Kosher Cuisine with Marcy Goldman

Fruit and Nuts Treats for the Passover of the Trees…..

No one ever remembers Tu’Bishavat, the Seder of the Trees, a holiday that is squished between Chanukah and Purim and is overshadowed by both the latter as well as the (other) major, more familiar spring Passover holiday (the matzoh based one). It is not a major holiday but a particularly joyous one. Increasingly, synagogues create ceremonies to mark the event and consequently, it is becoming more mainstream as a Jewish tableside time. Any occasion that showcases lovely ingredients, such as fruit, seeds, and nuts – items that are traditionally used to celebrate Tu Bishavat, is a perfect excuse to bake!

Synagogues usually hold Tu Bishavat mini seders, and you can expect any sort of treats, nutty, honey laced and fruit to appear. Almost anything goes but generally, things are modest and granola-oriented, due to the reliance on dried fruits and nuts. Here are some more unique recipes I have created for this special time. There are no real rules about baking at Tu Bishavat other than a nod to nature’s bounty. Enjoy,

Marcy Goldman

Recipes:

Dried Strawberry Challah
Dried strawberries, honey and ingenuity make this a new and beautiful sweet challah for the holidays. You can substitute raisins but honestly, what for? Pretty and unique and leftovers, as always make great French Toast for a mid-winter Brunch. Dried strawberries can be found at Costco, American Spoon Foods and at a local Middle Eastern bulk food store. The dried strawberries dot the golden dough and each bite is absolutely wonderful, more so, dipped in honey on the side. A perfect Tu’Bishavat offering.

Toasted Coconut Cookies
Coconut makes perfect sense of a Middle Eastern spin on a biblical holiday. You could even sandwich these together with date filling, for a date-and-coconut sandwich cookies.

Jaffa Orange Tuttti Frutti Mandelbrot
Sunny flavors in a traditional treat not only make a superb Tu Bishavat cookie but inspire the taste buds at a time of year we can use all the extra sunshine we can get – even by the baker’s expertise. The best all natural orange and lemon extract for this recipe are newly launched and are by Nielsen Massey Vanilla Company. Contact the company for availability. You can also substitute regular orange and lemon extract, which are fine but nothing, beats the Nielsen Massey for freshness of taste in an extract. It is like freshly squeezed citrus.