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| Naked maple brown sugar apple spice cake |
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| All Dressed Up for the New Year's Party |
It's not a strange occurrence to hear me singing the praises of pork. Any given day you might overhear me saying, “I can’t imagine a world with out pork.” Dramatic? Yes. True? Most certainly.
The way I see it, certain things like crispy American bacon, Chinese char sui, or Spanish chorizo just can’t be topped. Period.
That said, I've mused in previous blogs about growing up Jew-'ish' in New England and that even with my love affair with pork, there were still plenty of traditional meals and foods that I hold near and dear.
So with Rosh Hashanah, this week, I was excited to have an excuse to put my love affair with piggie aside for the day, and cook up 1 or 2 of my favourite holiday numbers, as well as introduce a new treat.
Complimenting the standard family stuffed chicken breast; I whipped up a caramelized onion and dill potato kugel. And for dessert, individual maple brown sugar apple spice cakes.
It's traditional to have apples and honey on any Rosh Hashanah table, signifying a 'sweet new year'. Since honey wasn't really an option (read last week’s blog entry to know why I wasn’t going within 100 feet of the stuff), I tried these sweet little apple spice guys instead. And having finished the last one 4 days after I originally made them, I have to say, they retained moistness like a sponge – they were as good if not better than the night I originally made them.
It's traditional to have apples and honey on any Rosh Hashanah table, signifying a 'sweet new year'. Since honey wasn't really an option (read last week’s blog entry to know why I wasn’t going within 100 feet of the stuff), I tried these sweet little apple spice guys instead. And having finished the last one 4 days after I originally made them, I have to say, they retained moistness like a sponge – they were as good if not better than the night I originally made them.
Caramelised Onion and Dill Potato Kugel
I must admit I totally winged this one; so all measurements are a total guess.
1-2 large potatoes (grated)
1 onion (sliced fine)
1-teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2-3 eggs
¼ cup oil
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup flour
Salt and pepper
1.Caramelise the onions on a low heat with sugar
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, add more flour if it is too liquidy
3. Grease a small square cake pan (I used a pie plate, which was too big – resulting in a tasty but too thin kugel)
4. Bake at 375 / 170 for about 45 minutes or until crispy and brown on the top
Maple, Brown Sugar, Apple Spice Cake
Modelled after the following recipe, I skipped the cream, upped the spices and put three chopped up and peeled granny-smith apples directly into the batter before baking in individual muffin/cake tins.
