So, the other day, I got this idea stuck in my head – I wanted to make a proper list of Jewish desserts. Not for anything specific, really, just felt like diving into it. I’ve always enjoyed these kinds of sweets, but I realized I only knew a few off the top of my head.
First thing I did was just sit down with a notepad. What did I already know? Rugelach came to mind straight away, those little crescent cookies. And Babka, of course, that swirly, rich bread-cake thing. Chocolate babka is my weakness, honestly.
Okay, so that was a start, but a pretty short list. I needed more. So, I went online. Didn’t use any fancy databases or anything, just started searching around, looking at food blogs, recipe sites, that kind of thing. It was like opening a door – suddenly, tons of names popped up.
It got a little confusing quick, though. Different regions, different holidays… lots of variations. I saw things labelled Ashkenazi, others Sephardic. For now, I decided not to get too bogged down in the categories. I just started jotting down everything that sounded interesting or traditional.
My Growing List
Here’s kind of what I ended up putting down as I went:
- Rugelach (already had this one, but made sure it was there)
- Babka (chocolate, cinnamon… noted both)
- Hamentashen – Ah yes, the triangle cookies for Purim! Remembered those from seeing them around.
- Honey Cake – Definitely a big one, especially for Rosh Hashanah. Had to be on the list.
- Mandelbrot – Someone described it like Jewish biscotti. Sounded good.
- Kugel – This one was tricky. I’ve had savory noodle kugel, but saw lots about sweet kugel too, sometimes with fruit or cheese. Added ‘sweet kugel’ to be specific.
- Cheesecake – Apparently a big deal for Shavuot. Okay, adding it!
- Sufganiyot – The jelly doughnuts for Hanukkah. Absolutely essential.
- Teiglach – This was new to me. Little boiled dough balls in honey syrup. Sounded sticky and interesting.
- Macaroons – Especially the coconut kind, often seen during Passover.
I didn’t really try to make it super organized. At first, I thought about grouping by holiday, or maybe by type like cookies vs cakes. But honestly, that felt like too much work. It was more fun just letting the list grow organically as I found things.
I spent a good hour or so just digging around, reading little descriptions, sometimes getting sidetracked by recipes that looked amazing. It wasn’t super scientific, just me exploring stuff I was curious about.
In the end, I had this nice, handwritten list in my notebook. It’s not the ultimate, definitive list of every single Jewish dessert ever made, I’m sure. But it felt like a really solid collection of the big hitters and a few less common ones. It was a satisfying little project, just exploring and writing things down. Now I have a great starting point next time I want to try baking something new!
