Mammy’s Orange and Chocolate Chip Mandel Bread

Posted on by
2

I am not really sure what differentiates mandel bread from biscotti. This recipe doesn’t contain any dairy ingredients, so maybe mandel breads are biscotti that are more easily incorporated into a Kosher diet? Regardless of what you decide to call these cookies, they will be crisp and tasty. This recipe is from my grandmother, Mammy, and I can remember eating these cookies throughout most of my life. I brought them to a gathering recently, and someone said that they tasted just like her grandmother’s. Mission accomplished.

To make these cookies, preheat your oven to 350ºF. Then, combine in a bowl 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 tablespoon of orange zest, 2 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of anise extract. In a second bowl, combine 2.5 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and stir them until they are combined. Add in 1 cup of chocolate chips, and mix them in too.

Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Divide the dough in half, and place one half on each baking sheet. With floured hands, shape each lump of dough into a log.

Bake the logs for 20 minutes until they are solid. The dough will rise a lot! Let the logs cool for 10 minutes on racks. Reduce your oven’s temperature to 325ºF.

When the logs are cool enough to handle, place them on a cutting board and use a serrated knife to slice them on the diagonal into 1/2 to 1 inch cookies.

Place the sliced cookies back on the baking sheets with one of the cut sides down. Bake them for about 5 minutes or until the top side of a cookie feels a little crisp. Then, flip the cookies over and bake them for 5 minutes on the other side. After this time, the cookies should feel mostly firm to the touch. They will continue to crisp up as they cool. These cookies are addictively good, and eating them fills me with good memories. I hope you create good memories around them too.

Shopping list:

  • Olive oil- 2 tablespoons
  • Orange- 1 (3 tablespoons of juice and 1 tablespoon of zest)
  • Anise extract- 1 teaspoon
  • Eggs- 2
  • Sugar- 1 cup
  • Flour- 2.5 cups
  • Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
  • Baking soda- 1 teaspoon
  • Salt
  • Chocolate chips- 1 cup
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Jewish Apple Cake

Posted on by
9

My mom makes the best Jewish apple cake, and she gave me her recipe. Jewish apple cake is sweet, slightly dense, and it makes a great snack. It is perfect during the High Holidays or any other time of year. And the smell when it’s baking is just… divine.

To make this cake, peel, core, and thinly slice 4 apples. My mom uses one of those contraptions that makes curly fries to cut up her apples, but a good old knife works well too. In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar and 4 teaspoons of cinnamon.  Add the apples to the bowl and toss them around to coat them with the cinnamon.

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, mix together 3 cups of flour, 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then, make a well in the center of the ingredients, and pour in 1 cup of vegetable oil, 4 whisked eggs, and 1/2 cup of orange juice.

Starting in the center of the bowl, mix the ingredients together until the batter is smooth. 

Grease a tube pan very well, and then fill it half way with the batter. Pour on half of the apples. Then, add the rest of the batter, and top it with the rest of the apples.

Bake the cake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Just the smell of this cake as it bakes is reason enough to make it. Even Stella couldn’t help but lick her chops around it!

The cake is beautiful and delicious. One unexpected way to eat it is to toast a slice and then spread it with cream cheese. So good!

Shopping list:

  • Sugar- 2 cups
  • Cinnamon- 4 teaspoons
  • Flour- 3 cups
  • Baking powder- 1 tablespoon
  • Salt- 1 teaspoon
  • Eggs- 4
  • Apples- 4
  • Orange juice- 1/2 cup
  • Vegetable oil- 1 cup
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Touchdown Pumpkin Soup

Posted on by
4

I have been trying to make a pumpkin soup like the one from Au Bon Pain for quite a while. Last winter, I shared one of my failures with you, and you were so kind to share many recipe ideas. After tasting ABP’s pumpkin soup a few more times and referencing its ingredient list, I have finally come up with a great imitation recipe. It’s a touchdown (my spoon touches down to an empty bowl)! A hole in one (from spoon to mouth)! A home run (I have to run home to eat more of this soup)!

This recipe makes about 10 servings of soup. One of the tricks to making the perfect pumpkin soup is to start off with a roux. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot and whisk in 2.5 tablespoons of flour. Whisk constantly until the roux browns, and then whisk in 2 quarts of vegetable stock. Apparently, a roux + veggie stock = a velouté. I have always liked veloutés, but I never knew how they were made.

While the stock comes to a simmer, steam 1 pumpkin and 1 buttercup (not butternut) or kabocha squash. I steam my squash by microwaving it with a little bit of water in a covered, microwave-safe bowl for 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the squash. Canned pumpkin/squash purée would also work.

Roughly chop 2 large carrots, 3 celery stalks, 1 onion, and 2 cloves of garlic. Add the chopped veggies (not the pumpkin or squash) into the pot. Once they are softened, add in 2 cups of the steamed buttercup/kabocha squash and 1 cup of the steamed pumpkin. Let them simmer until they are completely softened. Stir in 1/8 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, a pinch of black pepper, and grate in a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger.

Blend the soup with an immersion blender or with a traditional blender until it is smooth. Season the soup with salt to taste. When serving, you can send this soup over the top by crumbling in some pieces of crispy bacon…oh la la! I hope this hearty and comforting soup keeps you toasty and warm in the falling temperatures.

Shopping list:

  • Pumpkin- 1
  • Buttercup or kabocha squash- 1
  • Butter- 2 tablespoons
  • Flour- 2.5 tablespoons
  • Vegetable stock- 2 quarts
  • Carrots- 2 large
  • Celery- 3 stalks
  • Onion- 1
  • Garlic- 2 cloves
  • Brown sugar- 1/8 cup
  • Ginger- 1-inch
  • Tomato paste- 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cinnamon- 1 tablespoon
  • Nutmeg- 1/4 teaspoon
  • Salt and pepper
Print Friendly, PDF & Email