Baking Up a Sweet New Year

When Tablet announced a contest for our readers’ best family recipes for Rosh Hashanah desserts, we wondered if we’d get one apple cake after another.

We did. (We’re not complaining! What better way to have a sweet new year?)

But among the dozens of entries our readers submitted, there was also an unexpected diversity of flavors and ingredients, as diverse as the families who make them every year.

We turned to Micah Siva, a trained chef and recipe writer, to choose three most promising finalists. Then she prepared each one and chose the winner.

Michelle Aboodi’s American Apple Cake—something her family serves alongside dishes from Tunisia, Syria, and Iraq to reflect their heritage—was a finalist, standing out from the other apple cakes. “This is a classic honey cake that will feed a crowd, with layers of apples and cinnamon-sugar mixture,” Siva commented. “A delicious parve dessert that embodies the chag!”

Gila Green’s Malabi—something her Yiddish-, English-, and French-speaking grandmother used to call “Rosh Hashanah Tzimmes,” serving it as a treat after a long day in synagogue—was also a finalist. “Reminiscent of one of my favorite desserts, this malabi-esque pudding dish was rich, and buttery,” Siva noted. “It is a gorgeous, make-ahead dessert for those who don’t feel like baking.”

But the winner was Monica Zalta Feffer’s Good Deed Honey Gourd Cake, which transformed leftover spaghetti squash from her Syrian-Sephardic-Ashkenazi family’s Rosh Hashanah Seder into a unique treat that reflected their blended background. “I’d seen pumpkin cakes and zucchini loaves, but never a spaghetti squash-based dessert,” said Siva. “At first, I wasn’t sure about the addition of rose water, but this loaf was so subtle in rose flavor that it won me over! Moist, rich, and a gorgeous caramel color, my family gobbled up this honey cake.”

We want to thank everyone who entered the recipe contest, and congratulations to our finalists. Below, you’ll find all three of their recipes, which include the stories behind those delicious desserts.