Rosh Hashana Treats

Shana Tova to you all - Happy New Year! I just got back from a wonderful yuntif at my parents' house, where we had amazing meals (thanks, Mom, for all the cooking!), a great weekend with all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmother, and just an all-around great time. My family truly loves spending time together, and we all look forward to Rosh Hashana every year, when we crowd around the dining room table all afternoon, talk and laugh, play a huge game of knock-out basketball in our driveway, and just get to spend some quality time together. Can't wait for the next holiday or reunion or whenever we get to do it again!

In the last few years, I've become the designated dessert-maker for Rosh Hashana and Pesach. It really helps my mom out and means that she doesn't have to worry about those few things in addition to the dozens of other things that she needs to make for the holidays. (I don't know how you do it, Mom!) I try to do a variety of chocolate and fruity desserts, and there are a couple classics that go over every year really well which I always repeat. I didn't come up with any of these recipes on my own, but I do want to share what I made with you and links to the recipes, in case you'd like to try!

Chocolate-White Chocolate Mousse Cake:

This is a cake that I made last year and decided to make again, since it was a hit the first time around. The inside is a layer of chocolate cake (no big secrets there....Duncan Hines all the way!), then a thin layer of chocolate mousse (choose your favorite recipe, or use this one, which is very good and very simple), then a layer of yellow cake (again, Duncan Hines is awesome), then a layer of white chocolate mousse (just substitute white chocolate in the link from above), another layer of yellow cake, then frost the cake in white chocolate mousse, and cover the whole thing in white chocolate shavings. I wish I had a picture of the inside to show you with all the contrasting layers, but that's what you get when you serve a dessert on Shabbos or Yuntif!

Lemon Curd and Raspberry Tart:

Again, thanks to the no-photography rule on Yuntif, you can't see the lemon curd that made up most of this tart, but i promise it's there! I made a very easy shortbread crust from this recipe, and then I covered the cooled crust in a very simple raspberry sauce. All you do is put about a half a pint of fresh raspberries and 1/4 cup of water in a pot. Turn the heat to medium-high and allow the raspberries to dissolve. When then do, mix in about 2 heaping tablespoons of raspberry jelly and mix to combine. Then, just pour the sauce all over the cooled shortbread crust in a thin layer.

The lemon curd recipe that I use all the time is Ina Garten's and it can be found here. I use this recipe several times a year - for just plain lemon curd, for lemon trifles, for lemon pies....and it's great because you can use it on Pesach too! So, I make the lemon curd and pour it over the raspberry sauce-covered shortbread. Once it's set, I put some fresh raspberries all over it (about two pints). Then, in a small sauce pot, I melt about 1/2 cup of seedless raspberry preserves with about 2 tbsp. of water until it's a thin sauce. Then I just brush it over the raspberries and it makes a shiny glaze....very professional looking. This dessert is my personal favorite from the weekend because it's so refreshing.

Peanut Butter Pie:

I know this little pie looks very simple and unassuming, but trust me: it's a winner. This is one of the easiest desserts I make, and if you're a peanut butter lover, this is a must. This is one of my family's favorites, and I make several every year for my cousins. I found the recipe a while ago on some website, but it's so easy that I've committed it to memory....and you should too!

4 oz. pareve cream cheese
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup pareve whipped cream, whipped until stiff

Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until creamy. Add the sugar. Beat in the whipped cream and continue beating for an additional minute until the whole mixture is stiff. Pour it into a pre-made chocolate graham cracker crust (that has been baked at 325 degrees for 5 minutes and cooled) and refrigerate.

It's that simple and so good.

And now, for the pièce de résistance, my masterpiece - and centerpiece - of all my desserts....

Cake pops:

Look closer...

That's all cake. Cake lollipops. So cute and bite-sized and, oh, what a hit! I discovered cake pops on a fantastic baking blog that I read every week, Bakerella. She even came out with a book of them, and they're adorable. It's the perfect amount of rich, super moist cake...and you can have more than one!

Cake pops are very simple to make, but they can be time-consuming....especially if you make 120 like I did! One of my roommate encouraged me to stop after 60, but I told her that I had faith in my family that we'd finish them...and we came very close! Nice job, cousins! All you basically do is make a 9x13 inch cake, crumble it up, mix it with frosting, shape it into balls, refrigerate, pop a stick into them, and dip into melted chocolate or candy melts. Bakerella has a great demo video here.

I made four kinds of cake pops:

The brown ones are chocolate, the peachy-colored ones are carrot cake, the yellow ones are lemon, and the pink ones are vanilla - something for everyone! And then I stuck them in a planter so we'd have a great edible centerpiece. One of my cousins walked in and didn't even notice them...he thought it was a flower arrangement! Mission accomplished! But the best compliment I got on them was from my sister's boyfriend. He told me that he doesn't even like cake, but he loved these and had half a dozen. Now THAT is a compliment!

So there you have it. No originals this week, but for everyone who wanted to see my creations, here they are!! To all my family and neighbors who came by - I hope you enjoyed them! It was so much fun spending time with all of you!!