This is not a recipe. This is the result of me wanting to score points as wifey by throwing my husband a birthday party and not planning ahead. This is what happens when you have two ingredients and about ten minutes until your guests show up.

Ingredients:
Whipping Cream
1/2 cup of Chocolate Spread (I use this non dairy choco spread)

Directions:
Let the whipping cream melt then whip it up until nice and fluffy. Add chocolate spread once whipped and mix it together until blended. Scoop into mini cups and drizzle chocolate sauce on top, then add mini chocolate chips.

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

This is Bella Raksin’s cheesecake recipe. She was my neighbor. My best friend’s mom. A beautiful and graceful woman. An amazing baker. My sister Tova makes this recipe every week for Shabbat breakfast, and now that my son’s favorite food is cheesecake so do I. It’s a quick and basic cheesecake recipe that always hits the spot. In my family we call it “Bella’s Cheesecake”.

Ingredients:
12 oz of whipped cream cheese (1 and a half containers if using 8 oz containers)
1/2 cup of sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tablesspoon vanilla sugar
1 graham cracker crust

Directions:
Blend the cream cheese, sour cream eggs, sugar, and vanilla together. Pour cheese mixture into crust. Bake on 350′ for an hour. Serve plain with fresh fruit and chocolate sauce on the side, or top with strawberry slices and chocolate spread, or jam heated up and spread on top or caramel sauce. It’s a simple basic recipe that tastes great on it’s own or with whatever topping you are craving at the moment!

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar in honor of Bella Raksin

I’m on a low carb diet which means challah on shabs is a major no no. Apparently, I’m a big bread eater since now that I am off of it, there was an entire challah leftover. One giant loaf was greeting me this morning. Sitting nicely on my counter begging to be ripped into. I had to get rid of it and since throwing it out was not an option, and I was too lazy to go feed the birds, the next obvious choice was to make something delicious with it that I could not eat. Like bread pudding. When I am on a diet you would think the rational thing to do would be surround myself with people who think soups and salads are better than a sandwich but instead I cook up food that I am not allowed to eat and force others to enjoy it for me. Back to the bread pudding. It’s one of those things that tastes amazing and you assume since it’s that good it must be complicated to make but once I looked it up I realized it’s as easy as making french toast or pancakes, or maybe even easier since once it’s all assembled in the baking pan you throw it in the oven and there is no need to continuously flip the batter! So it’s actually easier than making the usual Sunday breakfast spread of eggs and pancakes. There are some decadent versions out there but I like to stick with fast and tasty and this is the basic way to make bread pudding. You can use dairy milk and dairy chocolate or keep it non dairy like I did with soy milk and dark chocolate. (I actually used white chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips since that’s what I had in the kitchen but next time I will use a good quality dark chocolate bar broken up into pieces)

Ingredients:
1 large challah
2 cups soy milk (or cows milk or heavy cream if making it dairy)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar broken into pieces

Directions:
Grease a 9×13 baking pan. Break the challah into small pieces using your hands. Place the challah pieces into the baking pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips or chocolate pieces on top of the challah, mixing it so it blends with the challah. In a large bowl, combing the milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour the mixture over the challah and chocolate. Press the challah down in the pan so every piece of challah gets coated with the milk mixture. Place in oven and bake on 350 for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream or fresh fruit.

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup of white sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
2 sticks of room temp margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup of cocoa powder

Directions:
Cream sugar and margarine together. Add eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, flour and cocoa powder. Mix together. Place dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll out dough and cut out circles using cookie cutter or rim of a glass jar or cup. Fill with 1 tsp. peanut butter. (I added some chocolate spread to some of them and it tasted great!) then pinch the corners together, forming a triangle. Bake on 350′ for 8-10 minutes. I kept them in for about 15 minutes, and overcooked them and they got really crunchy, but I like them softer so careful not to over bake them!

* Tips/Tricks: I originally had a difficult time shaping them since the dough was sticky. I kept it in the fridge for several hours and used extra flour when rolling it out. This made it easier to work with!

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

This is my sister Tova’s recipe. I spent the weekend at her place and it’s no surprise that I walked away with a tasty new recipe from her. It’s a quick and easy dessert that is also healthy.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup red sweet wine
3 cups of water
6-8 pears, skin peeled
1/2 cup of sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Sprinkle of cinnamon (about 1 tsp.)

Directions:
Place all ingredients, besides the pears, in a pot. Bring to boil then place pears in pot and simmer for 45 minutes.

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

I like to call these beautiful hamentashen…Royal hamentashen! Not only did I make royal icing to decorate the tashen with, but it IS Purim time after all and Queen Esther was…royalty!

For these royal hamentashen, I decided to make minis! It was a little tricky finding the perfect amount of filling so that the hamentashen didn’t open with jam spilling out. After the first batch flopped ( tasted great but popped open) I decided on 1/2 tsp filling in each triangle, and it was perfect.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup of jam/preserves
1 beaten egg

Directions:
With a balloon whip attachment or beater, beat eggs until frothy. Beat in sugar and then fold in oil, vanilla, and lemon juice. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder. Blend both mixtures together, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. * This recipe needs refrigeration or the mixture will be too sticky to handle.

Preheat oven to 350.

Thaw dough for 5 minutes, and sprinkle flour on your work surface. Use the rim of a glass cup ( I used a small jam jar), and cut circles in your dough.

Place 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center of your circle. Use beaten egg to wet the edges of your circle.

Fold sides towards center and bottom towards top, and pinch. Place hamentashen on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes.

* If you want to decorate with royal icing like I did, here are the tips. It’s very easy and looks stunning.

You will need:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 large egg white

With a balloon attachment, combine with sugar and egg white in a bowl and beat on low speed. Turn the speed up to high and whip for 3 minutes. Drizzle back and forth over hamentashen and let dry. * Royal icing hardens very quick, so use immediately.

~ Recipe submitted by Hilary Goldstein of mywifethechef.com

These chocolate and raspberry filled pastries are decadent! The first time I baked them, the raspberry juices leaking out during the baking process leaving them to resemble bleeding hearts. (Which worked for me since my fam and I dressed up as pirates for Purim!) This year I dusted the raspberries in some flour before placing them in the chocolate, and they did not leak. Either way, they taste divine!

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 cup of raspberries
Chocolate spread
1 cup of chocolate chips

Directions:
Cut out circles of puff pastry using a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass cup. Wet the dough with some water, then place 1 tsp. of chocolate sauce in the center of each circle. Place 1 or 2 raspberries on top of chocolate then pinch the side of the dough together forming a triangle. If you have trouble getting it to stick, wet it with more water. This will help it stick together. Bake in oven on 375′ for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and slightly crispy. Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle over hamentashen. These taste great once cooled off and given the chance to slightly harden, otherwise it’s a gooey mess!

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

This Cake is amazing. It’s moist and fluffy with a rich cinnamon flavor that almost makes you forget there are actual zucchini’s shredded in here! My toddler is crazy about it. He loves eating it and calls it mommy cake. (Maybe since I am the one who bakes it? More likely because I am always stealing bites from the pan!)

This recipe can be served as muffins, as a side dish in a loaf pan or for dessert in a bundt pan.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs (or 1 cup egg beaters)
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini (3 small or 2 medium zucchini peeled) – BUT, YOU DON’T HAVE TO PEEL THEM – TASTES GREAT EITHER WAY.

Directions:
Blend the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla together. Ad all the dry ingredients and then add the zucchini last. Mix well.Bake at 350 for 50 minutes in 2 greased 10 ” loaf pans, or bake for longer in one bundt pan.

(Bake it until it is browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean).

-  Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

View recipe for Yellow Cake HERE.

Ingredients:
1 stick of margarine, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of confectioners powder sugar
2 tablespoons soy milk
1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
1 cup of flour

Directions:
Cream margarine in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the brown sugar and blend until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. If it’s too thick or lumpy add milk to make it creamy. If it’s too loose add confectioners powder to make it thicker.

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar

Ingredients:
3/4 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of mashed bananas
1/2 cup of apple juice
2 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
chocolate chips

Directions:
Combine margarine, sugar and eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in 9×13 pan on 350′ for an hour. You can also use a bundt pan or muffin pans.

~ Recipe submitted by Nina Safar