Recipes: Enjoy dairy treats for the holiday of Shavuot

We love the creamy specialties of Shavuot, which begins this year on Saturday evening, June 4.

Shavuot commemorates the receiving of the Torah by Moses and the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. It is said that the ancient Israelites avoided meat the day before this important event, and that was the origin of the holiday’s custom of serving dairy foods. Some attribute this tradition to the season, as the holiday occurs during the time of year when cows, goats and sheep give plenty of milk.

When I was growing up, I always looked forward to my mother’s Shavuot apple noodle kugel with cottage cheese. Now I make an even richer version that includes cream cheese and butter.

Cream cheese also enriches our lemony blueberry muffins. We use sour cream and heavy cream in our coconut pineapple bars, and ricotta cheese in a quick and easy fruit tart on a tortilla base.

For a savory Shavuot pastry, a top choice of ours is a Mediterranean vegetable galette with a flaky cream cheese dough. We fill it with roasted eggplant, roasted peppers and, for a double-cheese delight, we add feta cheese.

Creamy Apple Noodle Kugel

When this luscious kugel enriched with cream cheese, cottage cheese and butter was baking, the aroma made Yakir ask if I was baking a cheesecake. This recipe by Dana Shrager is from “The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook by Beth A. Lee.”

Yield: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces wide egg noodles

Vegetable oil for drizzling

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, whole or low-fat, warmed

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing

1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese, regular or lowfat

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 large eggs, beaten

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced small

Berry Compote:

1 cup quartered strawberries

1 cup blueberries

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PROCEDURE

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with oven rack in center. Butter an 8-inch glass baking dish.

2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil egg noodles for 5 minutes, until softened but still a little firm. Drain, drizzle with a little vegetable oil and toss.

3. In a large bowl beat together cream cheese, milk and butter with a mixer. Add cottage cheese, sugar, vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, salt and beaten eggs and stir until well combined. Gently fold in noodles and diced apples.

4. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

5. Bake kugel for 40 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for 5 minutes until center is set and top is golden brown. Cool at least 10 minutes. Cut in squares to serve.

6. Berry Compote: Combine berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cooked over medium-low heat until berries started to break down, about 7 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla. Serve cold or at room temperature, with the kugel.

Coconut Pineapple Bars

For these pineapple bars, which are based on a recipe from Melissa’s Produce, I use pink pineapple when I have it but yellow pineapple is fine too.

Yield: 9 to 12 servings

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (4 ounces) cold butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:

2 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 pineapple, cored and cut into thin slices

Glaze:

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

4 tablespoons heavy cream

Candied violets (garnish, optional)

PROCEDURE

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish with parchment paper, allowing overhang for easy removal. Lightly oil paper or spray with nonstick spray.

2. Spread coconut in a dry skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until toasted. Cool slightly.

3. Crust: In a medium bowl, mix together toasted coconut flakes, 1 1/3 cups flour, powdered sugar and pinch of salt. Cut in cold butter using two knives or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

4. Press mixture firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until edges begin to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

5. Filling: Whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, sour cream, salt and 1/2 cup flour.

6. Arrange pineapple slices in an even layer over pre-baked crust, cutting them in smaller pieces as necessary. Pour filling over pineapple. Bake for 1 hour or until mixture is set in center, and edges are golden brown. Remove from oven. Let cool at least 15 minutes before glazing.

7. Glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, ginger and heavy cream. Pour evenly over top of cake. Garnish with candied violets. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting.

8. To cut, remove cake from pan with aid of paper, then cut in bars on the paper.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

I make these muffins with fresh and dried blueberries and enrich them with cream cheese, butter, yogurt and pine nuts.

Yield: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated zest of Meyer lemons or other lemons

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, softened

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons Meyer or other lemon juice

3/4 cup whole milk yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2  cup dried blueberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons pine nuts

PROCEDURE

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put liners in 12 muffin cups.

2. In a small bowl rub sugar with lemon zest with your fingertips until sugar is moistened.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. Beat butter and cream cheese with mixer until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and smooth. Beat in eggs one by one, then lemon juice, yogurt and vanilla.

5. Mix in dry ingredients, then dried and fresh blueberries with rubber spatula.

6. Divide among muffin cups and sprinkle with pine nuts.

7. Bake 18 to 23 minutes until tops are golden and a thin knife inserted in a muffin comes out clean.

8. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, and remove from pan.

Easy Ricotta Fruit Tart

This healthy treat is quick and simple to make for dessert or breakfast. It’s based on a recipe in “The Everything Easy Pre-Diabetes Cookbook” by Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN.

Yield: 2 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons tangerine juice

2 teaspoon grated tangerine zest, divided

2 eight-inch low-carb or regular flour tortillas

Grapeseed or vegetable oil (for brushing)

2 seedless tangerines, divided in segments

6 to 8 medium strawberries, stemmed and thinly sliced

16 to 20 blueberries

PROCEDURE

1. In a small bowl, combine ricotta, tangerine juice and 1 teaspoon tangerine zest. Refrigerate.

2. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place tortillas on baking sheet and brush very lightly with oil. Bake 10 minutes or until crisp but not burned.

3. Spread ricotta mixture on baked tortillas.

4. Top with tangerine segments on outer edge and a ring of strawberry slices and blueberries.

5. Garnish with remaining 1 teaspoon tangerine zest. If you like, cut with a pizza cutter.

Mediterranean Vegetable Galette

For this pastry of roasted eggplant and peppers with feta cheese, I use cream cheese pie dough from “Pie Camp” by Kate McDermott.

Yield: 4 servings

Cream Cheese Pie Dough:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese, chilled and cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar

3 tablespoons water

Filling:

2 Chinese eggplants, sliced about 1/3 inch thick

2 red bell peppers, cut in strips

1/2 red onion, cut in quarter slices

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Fresh oregano leaves or dried oregano, for sprinkling

Sesame seeds (for sprinkling)

PROCEDURE

1. Pie dough: In a large bowl, place the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and mix with a fork.

2. Add butter and cream cheese and, with clean hands, quickly crumble the mixture until it looks like coarse meal with some small peas in it.

3. Sprinkle vinegar and water over mixture and mix with a fork or your fingers.

4. Lightly squeeze and press dough until it holds together. Form into a ball or rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for about an hour.

5. Filling: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange sliced vegetables in one layer in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle with pepper. Cool to room temperature.

6. Divide dough in four equal pieces. Roll each piece to roughly a 7-inch circle.

7. Place one dough circle on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons feta. Top with a layer of roasted vegetables, leaving a 1- to 2-inch border of dough uncovered. Sprinkle vegetables with 1 to 2 tablespoons feta and a little oregano.

8. Fold in and pleat edges of dough over filling, leaving an opening in center where filling shows. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

9. Lightly brush edges of dough with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

10. Refrigerate galettes for about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

11. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 15 minutes more or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Faye Levy is the author of “Faye Levy’s International Jewish Cookbook.”