans.)
 

Filling:

Peel, core, and chop the apples.  We quartered ours and then cut each quarter into roughly thirds.  If you want a more delicate cake, cut the apples smaller, but no smaller than 1/4".

Mix the apples, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Stir to coat, and then set aside.







Batter:

Measure the oil first. Swirl it around in the measuring cup, and then pour into a mixing bowl.  Then, measure the honey, and add to the oil.  The honey should easily side out of the greased cup.

Add the eggs, juice, and vanilla, and stir to combine.








In another bowl, combine the flour, xanthan gum, and baking powder.  Mix to combine thoroughly.


Combine the dry with the wet.   Add a small amount of flour, mixing it in before adding more.  If using a stand mixer, turn it down to low first.   Once all the flour is combined, mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour about half the batter into the prepared pan.  Top with a layer of apples, pushing them down into the batter to fit more in.  Try to keep them away from the edges so the next layer of batter will seal around them.

Top with the remainder of the batter, and top that with the remaining apples.

A Jude's-photography-view of the process

Bake for 75-90 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.










Cool in pan 15 minutes, then turn out onto serving platter.  (It will deflate slightly.  Don't panic!)

 Use a basting brush or a soft paintbrush or (clean!) toothbrush to brush off any loose flour.  Allow to cool for at least another 45 minutes.






When ready to serve, dust with confectioner's sugar. 

L'Shana Tovah! May you all have a sweet and blessed year!

Y is for (new) Year











©2012- 2013 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

L'Shana Tovah!

We are doing a "Holiday Cooking" theme for our reading unit this week. Today marks the end of  Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) so we are reading Sammy Spider's First Rosh Hashanah and making challah bread.

We used our friend Ahuva's challah recipe.  Ahuva has children ranging from almost 16 years to 16 mos (and like us, only one girl!) so I think she knows a thing or two about cooking! 

Ahuva's Challah

Mix together:

1 kg + 1 c. flour (8 cups total)
1 c. sugar
1 T. salt

Then add:

2-1/3 T. yeast

Mix, then add:

2 c. very warm water (not very hot)

Mix.












In a separate dish, mix:

3/4 c. oil
2 eggs.

Pour into the dough. Mix in mixer on medium speed for 10 minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until doubled. Punch down and let it rise again until doubled.

Ok, we used aluminum foil. We were out of plastic wrap. The important thing is to use something that seals the container well, to help hold in moisture.  We also put a little oil in the bottom of the container so the dough would stick less.

Divide in thirds.  Braid* and cover to rise for about 15-20 minutes.

Brush with beaten egg and top with sesame seeds if desired.  Bake at 180' C (350' F) for 30-35 minutes.

*For Shabbat challah, the traditional shape is a long, six-strand braid. Rosh Hashanah challah is traditionally made into round/spiral shape to emphasize the circular nature of life.  We followed the "Weaving Round Challah" tutorial, found at Chabad.org.  We made two plain Challah and one with cinnamon sugar.  The house smells delicious!















While we waited for the dough to rise, we read our story. Sammy is an adorable little spider who doesn't really celebrate the holiday in the same way as his "host" family, the Shapiros, but is anxious to learn about what and why the Shapiros are doing. 

Thanks to all of my Jewish friends for their recipe and story recommendations! L'shana Tovah Tikatevu to each of you!