The Best Jewish Desserts for the High Holidays
One of the most pervasive customs associated with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah is to consume treats like apples dipped in honey — thought to ensure a sweet new year. Which means if you’re observant (or just constantly in search of a sugar rush), you’re practically obligated to eat dessert! From the pistachio and fig-laced halvah at Seed + Mill, to the babka-blessed ice cream at Mekelburg’s, here’s a few of our favorites…
Seed + Mill
This Chelsea Market vendor is dedicated to all things sesame, including the tahini-based candy known as halvah. Popular throughout Israel and the Middle East (although long misunderstood in America, due to insipid commercial options), Seed + Mill peddles their artisanal blocks by the quarter pound, flavored with everything from pistachio, rose oil and figs, to lemongrass, peanut butter and orange-infused chocolate.
Read MoreMekelburg’s
You can purchase babka as-is at this Clinton Hill eatery/gourmet goods store, or you can pick up a pint or two of their fantastic collaboration with Ample Hills. Choose from chunks of chocolate babka swirled with chocolate ice cream (dubbed “I Like It When You Call Me Big Babka”), or “Babka Days Are Here Again;” bits of cinnamon babka interspersed with vanilla.
Read MoreUnderwest Donuts
You’ve gotta love NYC; where else can you find incredible donuts served in a Westside Highway-adjacent car wash? Crafted by classically trained pastry chef, Scott Levine (who worked at Chanterelle, Del Posto and Il Labatorio del Gelato), one of the best-selling options actually features tahini in the batter, and is topped with feathery fronds of sugary pulled halvah.
Read MoreBreads Bakery
When it comes to babka, it’s hard to hold a candle to the lush, dark chocolate and nutella-swirled loaves at Breads. Not that it’s the only Rosh Hashanah-worthy offering at the popular bakery; try the traditional honey cake (moistened with tea), the safta cake (sweetened with cinnamon), or the apple galette, lined with marzipan and thinly sliced fruit.
Read MoreSadelle’s
Yes, you can spend a bundle on smoked fish bagels and caviar-topped potatoes at the Major Food Group’s upscale appetizing shop, Sadelle’s, but Melissa Weller’s assortment of pitch perfect Jewish pastries is eminently affordable; from decadent Valrhona babka and poppy seed and custard-centered rugelach, to ricotta-lightened chocolate chip loaf.
Read MoreRuss & Daughters at the Jewish Museum
It’s all certified kosher at Russ & Daughters’ museum-based outpost, which means you can gorge on desserts of all sorts without having to repent — think noodle kugel with raisins, challah bread pudding poked with dried apricots, a sundae of halvah ice cream topped with salted caramel, or slabs of honey cake paired with caramelized apple ice cream.
Read MoreDanny Macaroons
Pyramid-shaped coconut cookies are the raison d’être at this NYC-based purveyor, and are available in over 45 flavors both traditional and unexpected; such as chocolate almond, salted caramel, raspberry jalapeno, and peanut butter and jelly.
Read MorePetite Shell
This year-old business is giving Danny Macaroons a run for its money by also focusing on a singular, Jewish cookie. That would be rugelach; the snail-shaped, cream cheese-based confection which Petite Shell puts its stamp on by offering in a number of unique flavors, such as white chocolate granny smith apple, blue cheese pear, and dulce de leche.
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