Aebleskiver (Danish Doughnuts)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm whole milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons (2 packets/14 g) active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Granny Smith apple
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 whole blanched almond
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
- Berry jam of your choice for serving
Special equipment:
- Aebleskiver pan
Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding)
Ingredients
For the rice pudding:
- 1 cup short-grain rice, such as Arborio
- ½ cup water
- 4 cups whole milk
- Seeds scraped from 1 large vanilla bean or 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For the apples:
- 1 large Granny Smith apple
For the cherry sauce:
- 2 cups pitted sour cherries in syrup
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
For the whipped cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
Biksemad (Danish Beef and Potato Hash)
Ingredients
For the pot roast
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 ¼ pound chuck beef
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¾ cups water
For the hash
- 4 medium red bliss or Yukon gold potatoes
- 1 ¼ pound pot roast
- 1 cup pot roast sauce
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 eggs
Aebleskiver (Danish Doughnuts)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm whole milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons (2 packets/14 g) active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Granny Smith apple
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 whole blanched almond
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
- Berry jam of your choice for serving
Special equipment:
- Aebleskiver pan
Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding)
Ingredients
For the rice pudding:
- 1 cup short-grain rice, such as Arborio
- ½ cup water
- 4 cups whole milk
- Seeds scraped from 1 large vanilla bean or 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For the apples:
- 1 large Granny Smith apple
For the cherry sauce:
- 2 cups pitted sour cherries in syrup
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
For the whipped cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
Biksemad (Danish Beef and Potato Hash)
Ingredients
For the pot roast
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 ¼ pound chuck beef
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¾ cups water
For the hash
- 4 medium red bliss or Yukon gold potatoes
- 1 ¼ pound pot roast
- 1 cup pot roast sauce
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 eggs
Growing up in the small Jewish community of Denmark, Margit Sheftelowitz remembers that Christmas Eve was a special time in the city of Copenhagen. Christian families headed to Church before dinner in homes with Christmas trees. Margit’s family didn’t go to church, or have a Christmas tree, but her parents made the evening a celebration. Margit would drive with her father to pick up her grandparents for dinner. “The whole city of Copenhagen was in a special atmosphere,” she explains.
At home, her mother Hilde would prepare a festive meal of chicken soup with lokshen noodles, and duck with potatoes and red cabbage. For dessert, Hilde borrowed from the Danish Christmas dinner tradition and made risalamande, a rice pudding with apples and one blanched almond tucked into it. The person who found the almond in their portion received a special gift. “In Denmark, in the shops, you have a special table with presents,” just for this tradition, Margit explains. Sometimes, the Christmas Eve family dinner “came together with Hanukkah and sometimes it didn’t,” she adds. Either way, it was celebrated.
When Margit moved to Israel in 1961, Christmas was no longer all around her, but Hanukkah was. She started to host Hanukkah parties for her family, a tradition she’s maintained for nearly 60 years. When her three children were little, she prepared a traditional Shabbat dinner including chicken soup and chopped liver for the Hanukkah party, which she hosts on the Friday that falls during the holiday. Today, everyone, including her son Uri, the owner of Lehamim Bakery in Tel Aviv, contributes to the meal and the menu changes a bit every year.
There are a few constants, though. Margit kept two of the Christmas traditions from Copenhagen, transferring them to Hanukkah in her home in Israel. She makes aebleskiver, small Danish doughnuts that are traditionally served around Christmas time — using a particular skillet she received from her mother. She borrows from the Christmas rice pudding recipe and tucks an almond into one doughnut for someone to discover. Just like when she was little, the person who finds the almond receives a special gift from her.
And she still makes the risalamande. Only a few family members love it, she explains, but “I always make a little because it belongs.”
Find more Hanukkah recipes in our holiday collection.
