We love the creamy specialties of Shavuot, which begins this yr on Saturday night, June 4.
Shavuot commemorates the receiving of the Torah by Moses and the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. It’s mentioned that the traditional Israelites averted meat the day earlier than this vital occasion, and that was the origin of the vacation’s customized of serving dairy meals. Some attribute this custom to the season, as the vacation happens in the course of the time of yr when cows, goats and sheep give loads of milk.
After I was rising up, I at all times regarded ahead to my mom’s Shavuot apple noodle kugel with cottage cheese. Now I make an excellent richer model that features cream cheese and butter.
Cream cheese additionally enriches our lemony blueberry muffins. We use bitter cream and heavy cream in our coconut pineapple bars, and ricotta cheese in a fast and straightforward fruit tart on a tortilla base.
For a savory Shavuot pastry, a best choice of ours is a Mediterranean vegetable galette with a flaky cream cheese dough. We fill it with roasted eggplant, roasted peppers and, for a double-cheese delight, we add feta cheese.
Creamy Apple Noodle Kugel
When this luscious kugel enriched with cream cheese, cottage cheese and butter was baking, the aroma made Yakir ask if I used to be baking a cheesecake. This recipe by Dana Shrager is from “The Important Jewish Baking Cookbook by Beth A. Lee.”
Yield: 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
6 ounces huge egg noodles
Vegetable oil for drizzling
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, entire or low-fat, warmed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese, common or lowfat
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 massive eggs, overwhelmed
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced small
Berry Compote:
1 cup quartered strawberries
1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
PROCEDURE
1. Preheat oven to 350 levels with oven rack in middle. Butter an 8-inch glass baking dish.
2. Carry a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil egg noodles for five minutes, till softened however nonetheless slightly agency. Drain, drizzle with slightly vegetable oil and toss.
3. In a big bowl beat collectively cream cheese, milk and butter with a mixer. Add cottage cheese, sugar, vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, salt and overwhelmed eggs and stir till properly mixed. Gently fold in noodles and diced apples.
4. Pour combination into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
5. Bake kugel for 40 minutes. Cowl with foil and bake for five minutes till middle is about and high is golden brown. Cool no less than 10 minutes. Lower in squares to serve.
6. Berry Compote: Mix berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Carry to a boil over medium warmth. Cooked over medium-low warmth till berries began to interrupt down, about 7 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla. Serve chilly or at room temperature, with the kugel.
Coconut Pineapple Bars
For these pineapple bars, that are based mostly on a recipe from Melissa’s Produce, I take advantage of pink pineapple when I’ve it however yellow pineapple is ok too.
Yield: 9 to 12 servings
INGREDIENTS
Crust:
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) chilly butter, minimize into small items
Filling:
2 massive eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup bitter cream
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 pineapple, cored and minimize into skinny slices
Glaze:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon floor ginger
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Candied violets (garnish, optionally available)
PROCEDURE
1. Preheat oven to 350 levels. Line an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish with parchment paper, permitting overhang for straightforward removing. Flippantly oil paper or spray with nonstick spray.
2. Unfold coconut in a dry skillet. Prepare dinner over medium warmth, stirring steadily, till toasted. Cool barely.
3. Crust: In a medium bowl, combine collectively toasted coconut flakes, 1 1/3 cups flour, powdered sugar and pinch of salt. Lower in chilly butter utilizing two knives or a pastry blender till combination resembles coarse meal.
4. Press combination firmly into backside of ready pan. Bake for 15 to twenty minutes till edges start to show golden brown. Take away from oven and funky barely.
5. Filling: Whisk collectively eggs, granulated sugar, bitter cream, salt and 1/2 cup flour.
6. Organize pineapple slices in an excellent layer over pre-baked crust, slicing them in smaller items as mandatory. Pour filling over pineapple. Bake for 1 hour or till combination is about in middle, and edges are golden brown. Take away from oven. Let cool no less than quarter-hour earlier than glazing.
7. Glaze: Whisk collectively powdered sugar, ginger and heavy cream. Pour evenly over high of cake. Garnish with candied violets. Refrigerate no less than 1 hour earlier than slicing.
8. To chop, take away cake from pan with assist of paper, then minimize in bars on the paper.
Blueberry Lemon Muffins
I make these muffins with recent and dried blueberries and enrich them with cream cheese, butter, yogurt and pine nuts.
Yield: 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated zest of Meyer lemons or different lemons
2 cups all objective flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, softened
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 massive eggs
2 tablespoons Meyer or different lemon juice
3/4 cup entire milk yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1 cup recent blueberries
2 tablespoons pine nuts
PROCEDURE
1. Preheat oven to 400 levels. Put liners in 12 muffin cups.
2. In a small bowl rub sugar with lemon zest along with your fingertips till sugar is moistened.
3. In a medium bowl whisk collectively flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Beat butter and cream cheese with mixer till tender. Add sugar and beat till gentle and easy. Beat in eggs one after the other, then lemon juice, yogurt and vanilla.
5. Combine in dry components, then dried and recent blueberries with rubber spatula.
6. Divide amongst muffin cups and sprinkle with pine nuts.
7. Bake 18 to 23 minutes till tops are golden and a skinny knife inserted in a muffin comes out clear.
8. Cool on a rack for five minutes, and take away from pan.
Simple Ricotta Fruit Tart
This wholesome deal with is fast and easy to make for dessert or breakfast. It’s based mostly on a recipe in “The Every little thing Simple Pre-Diabetes Cookbook” by Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN.
Yield: 2 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons tangerine juice
2 teaspoon grated tangerine zest, divided
2 eight-inch low-carb or common flour tortillas
Grapeseed or vegetable oil (for brushing)
2 seedless tangerines, divided in segments
6 to eight medium strawberries, stemmed and thinly sliced
16 to twenty blueberries
PROCEDURE
1. In a small bowl, mix ricotta, tangerine juice and 1 teaspoon tangerine zest. Refrigerate.
2. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 300 levels. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place tortillas on baking sheet and brush very frivolously with oil. Bake 10 minutes or till crisp however not burned.
3. Unfold ricotta combination on baked tortillas.
4. High with tangerine segments on periphery and a hoop of strawberry slices and blueberries.
5. Garnish with remaining 1 teaspoon tangerine zest. For those who like, minimize with a pizza cutter.
Mediterranean Vegetable Galette
For this pastry of roasted eggplant and peppers with feta cheese, I take advantage of cream cheese pie dough from “Pie Camp” by Kate McDermott.
Yield: 4 servings
Cream Cheese Pie Dough:
2 cups all objective flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter, chilled and minimize into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese, chilled and minimize into small items
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
3 tablespoons water
Filling:
2 Chinese language eggplants, sliced about 1/3 inch thick
2 purple bell peppers, minimize in strips
1/2 purple onion, minimize in quarter slices
2 tablespoons further virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly floor pepper
1/2 to three/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Recent oregano leaves or dried oregano, for sprinkling
Sesame seeds (for sprinkling)
PROCEDURE
1. Pie dough: In a big bowl, place the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and blend with a fork.
2. Add butter and cream cheese and, with clear fingers, rapidly crumble the combination till it appears like coarse meal with some small peas in it.
3. Sprinkle vinegar and water over combination and blend with a fork or your fingers.
4. Flippantly squeeze and press dough till it holds collectively. Type right into a ball or rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for about an hour.
5. Filling: Preheat oven to 400 levels. Organize sliced greens in a single layer in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 minutes or till tender. Sprinkle with pepper. Cool to room temperature.
6. Divide dough in 4 equal items. Roll every bit to roughly a 7-inch circle.
7. Place one dough circle on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons feta. High with a layer of roasted greens, leaving a 1- to 2-inch border of dough uncovered. Sprinkle greens with 1 to 2 tablespoons feta and slightly oregano.
8. Fold in and pleat edges of dough over filling, leaving a gap in middle the place filling reveals. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
9. Flippantly brush edges of dough with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
10. Refrigerate galettes for about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 levels.
11. Bake for quarter-hour. Scale back oven temperature to 375 levels and bake for quarter-hour extra or till golden brown. Serve heat or at room temperature.
Faye Levy is the writer of “Faye Levy’s Worldwide Jewish Cookbook.”
