Category: Dessert

Cheese Latkes with Raspberry Sauce

If you follow my blog, you know that I’m not much of a baker. You also know that I’m working hard to stick to my diet plan. Which might explain why I’m not about to post a recipe for delicious, chewy, deep-fried jelly donuts or crunchy golden potato latkes. Instead, I decided to whip up a sort of deconstructed jelly donut in the form of cheese latkes with raspberry sauce. These fun mini cottage cheese pancakes are reminiscent of the classic chanukah treat with just a few less calories. Fry them up nice and golden, dust with powdered sugar, and don’t forget the whip cream!

Cheese Latkes
adapted from the Spice & Spirit Cookbook

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 8 oz. container ricotta or cottage cheese (drain, if needed)
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
canola oil, butter, for frying

Method:

Mix all ingredients besides for oil until smooth. Heat up a skillet and grease with butter or oil. Add batter 1 tbsp at a time and fry until golden on both sides. Continue with remaining batter, adding additional oil or butter, as needed.

Serve with raspberry sauce, whip cream and a side of maple syrup.

Raspberry Sauce

1 bag frozen raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water or raspberry liquor
1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

Add all ingredients to a pot and simmer over medium heat until raspberries are soft and fall apart when mashed with a spoon, about 10 minutes. Add to a blender and puree. Pour the raspberry mixture through a cheesecloth and squeeze out juice. Chill. Serve over pancakes or ice cream.

Alternatively, pipe some raspberry jam in the center of the latkes and dust with powdered sugar to resemble jelly donuts!

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Black Bean Brownies

Now before you gag, I want you to take a look at the picture above. Do those look like black beans to you? I didn’t think so. I had my reservations too, but they were quickly squashed after one bite of these. I’m not gonna say they were the best brownies I ever ate. Nor will I suggest that they have the same fudgy consistency as real brownies. But they are pretty good for a flourless cake made of beans. Give them a try. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Black Bean Brownies

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed well
3 large eggs
1/3 cup melted butter or canola oil
1/4 cup Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar or splenda
1 tbsp coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup chocolate chips, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients (besides for walnuts and chocolate chips) in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. Mix in chocolate chips, if desired. Pour into a greased 8×8 baking dish and sprinkle with walnuts. Bake for 25 minutes.

Once cooled, cut brownies into squares. Because these brownies are made of beans, they mold very quickly. Therefore, eat immediately or refrigerate/freeze individual portions.

TIP: If you like your brownies less dense, and more cake-like, add 1 tsp baking powder.

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3 Layer Chocolate Cake Martini


With Simchas Torah just around the corner, I just had to include an alcoholic beverage for the ladies. I mean, why should the guys get to have all the fun! We deserve to make a l’chaim, especially after our string of 3-day cooking fests!

More importantly, we have the most special, amazing, heartwarming and miraculous reason to celebrate. The release of Gilad Shalit who has been held captive by Hamas for five long years.

Welcome Home Gilad!


I’m not the biggest drinker, so if I have a martini recipe, it’s because I tasted it somewhere, not because I decided to whip up a cocktail one night :) I recently celebrated my sister-in-law CR’s birthday with a night out on the town. We hit a fun broadway show, but before that, we made sure to stop by Clubhouse Cafe for some appetizers and drinks. With the show just 30 minutes later, we quickly sampled a few of their “snacks” at the bar including duck empanadas, chunky guacamole, grilled kebabs, sliders and chicken fingers. What’s a birthday celebration without a toast, so we ordered cocktails including their chocolate martini, mojito and fruit punch sangria. We finished off our appetizer feast with some real 3 layer chocolate cake (topped off with a candle and a song, of course!) We left Clubhouse just a tad lightheaded and giggly, the perfect starter to the perfect night.

The verdict? While we only feasted on Clubhouse’s snacks and drinks, I must say that the food was fresh, flavorful, well presented, and delicious. The drinks were great, and the chocolate cake was moist and decadent. I would definitely go back, this time however, for a full meal!

As I mentioned, I’m far from a lush, but when I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about those chocolate martini’s. They were awesome. My sister-in-law, as thoughtful as she is, sent me over some mini bottles of the ingredients so I could create my own at home. And believe you me, I did :) When looking up the cocktail online, I discovered that the martini is actually called three layer chocolate cake. How apropo!

Happy Birthday CR!

3 Layer Chocolate Cake Martini

1.5 oz. vanilla vodka
1 oz. Binyamina chocolate liquor
1 oz. Frangelico

Shake and strain over ice.

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Pumpkin Crisp

My local supermarket has been out of canned pumpkin for months. With the arrival of fall, and pumpkin season, I was excited to finally see it on the store shelves, except, it wasn’t. When I asked the store manager about it, he told me that he hadn’t realized that canned pumpkin is only produced once a year, and he hadn’t stocked up the previous year. He was anxiously awaiting 200 cases, but they hadn’t made it on time. I knew I had to get my hands on the stuff for this easy and delicious recipe. Of course i had some fresh pumpkin waiting at home, but I had them set aside for pumpkin soup and candied pumpkin. I made my way to another supermarket and was happy to see the big orange can smiling back at me.

This recipe is pretty much a pumpkin pie, but without the crust, and with the addition of a crispy topping. I like it much better because who really eats that frozen pie crust anyway? I always find it leftover on the plate! This sweet side dish is, well, easy as pie, and perfect for the coming of fall. You can serve it buffet style, or scoop it into little glasses with a bit of whip cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon to top it off.

Tell me, what’s your favorite pumpkin recipe?

Pumpkin Crisp
adapted from a food.com recipe

29 oz. can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup sugar
3⁄4 cup soy milk
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Walnut Crisp Topping:

3⁄4 c packed brown sugar
3⁄4 c oats
3⁄4 c chopped walnuts
2 tbsp flour
1⁄4 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp melted butter/margarine or canola oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 350˚. Whisk together pumpkin, sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth. Spray a pie dish with cooking spray and pour mixture inside. Mix topping until incorporated and sprinkle over pie. Bake for approximately 45minutes, until topping is golden brown.

VARIATION: for a festive dish, pour filling into mini pie crusts and top with walnut crisp. Bake until pie crust is golden.

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How to Deseed a Pomegranate


Rosh Hashana is full of traditions, many of them surrounding food. Pomegranates are one of the traditional simanim that are eaten so that our merits should increase like the seeds of a pomegranate. I once heard that some people eat raisins and celery so that they should have a raise in salary! Some of the other simanim, like a sheep’s head, I find a bit harder to chew, but bring on the pomegranates!

Growing up, I remember trying to pick the seeds off the membranes, biting into the juicy seeds, and spitting out the pits. But over the past few years, I began enjoying pomegranates all year round, so I learned to deseed them properly. I also learned to enjoy the crunchy pit and no longer spit them out :)

Deseeding a pomegranate is fairly easy.

1. Cut the pomegranate in half (around it’s center, not from top to bottom) and remove the crowned tip from the top half of the pomegranate.
2. Over a bowl, gently press the skin to loosen the seeds from the membranes.
3. Hold half of the pomegranate open-face-down in the palm of your hand, and with a heavy spoon or mallet, tap the pomegranate. You will see the seeds start to fall out.
4. Continue tapping the pomegranate all around, on all sides, until all the seeds have released.
5. Repeat with remaining half of pomegranate.

Once you’ve deseeded the pomegranate, you’ve got to eat them! Continue down the page for some recipes and ideas!

– Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over ice cream or yogurt
– Add to grains like quinoa, couscous, or sprinkle over oatmeal
– Add to guacamole for extra color and crunch
– Add to smoothies for their antioxidant power and tart taste
– Add seeds to fruit or vegetable salads
– Add to chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies
– Add to salsa and serve over fish
– Add to cranberry sauce
– Make pomegranate jam