Cakes, cookies and breads that I bake for the Holidays, I bake only for the Holidays. Except for testing out recipes, that is. In this way, my High Holiday baked goods are cherished on two levels: First, my family looks forward to these special foods that come just once a year. And second, I have my annual favorite baking project just waiting for me, along with my notes from last year!

Many Rosh Hashana recipes contain ingredients from the Simanim (symbolic foods we eat on Rosh Hashana - see the Rosh Hashana Seder column), such as my Pumpkin Challah, Classic Jewish Apple Cake and Date Bars. Other holiday recipes are rooted in various Jewish traditions, such as a Moroccan-inspired New Year bread or the personalized before- and after-the-fast Algerian breads for Yom Kippur . Whereas we do truly love having our own, inherited traditions, adopting additional delicious ways to enhance our Holidays enriches us all!





(c) 2008 Debby Segura. Debby Segura holds an AB in Design from UCLA. She designs dinnerware and she teaches and writes about cooking. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children. Visit her at http://www.debbysegura.com



Pumpkin Challah

Makes 2 Round Loaves

5 cups Better for Bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 scant tablespoon Rapid Rise Yeast
1½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
½ cup canned pumpkin
1 1/4 cup water
sesame seeds or shelled pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
egg wash (1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoons water, mixed)

In the work bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, cardamom and ginger. Add egg, oil, pumpkin and water and process until the mixture forms a ball. Continue processing 60 seconds more.

Place the ball of dough in a large greased bowl. Turn the dough so its entire surface is greased. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Spray two 8" round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Take the first piece of dough and take off about a quarter of the dough and make it into a flat 7" disc. Place it in the pan (Image below). Roll the remaining piece of dough into a long, fat snake that tapers at one end (Image below). Place the tapered end on the edge of the disc and coil the dough inward and upward to form a "bee hive" shape (Image below). Press the shape together to secure (Image below). Repeat with the rest of the dough in the second pan. Spray the loaves with non-stick cooking spray and allow them to rise until almost doubled in bulk, about 50 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Paint the top of each loaf with egg wash and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds or pepitas. Bake on a rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the preheated oven for about 30-35 or until golden. Gently remove the breads from their pans and cool on rack. Serve warm (Image below). May be stored for up to 3 weeks in the freezer. Allow the bread to completely cool. Double wrap in foil. Place in a plastic bag and freeze. To serve after freezing, take the bread out of the freezer about 2 hours before you plan to serve it. About 1 hour before serving, place bread in a warm (250 to 350 degree) oven. Unwrap and serve warm.







Apple Cake

Serves 18

APPLE MIXTURE:
6 medium sized apples, Mackintosh or Braeburn if possible
1/3 cup honey or ½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon juice

CAKE:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1/3 cup orange juice
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt

Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a ten inch angel food cake pan. Set it aside.

Apple Mixture: Peel, core and slice 4 of the apples into 1/4" thick slices. Core, but do not peel, the last 2 apples, and slice into 1/4" slices. In a medium sized mixing bowl, toss all the apples with the honey or sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice very gently, until coated. Reserve the slices which are not peeled in a separate bowl.

Cake: In the large bowl of an electric mixer combine the flour, sugar, oil, eggs, orange juice, baking powder, vanilla and salt. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until well-blended, about 2 minutes. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the batter. Arrange ½ of the peeled apple slices over the batter (being very careful not to let the apple slices directly touch any part of the pan, as it with stick to the pan and be problematic when the cake is cooked). Cover this apple layer with ½ of the remaining batter, and smooth the batter. Arrange the rest of the peeled apples over the batter. Pour the remaining batter over this second apple layer, and smooth this final layer of batter. Arrange the unpeeled apple slices over this batter, creating a fan of slightly overlapping slices that go all around the center of the tube pan. If there is any cinnamon juice left over from the apple mixture, drizzle it over the apple fan. Place the cake pan on a square of heavy aluminum foil (fold up the edges of the foil to form a tiny pan, thus preventing any juice that may leak out of the pan from dirtying your oven), and place it in the oven to bake for 75 to 85 minutes, or until a toothpick tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Gently release the cake from the sides of the pan with a small thin knife, if it appears to stick, and then remove the sides of the pan. Allow the cake to cool, with the center piece still in place, until room temperature before gently releasing and then removing the center piece. Place the cake on a cake stand. Immediately before serving, sift powdered sugar over the cake. Place some tiny apples or crab apples at the base of the cake for a garnish.



Date Bars

Makes 48 squares

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound dried dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup water, or more
½ cup fresh lemon juice
3 cups rolled oats
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large cookie sheet (with sides) with baking parchment and spray it with non-stick cooking spray.

In a heavy sauce pan, combine the dates and a cup of water, cooking at a low boil for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is as thick as mashed potatoes, adding more water as you go along, if necessary. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice, and then set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the oil, and stir to create a bowl of pea-sized crumbles. Spread half of the crumbles evenly in the cookie sheet. Cover evenly with all of the cooled date mixture. Spread the remaining oat mixture evenly over the entire top surface of the dates.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top crumbles are golden brown. Cool in the pan, on a rack, for about an hour or more. Place a sideless cookie sheet on top of the date bar and invert the date bar onto it. Gently peel off the parchment to serve immediately. To freeze, cut the bar in half and double-wrap each half in foil. Place the halves into a gallon resealable plastic bag and freeze. Cut into bars immediately before serving.




Moroccan New Year’s Bread

makes 2 round loaves

INGREDIENTS:

Dry Ingredients:
5 cups Better for Bread flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 scant tablespoon (or 2 envelopes) Rapid Rise Yeast
2 teaspoons aniseed
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt

Wet Ingredients:
1 egg
3 tablespoons Canola oil
warm water
egg wash(1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water)

toasted sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS: In the work bowl of a 14-cup food processor, place the dry ingredients, the flour, sugar, yeast, aniseed and salt. In a two-cup glass measuring cup, add the wet ingredients, the egg and the canola oil, along with warm water, to total 2 cups. Reserve.

Place the top on the food processor, and turn it on. Pour in the wet ingredients. Watch carefully, and when the dough just forms one cohesive ball, allow the machine to continue running precisely 60 seconds, to complete kneading.

Spray a mixing bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Remove the dough from the food processor and place it in the prepared bowl. Rotate the dough once to coat it with the spray and cover the bowl of dough loosely with plastic wrap.

Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Punch the dough down to remove air bubbles and divide in half. Form each piece of dough into a disc and place it in an 8" cake pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Spray the loaves with non-stick cooking spray, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow them to rise until almost doubled in volume, about 50 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Paint the loaves with the egg wash. Sprinkle generously with the toasted sesame seeds. With a very sharp blade, cut 4 shallow parallel lines across the top of each loaf, and then 4 more perpendicular lines to cross them (think tic tac toe!). Bake the bread in the center of a preheated oven for 10 minutes, and then reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and continue to bake another 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack. Serve warm, or freeze according to the Pumpkin Challah instructions.




Algerian Sweet Rolls

Makes about 24 rolls

INGREDIENTS:
Dry Ingredients:
5 cups Better for Bread flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 scant tablespoon (or 2 envelopes) Rapid Rise Yeast
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
½ cup white raisins

Wet Ingredients:
1 egg
3 tablespoons Canola oil
warm water
egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water)
Turbinado sugar (also sold as "Sugar in the Raw")

INSTRUCTIONS: In the work bowl of a 14-cup food processor, place the dry ingredients, the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a two-cup glass measuring cup, add the wet ingredients, the egg and the canola oil, along with warm water, to total 2 cups. Reserve.

Place the top on the food processor, and turn it on. Pour in the wet ingredients. Watch carefully, and when the dough just forms one cohesive ball, allow the machine to continue running precisely 60 seconds, to complete kneading. Knead in the raisins by hand.

Spray a mixing bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Remove the dough from the food processor and place it in the prepared bowl. Rotate the dough once to coat it with the spray and cover the bowl of dough loosely with plastic wrap.

Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Punch the dough down to remove air bubbles and divide into 24 little balls. Form each ball into the first letter of the name of each person that will be at your Yom Kippur meal before the fast. Place them, about 2" apart, on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Spray the loaves with non-stick cooking spray, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to rise again until almost doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Paint the loaves with the egg wash. Sprinkle generously with the Turbinado sugar. Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack. Serve warm, or freeze according to the Pumpkin Challah instructions.