Rosh HaShanah 2023
3-D Shofar Cookies
This year Nosh Art Fun is blowing the shofar with these 3-D cookies. The sweet ring cookie
dough is wrapped around a shofar mold made from an ice cream cone. Leave your dough plain or marbleize the dough with the addition of cocoa powder. Give your shofars a festive look with melted chocolate and sprinkles. Eat your shofars plain or for an extra special desert fill with ice cream.
Any which way, these shofar cookies are an unforgettable holiday treat.
What you need ...
1 recipe Sweet Ring Cookies (yield 8 large shofars or 12 small shofars)
8 sugar wafer ice cream cones
1 cup dried beans (for the shofar mold)
Margarine
1 egg white
Non-stick aluminum foil
Optionals
½ teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon honey
½ c chocolate chips
Sprinkles
Let's do it ...
Note: This project requires oven work and handling hot cookies; these are adult tasks.
Making the Shofar Mold
For large shofars use the whole ice cream cone.
For small shofars use school safety scissors to cut both ends of the cone to desired size.
Cut non-stick aluminum foil into 14” X 6” rectangles for large shofars or 10" x 6" rectangles for small shofars.
One foil rectangle is needed for each shofar.
Lay a foil rectangle, non-stick side down, on work surface.
Place the ice cream cone horizontally on the foil as shown, about 1.5" from the bottom edge and about 2" from the left side of the rectangle.
Wrap the foil around the ice cream cone's tip, as shown.
Fold the bottom right corner of the foil upwards as shown.
Continue wrapping the foil around the ice cream cone.
Tightly twist the excess foil, at the bottom of the ice cream cone, to form a round pipe, as shown.
The round shape makes it easier to remove the mold from the baked cookie. Make sure the pipe's diameter goes from narrow at the tip to gradually wider, with no lumps or bumps.
Hold the wrapped cone upright and fill with dried beans to just below the cone’s rim, as shown. Without the beans, the foil covered cone will collapse during baking.
Fold the excess foil over the beans to securely lock the beans into the cone.
As much as possible, smooth out the wrinkles and any sharp kinks in the foil.
With your fingers, spread a light coating of margarine all over the shofar mold.
Set shofar molds aside until ready to use.
Marbleizing the dough
Break off a walnut size piece of dough.
Using your fingers, work ½ teaspoon of cocoa powder into this small piece of dough.
Roll the cocoa dough into a long rope.
Roll the plain dough into a fat rope equal in length to the cocoa rope.
Lay the ropes side by side, as shown.
Twist the ropes together to form a ball. Roll the ball into a log.
Divide the log into 8 equal size pieces for the large shofars or 12 equal size pieces for the small shofars.
Covering the shofar mold
On a piece of lightly floured wax paper, roll one piece of dough into a large roughly shaped triangle 1/8” thick.
The triangle should be horizontal on your worksurface with the wide end on the left side and the narrow end on the right side, as shown.
Place the shofar mold lengthwise across the bottom of the dough triangle, as shown.
Start wrapping the dough around the pipe end of the shofar, as shown; working your way up to the wide end of the shofar. The dough should comfortably cover the shofar mold; it should not be tightly wrapped around the mold. If necessary, trim extra dough from the top, left, and right edges.
Lightly brush a bit of water along the edge of side A.
Wrap side B over side A and gently press to secure.
Trim the dough around the mouthpiece and the wide end, so that the foil mold is visible, as shown.
Shape the shofar pipe into a slight upward curve or if desired, leave straight.
Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Chill 15 minutes before baking.
Baking the shofars
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Make an egg white wash by stirring 1 teaspoon cold water into the egg white.
Optional: add one teaspoon of honey to the egg wash for a golden glow and an added bit of sweetness
Brush the chilled shofars with the egg white wash.
Bake the shofars for 25 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through the baking time.
When the shofars are nicely browned on the bottom and top remove from the oven and turn off the oven.
Removing the shofar mold from the cookie
While the cookies are still hot, remove the molds.
Use paper towels to protect your hands from the hot cookies.
With one hand hold the cookie, with your other hand gently give the foil protruding from the mouthpiece a little twist to loosen it from the cookie.
Open the foil at the wide end and empty out the beans.
Gently pull out the shofar mold from inside the cookie.
The inside of the cookie will be a bit moist.
Return the cookie shofars to the oven to dry. Leave the cookies in the oven until the oven is cold.
Adding a festive finish
Melt chocolate chips according to package directions.
Dip both ends of the shofar into the melted chocolate, then dip into sprinkles.
Set aside to allow chocolate to set.
Shanah Tovah
Rosh HaShanah 2022
Ribbon Challah
What you need ...
Note: This challah dough is made with 4 cups of flour, if your recipe calls for more flour, make the necessary adjustments to the ingredients listed below.
1 recipe German-Jewish challah
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg yolk
Flour for dusting
Let's do it ...
Note: This project requires stove and oven work; these are adult tasks. A pizza cutter or pastry wheel are recommended for cutting the dough.
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After the first rise, turn dough out onto work surface. Punch out air. Shape into a rectangle and cut into four equal size pieces, as shown. Cover pieces and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
2. Melt butter and mix with vegetable oil. Set aside.
3. Mix egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water; strain thru a sieve to remove any little clumps of egg white.
Set aside.
Rolling and Stacking Dough Sheets
4. Place first piece of rested dough on work surface and roll out into a very thin rectangular sheet
about12” X 15” or slightly larger.
5. For the first fold, lightly dust the dough sheet with flour. Fold the sheet in half, top half over bottom
half, as shown.
6. Lightly dust the folded dough with flour. Fold a second time; folding the left side over the right side, as
shown. Your folded dough will now look like a dinner napkin.
7. Cover and set aside to rest.
8. Repeat steps for the remaining three pieces of dough. Allow the folded pieces to rest for 15 minutes.
9. After the dough has rested, place the first piece on work surface and carefully unfold. If the dough has shrunk, gently roll, or stretch with your hands to 12" x 15" rectangle.
10. Brush surface with the butter-oil mixture. This is your first layer. Optional: sprinkle layer with sugar-
cinnamon mix before adding the second layer.
11. Place the second piece of dough on top of the first layer, and carefully unfold.
12. Stretch this sheet of dough to completely cover the first layer. Pat down and press together the
edges on all four sides. Prick any air bubbles with a toothpick or pin to release the air.
13. Brush top with butter-oil mixture. Repeat process for remaining two dough sheets.
14. After fourth sheet has been stacked and brushed with butter-oil, trim the thick edges.
15. Cut 1” wide strips lengthwise, left to right, as shown.
Rolling Strips into a Rope
16. Grease your fingertips with the remaining butter-oil mixture. Place your hands at each end of the
top strip, as shown. Gently lift the strip and roll over onto the next strip. Continue to lift and roll
the strips, as shown, until you have gathered all the strips into a long rope.
17. Gently stretch and twist the rope, as shown. At each end of the rope, pinch the ribbon ends
together and stretch the rope ends a bit, so that the ends are narrower than the main body of
the rope, as shown.
18. Starting at one end, roll the rope into a tight coil, tucking the end in underneath the turban.
Place turban on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cover and let rest 30 minutes.
19. Brush with yolk wash and bake in pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes until golden
brown. There should be a hallow sound when the bottom of the challah bottom is tapped.