Autumn has arrived and with the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur just around the corner, the Bakehouse is busy rustling up a bevy of seasonal favorites to usher in a sweet and hopeful New Year! Currently on offer are Eve’s Apple Babka, made with roasted apples and honey–iconic foods of Rosh Hashanah–along with two sweet additions to our tasty selection of traditional Rugelach–Apple Cinnamon and the oh-so-delectable Date, both of which are available now through October 12th. And starting September 28th, our full lineup of holiday special bakes joins the party just in time to ring in Rosh Hashanah on October 2 – 4, followed by the celebratory break-fast mealending Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement,” on October 12th. (More on our lineup of holiday specials below.)
The Return of Date Rugelach
For this year’s celebration of the Jewish High Holidays, we’re especially excited to welcome back our distinctive Date Rugelach to the festive mix of sweet treats now on offer through October 12th. We created this in 2019 and then it lost momentum with the challenges of the pandemic. Yet, it just so happens to be Bakehouse Managing Partner Amy Emberling’s all-time favorite flavor of Bakehouse Rugelach. She loves how the tender and light cream cheese pastry contrasts with the rich and thick filling of dates infused with a little coffee and cardamom. The recipe was developed to intentionally combine Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish baking traditions – the cookie itself being ashkenazi and the flavors being sephardic. She also loves it for the personal nostalgia it conjures up whenever she takes a bite of one. Here’s Amy’s story:
Taste is such a powerful trigger of memories. I relearned this recently when tasting the first batch of these cookies that we hadn’t made since 2019, making sure that all of the flavors were well balanced and still to our liking. The flavors of the Date Rugelach took me back to 1989 and the desert of Oman. A tsunami of memories and feelings overwhelmed me. Geoff, my husband, is an archaeologist, and for 9 months (a lifetime ago, 35 years to be exact) we traveled around the Middle East and the Gulf region going on excavations. We were newly married and wonderfully carefree. We spent about 6 weeks in the desert of Oman.
It was both amazing and very challenging. We were members of a British team led by a curator at the British Museum and we were far from any form of civilization, in a wind blown desert landscape which felt isolating and lonely at times. We didn’t have cell phones or even mail service and there was one car which we didn’t have the keys to. In contrast, our campsite was on the Gulf of Oman and we swam daily on a gorgeous empty beach where sea turtles came to nest. This part was magical! In those years, British digs were notorious for having bad food and not enough of it. We were quite hungry much of the time and subsisted on a healthy but limited diet of fried eggs, peanut butter, pita, and canned fish! This made what I’m about to tell you an even more heightened experience than it sounds at face value.
We were excavating stone burials called cairns. At break time everyday, we sat with the local old man who we were working with (Geoff remembers that his name was Abdullah) and another excavator, Becky from England. Abdullah brought a thermos of rich cardamom flavored coffee and a mound of dates smashed together to the site everyday. He had one little cup that we shared (yes, we shared it!). He poured us each rounds of coffee until we were satiated, which we signaled by shaking the cup and then he moved to the next person. As others drank coffee we feasted on the pile of soft sweet dates, eating more than was polite. The flavors of this cookie are reminiscent of those work breaks and a time of intense adventure, exploration, and freedom from responsibilities and expectations. Ah the taste of sweet nostalgia!
Some Rugelach History
Of Eastern European origin, rugelach can be traced back to pastry-like, crescent-shaped cookies associated with centuries-old Ashkenazi Jewish baking traditions that include the Hungarian kifli, Austrian kipfel and Polish rogal. In keeping with its Ashkenazi roots, the name, “rugelach”, likely derives from the Yiddish or Slavic rog, meaning “horn,” with the addition of lakh, the diminutive plural, hence the translation “little horns,” a reference to its traditional crescent shape.
Old European Jewish recipes for rugelach, some dating as far back as the 17th century, called for a rich, eggy, yeasted dough cut into small wedges or triangles that were then rolled around a sweet filling ranging from dried fruits, walnuts, cinnamon, and sugar to poppy seed paste, fruit jam, and lekvar (prune butter). Originally, these rolled cookies were more akin to mini filled croissants, yet as Ashkenazi Jews made their way to America, starting in the late 19th century, the recipe evolved into the short cream-cheese pastry, minus the yeast, that we know and love today. The impetus being that the modern unleavened form of rugelach proved easier to make and stayed fresher longer than the yeasted version. Jewish culinary historian and cookbook author, Joan Nathan, traces this evolution:
Frontispiece to the 1958 edition of The Perfect Hostess by Mildred O. Knopf (first published in 1950).
In Europe, rugelach were often made from a yeast dough free of sour cream to keep them pareve [made without meat or dairy]. Here in America, they are often made with cream cheese. I imagine that someone in the test kitchen of Joseph Kraft worked [Philadelphia brand] cream cheese into the cookie dough, thus creating the flaky and rich American version (and a Kraft marketer’s dream). One of the early recipes for cream-cheese dough appeared in The Perfect Hostess, written in 1950 by Mildred Knopf. Mrs. Knopf, the sister-in-law of publisher Alfred Knopf, credited Nela Rubinstein, the wife of the pianist Arthur Rubinstein, with her recipe.
…Mrs. Knopf’s friend Maida Heatter, the pastry chef and author of the wonderful Maida Haetter’s Book of Great Desserts, popularized rugelach with her grandmother’s recipe, which was quite similar to Mrs. Rubenstein’s. Mrs. Heatter’s recipe is the inspiration for both the rugelach found in upscale bakeries and the mass-produced cookie that you’ll see at places like Costco.
Alvin “Lee-Lee” Smalls preparing his famous rugelach at his legendary Harlem bakery, Lee Lee’s Baked Goods.
National Rugelach Day
Fast forward to today, and rugelach continues to reign supreme as the most popular and well-known Jewish cookies in the United States, so much so, that in 2022, the National Day Archives anointed April 29th as National Rugelach Day.
This honorific designation came at the behest of New York baker and rugelach aficionado Alvin Lee Smalls, who owns and operates Lee Lee’s Baked Goods in Harlem, home of “The most outrageously delicious homemade Rugelach in New York!”, according to the bakery’s website. When asked what prompted him to honor the popular Jewish confection by reaching out to the National Day Archives, Lee-Lee or Mr. Lee, as he is affectionately known around the Village of Harlem, said, “Rugelach is something that has always been near and dear to my heart, so I thought why not recognize and celebrate such a special little confection with the whole world…This day has been designated for everyone to celebrate and enjoy the delight of rugelach wherever you are!”
More Bakehouse Special Bakes to Ring in a Sweet and Hopeful New Year
Let the Bakehouse leaven up your celebration in wishing you a Shana Tova U’Metukah—a Good and Sweet New Year–with these holiday specials:
Challah Turban
Gorgeous saffron-colored Ashkenazi challah in the traditional round turban shape, symbolizing the continuity of life. Enjoy them with or without dark rum-soaked raisins. Available 9/28–10/12 (Read more about our Holiday Challah!)
More Rockin’ Challah
Traditional Sephardic-leaning Moroccan Challah – A beautiful five-strand braid brushed with honey for extra sweetness and topped with a flavorful medley of poppy, sesame, and anise seeds. It’s deep mahogany in color and the flavors are rich and sweet—everything Rosh Hashannah should be. Available 9/28 – 10/12 (Read more about our More Rockin’ Challah!)
Rugelach
In addition to our seasonal Date and Apple Cinnamon offerings, pick up our four other tasty flavors. Choose from Apricot, Raspberry, Chocolate, and traditional Current Walnut. Available daily (Read more about our Rugelach!)
Bumble Honey Coffee Cake
Lekach, or honey cake, is a traditional offering on the Jewish New Year table. This complex flavored spice cake is made with freshly milled, organic rye flour and Michigan buckwheat honey for a big, bold, earthy flavor. Add in golden raisins, fresh orange and lemon zest, Indonesian cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and a few secret ingredients, and you’ll send the New Year off to a sweet start. Now nut-free! Available 9/28 – 10/12 (Read more about our Bumble Honey Coffee Cake!)
Apple Rétes
We carefully hand stretch our own fresh dough over an 8-foot table until it’s thin enough to read through. We then fold it with melted butter and a sprinkle of cake crumbs, wrap it around a tasty apple filling, bake it until golden brown, and dust it with powdered sugar. Available 9/28 – 10/12
Babka
In addition to our seasonal offering of Eve’s Apple Babka, we’ll be baking up our classic Chocolate Raisin Babka. Available daily (Read more about our Eve’s Apple Babka and Chocolate Raisin Babka!)
Hungry for More?
Give us a call to reserve some Date Rugelach for pickup at our Bakeshop, now through October 12th: 734-761-2095.
Order our Apricot, Raspberry, Chocolate, and Current Walnut Rugelach for local pickup.
After a long, established career as a Ph.D. art history scholar and art museum curator, Lee, a Michigan native, came to the Bakehouse in 2017 eager to pursue her passion for artisanal baking and to apply her love of history, research, writing, and editing in a new exciting arena. Her first turn at the Bakehouse was as a day pastry baker. She then moved on to retail sales in the Bakeshop, followed by joining the Marketing Team and becoming the Bakehouse’s designated culinary historian. In addition to her retail sales and marketing work, she’s a member of the Bakehouse’s Grain Commission, co-author and editor of the Bakehouse's series of cookbooklets, and a regular contributor to the BAKE! Blog and Zingerman’s Newsletter, where she explores the culinary, cultural, and social history and evolution of the Bakehouse’s artisan baked goods.
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
