Every year, Rosh Hashanah comes around and it’s time to dig out all the apple and honey recipes to fill the new year with everything sweet. There are various beliefs as to where the apples and honey traditions originated, but for now, let’s just embrace them with this roundup of delicious apple recipes that are perfect for the New Year.
Here are two recipes for different variations of apple cake.
APPLE CAKE
Leah Koenig | MyJewishLearning
Everyone loves a great honey cake for Rosh Hashanah, but what about apple cake? This Apple cake can also be poured into cups for muffins or made into healthier options by replacing flour with either whole wheat flour or ground flax seeds. Either way, it’s sure to be a beloved dessert option!
Ingredients
3 cups Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
Turbinado sugar (for sprinkling on top)
Directions
Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a second bowl, mix together sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and stir to combine. Pour wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Fold in apples and walnuts (the batter will be thick).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans and spread half of the batter into each pan. Sprinkle the tops of each loaf with a little sugar and bake for approximately one hour, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
GLUTEN-FREE APPLE CAKE
Rachel Pattison | The Nosher
Our celiac friends deserve apple cake too! We couldn’t share this many apple cakes without including at least one great gluten free option. This cake may be missing the main ingredient of flour, but that certainly doesn’t stop it from being just as melt-in-your-mouth delicious as any other dessert! We think those without a gluten intolerance just might enjoy this recipe as well.
Ingredients
¼ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2.5 cups gluten-free baking flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp allspice
3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into ¼-inch pieces (I recommend using a mixture of green and red apples.)
2/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped (optional)
Unsweetened plain almond milk (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch bundt pan (nonstick, if you have one).
In a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and olive oil. Beat in the eggs, then the honey and vanilla. Turn off the stand mixer.
In a separate large bowl, stir together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and allspice.
Turn the stand mixer back on, and very slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, ensuring that all of the ingredients become well incorporated.
Fold in the diced apples and walnuts. If you find that the mixture is too thick, you can add some almond milk, one tablespoon at a time, not to surpass ¼ cup.
Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Check the cake at the 50-minute mark. It is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once done, allow the cake to cool in the bundt pan for 15 minutes. Then, place a cake plate on top of the bundt pan, and while holding the pan and the plate together, very carefully flip the bundt pan so the cake lands directly onto the cake plate.
Allow the cake to cool completely and then dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar.
Recipes for the following seven sweet and savory dishes can be found at jewishphoenix.com/read/eight-apple-recipes-that-are-perfect-for-the-new-year/.
AllRecipes Apple Honey Bundt Cake
For our Bundt cake lovers out there, we’ve got you covered! And why not include both apples AND honey? This apple honey Bundt cake is everything you’re looking for in a Rosh Hashanah dessert and has great reviews! As long as you have some time to spare, this is a perfect desert choice to put your Rosh Hashanah sweet tooth at ease!
Kosher.com Apple Cinnamon Challah
While on the topic of baked goods, we figured it was time to throw an apple challah into the mix. This apple cinnamon recipe will definitely be a Rosh Hashanah dinner staple year after year. With apples, cinnamon, and honey, this sweet treat will hit the spot for anyone looking for a tasty twist to challah. We think it can even be a flavor all year long – especially in the fall!
Chabad.org Apple Noodle Kugel
Now that we’ve gotten challah and dessert out of the way, perhaps it’s time to focus on an apple side dish. Everyone loves a good kugel; add apples to it and BAM! it’s a Rosh Hashanah recipe. It fits in perfectly as a slightly sweet side dish with nearly any main course and it’s dipped in cornflakes, so what’s not to love?
LaaLoosh Pomegranate Apple Date Salad
Many Rosh Hashanah dinner tables are going to have some form of vegetable on them. Why not make it an apple, pomegranate, date salad? This recipe has so many things to love and combines sweet, salty, and savory for the perfect mouthwatering creation. The best part is it can accompany just about everything perfectly to complete a family dinner.
Apple and Honey-Mustard Chicken
One may not think apples and chicken pair well, but we’re here to tell you that it is possible and they work well together! If you’re already preparing chicken for your Rosh Hashanah meal, you might as well gather up all the leftover apples and extra honey lying around and use them in this recipe! You just may be adding apples to your chicken for more meals after enjoying this unique recipe!
Tori Avey Rosh Hashanah Sangria
This list just wouldn’t be complete without at least one drink recipe, and here is the one we chose. Whether you like to have a drink before dinner, during your meal, or after eating, this sangria is perfect for a sweet new year. It has all the key Rosh Hashanah ingredients: apples, honey, and pomegranate, but can obviously be enjoyed all year long. JN
Leah Cresswell is the digital coordinator for the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix.
Jewish News is published by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, a component of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix.
