Jewish Cuisine: Sweet Foods on Rosh Hashanah

The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) menu is replete with sweet dishes. Fruit, sweet vegetables, and honey appear even in some main dishes and give the holiday meals their unique character. Wrap up a meal with this delicious Orange Hazelnut Honey Cake.

To ensure mellow meals and prevent a bitter future, some people avoid sour foods like vinegar and lemon juice. Others tone down peppery dishes, using fewer chiles than usual or omitting them.


Some say the Israelites adopted the idea of celebrating the new year with something sweet from the Persians. In ancient Persia, it was customary to eat sweet foods for the new year. Legend relates that one of the biblical prophets introduced this tradition to the Israelites. The sweet custom remains central to Rosh Hashanah festivities to this day.

Honeycake for happiness
Beginning the year on a sweet note seems to be taken literally by custom. Honey is used liberally, not only in desserts like honey cake, but even as a dip to begin the meal. Around the world, Jews start off their holiday meal by dipping apple wedges in honey. Some Jews dip slices of challah, as well.

Honey was of great importance during the biblical era. There was no sugar then. The Torah frequently describes Israel as "the land of milk and honey," because honey represented the good life. For many people, it still does.

Honey cake is one of the most convenient desserts to bake at home because it keeps so well — at least a week and sometimes longer. Unlike most cakes, it tastes even better two days after it is baked. The honey enables it to retain its good flavor and texture.


Ashkenazic Jews began the tradition of serving honey cake for Rosh Hashanah, but Jews of most origins have adopted it. Spices, especially cinnamon and cloves, are favorite accents. In Israel, coffee, cocoa, and citrus zest are popular, too. This cake doesn't have much oil or many eggs and is fairly low in saturated fat.

Orange Hazelnut Honey Cake

Special tools: Mixer, 8 x 4-inch loaf pan

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 55 minutes

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Keeping kosher: Pareve

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/3 cup hot water
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Small pinch of ground cloves
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest, orange part only
1/2 cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, line it with parchment paper or waxed paper, and grease paper.

2. In a cup, dissolve instant coffee in hot water. Let cool. Sift flour with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.

3. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl of mixer. Add sugar and honey and beat until mixture is very smooth and lightened in color. Gradually add oil and beat until blended. Add orange zest.

4. Stir in flour mixture alternately with coffee, each in two batches. Stir in hazelnuts.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 15 minutes. Turn out onto rack and carefully peel off paper.

6. When cake is completely cool, wrap it tightly in foil and keep it at room temperature. Serve in thin slices.

Carrots connote wealth
Carrots are popular items on the Rosh Hashanah menu because they stand for prosperity. Sliced carrots resemble gold coins. They might be used to garnish a fish, added to a meat entree, or served as a side dish.

Other vegetable favorites are sweet potatoes and winter squash because of their sweet taste. To accentuate this quality, Ashkenazic cooks like to glaze them with honey. Certain Sephardic Jews stew them with cinnamon and sugar.

Fruit foreshadows a sweet future
In addition to the traditional appetizer of apples dipped in honey, fruit might appear anywhere in the meal. Moroccan Jews enjoy an additional appetizer of syrupy quince, an apple-like fruit that is always served cooked. Tzimmes, a renowned stew from Jews of Central European origin, may include prunes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and beef.

Tzimmes can sometimes be quite elaborate. Therefore, the Yiddish word tzimmes also gave rise to the American-Jewish slang expression, "Don't make a tzimmes out of it," meaning, "Don't make a big fuss or hullabaloo."

Tzimmes should be moist but not soupy. If you would like a thicker sauce, choose one of the following traditional techniques:


Baking: Bake the finished tzimmes uncovered in a casserole dish in a 350 oven for 15 to 30 minutes.
Thickening with a flour slurry: Heat the stew until the sauce begins to bubble. Remove it from the heat. Stir 1 tablespoon flour with 2 tablespoons apricot soaking liquid in a medium bowl. Gradually stir in about 1 cup of the sauce. Return the flour mixture to the pan and simmer it, stirring very gently, for 5 minutes.