Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa, Chickpeas & Raisins

I'd been dreading this night since the start of the holiday - the final night of Sukkot, also known as Shemini Atzeret.  Why the sorrow?  Sukkot is such a great holiday, and while I had moments of fatigue from all the standing, cooking, cleaning, I was sad to see it go.

Now, Shemini Atzeret is a point of confusion for most Jewish people.  Many haven't even heard of it.  Others can state with ease that Shemini Atzeret is the end of Sukkot/lead in to Simchat Torah ... but can't explain its meaning or origins.  Well, a literal translation indicates it is a "stop" (atzar) on the "eighth" (shemini) day.  Figuratively speaking, most rabbis explain that it is the winding down of the joyous harvest festival, and that on this occasion we stop our routine work and focus on the transition from Sukkot to Simchat Torah ... and into the rest of the Jewish year.

CULINARY CRESCENDO!  This is what Shemini Atzeret means to me, and so I invited a cohort of good friends for a vegetarian feast (vegan in fact, since one of my friends follows this extreme version of the vegetarian diet).

The featured item on the menu was an original invention - Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa, Chickpeas & Raisins.  Since this was the main course in a vegetarian meal, I figured quinoa and chickpeas would provide a sufficient amount of protein.  Borrowing from the flavor profile of a Moroccan-esque butternut squash stew recipe I love, I constructed a sauce with a rich tomato base.  I then built it up with the pungent Eastern spices of coriander, cardamom and cinnamon, and added some lemon juice, lemon rind and golden raisins for an acidic, tangy twist.  I didn't use vinegar when I made it, but have included it in the recipe below.  To add some green color I threw in some sauteed spinach.  The result was excellent,  BUT it must be seasoned adequately with salt and pepper to make the flavors pop in an otherwise bland quinoa.  It was delicious, and very well received!


The full menu included:

• Homemade Grape Foccacia with Rosemary
• Hummus w/Vegetable Crudite
• Roasted Eggplant Soup
• Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash, Figs & Pomegranate Seeds
• Stuffed Peppers with Qunioa, Chickpeas & Raisins
• Zatar Cauliflower
• Acorn Squash with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette
• Nectarine Galette
• Fresh Fruit

Now - that's what I call a harvest feast!

STUFFED PEPPERS with QUINOA, CHICKPEAS & RAISINS

Serves: 8

Ingredients 
1 cup quinoa

2 cups vegetable stock or water

1 Tbsp. olive oil

½ cup onion, chopped

8 oz. fresh spinach

15 oz. can diced tomato or tomato sauce

1 cup chickpeas (either canned or dried peas that have been soaked overnight)

2 tsp. ground cardamom

2 tsp. ground coriander
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1-inch piece lemon rind

1 cinnamon stick

½ cup golden raisins

Freshly ground salt and pepper

8 peppers, tops cuts out and seeded

Olive oil spray

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. 
2. Prepare the quinoa:  Wash the dried quinoa two or three times with water.  Put quinoa in a pot with the water or vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer 15-20 minutes until the liquid dissolves.  
3. Saute onions in olive oil for 10 minutes over medium-low heat until translucent.  Add spinach and sauté until wilted.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add tomato, chickpeas, cardamom, coriander, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon rind, cinnamon stick and raisins.  Bring mixture to a slow boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for one hour.  Remove lemon rind and cinnamon stick.
4. Meanwhile, place the hollowed peppers in a baking pan propped up right.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and spray with olive oil.  Place pan in pre-heated oven and roast for 40 minutes   
5. Pour sauce onto quinoa and salt and pepper to taste!   
6. Divide quinoa mixture amongst the peppers, and return peppers to oven for another 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy. 

SHE'ELAH: One of the customs of Shemini Atzeret relates to a change in liturgy in the Jewish tradition. At this point in the calendar we start praying for "geshem" or "rain."  Sometimes we cannot count on a sufficient amount of rain to last us a year.  What is something you can do to preserve water?

Sukkot Salad: Roasted Butternut Squash & Fig w/Pomegranate Seeds

Last year during Sukkot I discovered the fig!  I grew up a very picky eater (understatement).  Green vegetables were not to be touched, condiments and sauces were abhorred (except for teriyakki sauce), fish was dreaded ... and the list went on and on.  I had an unfortunate habit of sizing up a food based simply on look and name - regardless of scent and taste.  To date, a variety of items remain on my "I Don't Eat That" list for no good reason.  Such was the case with figs.  I'd always declared, "I don't eat figs!" without having tried one.  ...but last year in the spirit of Sukkot that all changed when a culinary brainstorm led to a delicious Roasted Butternut Squash & Fig Salad with Pomegranate Seeds.

During Sukkot Jews celebrate the harvest, while also remembering their pilgrimage from slavery in Egypt to freedom in Israel.  In the book of D'varim Israel is described as ""A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey." (8:8).  These foods were particularly common during biblical times, and have been elevated to the status of the official Seven Species.  According to Kabbalistic tradition, each specie is linked to a spiritual quality.  One fun challenge during Sukkot is to incorporate these species into your menu.  They include:

1. Wheat (kindness)
2. Barley (restraint)
3. Grapes (beauty)
4. Figs (endurance)
5. Pomegranate (majesty/glory)
6. Olives (foundation)
7. Dates/honey (Kingdom/Humility)

This salad covers figs, pomegranates, olive oil and honey!  Kabbalistically (yes, a new word!) speaking it is a salad of endurance, majesty, foundation and kingdom/humility.  Culinarily (yes, a second new word) speaking it is just a darn tasty salad.

Tips:

• Purchase fresh pre-cubed butternut squash (Trader Joe's, etc.)
• Purchase a package of fresh pomegranate seeds
• Think of ways to incorporate the other species - serve with wine (grapes), bread (wheat) and add some cooked barley. 

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH & FIG SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE SEEDS
 

Serves: 8

Ingredients

2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces

15 figs, halved

1/3 cup pomegranate seeds (or 1/3 c. dried berries)

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cardamom

Freshly ground salt and pepper

1 Tbsp. olive oil 

1 Tbsp. honey

8 - 10 oz. mixed greens (Spring mix, spinach, etc.)

Optional: Crumbled goat cheese, nuts

Instructions

1. Peel and cube some butternut squash into bite sized pieces (you can also buy it pre-cut I believe) and sprinkle with coriander, cardamom, salt and pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 45 minutes at 425° F. 
2. Cut figs in half, sprinkle with a bit of sea salt, drizzle with honey.  Add to squash for last 12 minutes. 
3. Seed a pomegranate (or buy seeds). 
4. Add squash, figs and pomegranate seeds to mixed greens of your choice and serve with a balsamic dressing (or other of your choice).  If serving with nuts and cheese add these too.

SHE'ELAH: What Sukkot-themed recipe do you like best? Which of the species does it feature?

Leil Lemon - Featuring Lemon Yogurt Blueberry Cake

Let me take this opportunity to disclose my addiction to the Food Network. Don't be fooled into thinking that the channel simply airs cooking shows. Sure, it has a line-up of these offerings (I recommend the pretensious, yet elegant Barefoot Contessa), but it also features other great offerings such as competitions and food- and restaurant-o-graphies. Top picks include Chopped, Diners, Driver Ins & Dives ... and the Iron Chef! Every once and a while I get an itch to host a meal "Iron Chef" style, featuring one particular ingredient that appears in each dish of the meal. Last Sukkot I prepared a meal based on squash, and this year chose lemon (in honor of the fragrant Etrog).

With my mother as co-chef, and additions from a few guests, the menu featured:

• Lemondrop Cocktails
• Artichokes with Lemon Dipping Sauces
• Braided Lemon Bread
• Lemon Salad & Lemon Tabouleh
• Lemon Fennel Tilapia
• Bulgar with Asparagus, Walnuts & Preserved Lemon
• Roasted Lemon Broccoli
• Rhubarb Lemon Mousse Parfaits
• Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake
  

I think the meal was a success - and we certainly featured the lemon in a variety of ways from sweet to tangy, extracting the juice, zest and pulp. The company was also awesome - fun, spirited and hungry. In our attempts to co-exist in the kitchen, we divided the menu. I was responsible for the fillings used in the bread, the broccoli and dessert. Kudos to Rivka Friedman, of Not Derby Pie fame, for her awesome parfait recipe. If you have the patience to hand churn lemon cream it is well worth it and got rave reviews. The Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake was also an A+, adapted from The Barefoot Contessa's Ina Garten. Here's the recipe as I followed:

LEMON-BLUEBERRY YOGURT CAKE

Serves: 8 - 10

1 ½ cups + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
3 extra-large eggs
3 tsp. grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 ½ by 4 ¼ by 2 ½-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
2. Sift together 1 ½ cups flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl. In a larger bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about one hour, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
3. While baking, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
4. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, poke holes in the top using a toothpick. Pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in (you might want to use a pastry brush. Cool and serve. 

SHE'ELAH: The symbolic significance of the Etrog is twofold.  Each of the Four Species (palm, myrtle, willow & etrog) is said to symbolize a part of the body, and the Etrog is reflective of the heart.  Another explanation is that each of the Four Species is analogous to a type of person who reflects some blend of righteous deeds and focused Torah study.  This ranges from one who is like the myrtle, lacking in taste and smell and therefore in good deeds and Torah scholarship, to one who is like the Etrog, bold in aromatic smell and sweet taste and therefore in good deeds and Torah study.  Who is your Etrog role model?  Who do you know who balances their good deeds with continued learning?

Conquering an Apple Honey Challah

Growing up my family always ate Shabbat dinner together. The Friday night meal was central to our celebration and observance of Shabbat, and included candle lighting kiddush, and motzi over challah. My memories of our Shabbat challah during my childhood are quite distinct. While an wonderful cook, my mom is a fearful baker and figured out a clever shortcut to producing home baked challah. Each week she purchased a Kinneret frozen challah dough, braided and packaged in a tiny blue box. All the baker had to do was pop it out onto a baking sheet, let it rise in the windowsill for an hours, cover it with an egg wash, and bake it. Presto - mom's version of homemade challah. Not to complain ... challah is challah, and the Kinneret frozen dough baked fresh was still better than the mass produced loaves we ate during oneg Shabbat at day school.

Years later my father decided to take over the challah preparations. Initially he tackled it by use of a bread maker, but has since abandoned the machine and does it all by his two hands. Typically I find any excuse to poke fun of my dad, and give him a hard time ... but not when it comes to baking challah. The man is a master. He can make just about any challah - varying numbers of braids, shapes, fillings, toppings, doughs. For years I was frozen in his shadow, not even daring to try and bake a challah on my own. About a year ago, however, I decided to conquer my fear and asked him for his recipe and insider tips. While my challot are just not as good as his, I was relieved to learn that I could do it!

With a year of practice under my belt, and a request from friends to bake challah for their sukkah dinner party, I decided to stretch myself and tackle a more complex recipe - a round Apple Honey Challah adapted from SmittenKitchen.com. The dough itself was fairly easy to make, and is hardly sticky (one of the more annoying aspects of many challah dough recipes). The filling is also rather easy to put together. My troubles began when it came time to roll the apple filled dough into ropes - OY! The recipe called for 2 peeled and chopped apples, but I recommend downsizing to 1 1/2 at most. There were just too many chunks for apples. You also have to read through the weaving procedure a couple of times to really take it in. It seemed confusing until I had the ropes in front of me and didn't have to pretend visualize.

That being stated, I was pretty darn impressed with how it came out for my first try, and definitely recommend the recipe!

APPLE HONEY CHALLAH

from www.smittenkitchen.com

Yields: 1 challah

Bread Ingredients:
2 ¼ tsp. (1 standard 1/4-ounce packet) active dry yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp. honey
1/3 cup neutral oil, plus more for the bowl
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
1 ½ tsp. table salt
4 ¼ cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for your work surface

Apple Filling:
1 ½ medium baking apples (ex: MacIntosh), peeled, cored and in ½- to ¾-inch chunks
Squeeze of lemon juice, to keep them from browning

Egg Wash:
1 large egg
Coarse or pearl sugar

Instructions:

1. Whisk yeast and 1 teaspoon honey into 2/3 cup warm water and let stand until foamy, a few minutes.
2. With a stand mixer: In the bowl of a stand mixture, whisk together yeast mixture, oil, remaining honey (1/3 cup), eggs and yolk. Switch to dough hook and add 4 ¼ cups flour and salt. Use dough hook on a moderate speed until it pulls all of the flour and wet ingredients together into a craggy mass. Lower the speed and let the dough hook knead the dough for 5 minutes, until smooth, elastic and a little sticky. OR, By hand: In a large bowl, whisk together yeast mixture, oil, remaining honey (1/3 cup), eggs and yolk. Add flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until you get a craggy mass of uneven dough. Turn dough out onto a floured counter and knead it into a smooth, elastic dough, about 5 to 8 minutes. Try to use as little flour as necessary when kneading the dough; you don’t want to toughen the bread. A bench scraper can make it really easy to remove it from the counter if it gets stuck in a spot.
   
3. Both methods: Transfer dough to large oil-coated bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour, or until almost doubled in size.
4. Add apples to dough: Turn dough out onto a floured counter and gently press it down into a flat, oblong shape. The shape does not matter so however it goes, it goes. Spread 2/3 of apple chunks over 1/2 of the flattened dough. Fold the other half over the apple chunks and press the dough down around them, flattening the now lumpy dough. Spread the remaining 1/3 apple chunks over half the folded dough. Fold the other half over the apples, pressing the dough down again. Your dough packet will likely be square-ish. Fold the corners under with the sides of your hands and form the dough into a round. Upend your empty bowl over and set it aside for another 30 minutes.
5. Weave your bread: Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll and stretch each one as carefully as you can into a rope — don’t worry about getting it too long or thin, just 12 inches or so should do. If any apple chunks fall out as you form the ropes or at any other time in the forming of the loaf or risings, just poke them back in with your finger. Arrange two strands in each direction, perpendicular to each other, like a plus sign. Weave them so that one side is over, and the other is under, where they meet. So, now you’ve got an 8-legged woven-headed octopus. Take the four legs that come from underneath the center and move them over the leg to their right, i.e. jumping it. Take those legs that were on the right and again, jump each over the leg before, this time to the left. If you had extra length to your ropes, you can repeat these left-right jumps until you run out of rope.
6. Just as you had with the folded packet of apple dough above, tuck the corners/odd bumps under the dough with the sides of your hands to form a round.Transfer the dough to a parchment-covered heavy baking sheet. Beat egg and sugar until smooth and brush over challah. Let challah rise for another hour but 45 minutes into this rise, preheat your oven to 375° F.
   
7. Bake your loaf: Before baking, brush loaf one more time with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional). Bake in middle of oven for 40 to 45 minutes. It should be beautifully bronzed; if yours starts getting too dark too quickly, cover it with foil for the remainder of the baking time. The very best way to check for doneness in any bread but especially on ones like this where the wetness of the apples can slow down the baking time a bit, is with an instant read thermometer —center of the loaf should be 195° F.

SHE'ELAH: During the high holiday season it is tradition to eat challot with a round shape.  There are many interpretations for this practice.  One draws the meaning of the Hebrew word "shanah," most often translated as "year."  The root of the word "shanah" has two specific, conflicting meanings: 1) "repeat/cycle" 2) "change".  Each year our cycle repeats, but each year is also filled with great change.  As you look at the round challah give thought to these questions: In what significant way did my life change this past year?  What change do I want to pursue in the upcoming year?

Polenta in a Fruit Crisp? It CAN Be Done!

Each year I spend the first night of Sukkot with the same family friends and it has become a custom for me to bring along a homemade Applesauce Cake with Caramel Sauce. Suffice it to say, I think the cake is good (read the blog entry for the full rundown), but also wanted to shake things up a bit by bringing an apple based alternative dessert. I didn't want to do another cake, and with Thanksgiving approaching, felt I should avoid the pie route too. An apple crisp seemed to be a good idea, as crisps are typically well received and pretty hard to mess up - fruit, sugar, some spices, a sweet topping ... what can go wrong?


I set out to find a new recipe with a unique twist to kick it up a notch. After some intense research (code for - "I spent a few minutes searching my favorite recipe sites...) my eyes narrowed in on an Apple-Cranberry Crisp with a Polenta Streusel Topping. The recipe came from SmittenKitchen, a fantastic blog I discovered through my friend Abby, and is originally from culinary master Michael Chiarello.  I adapted a bit to keep it parve (non-dairy).

The polenta topping is certainly what sold me on the recipe. A traditional topping for fruit crisps seems to be a combination of brown sugar, flour, butter and some assortment of crunchy items - oats, nuts, etc. Polenta comes from cornmeal, and therefore this topping was more like a cornbread than a traditional crisp topping. Since most sukkot include some dangling ears of corn, this topping seemed apropos for the holiday. My topping was pretty thick and covered the full amount of fruit (I typically think of a streusel topping as having peaks of crunch).

I'm sure you can mix and match this recipe, trying out different fillings (peach berry) with the polenta topping or this apple-cranberry filling with a more traditional toppings. Play around - and enjoy!

APPLE-CRANBERRY CRISP with POLENTA STREUSEL TOPPING

Adapted from Michael Chiarello via Bon Appetit, December 2007

Serves: 10 - 12

Topping
1 tsp. aniseed
1 ½ cups pastry flour
3/4 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal)
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter or margarine, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg, beaten to blend

Filling
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
1 ½ tsp. finely grated orange peel
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Vanilla gelato, ice cream or soy-cream

Instructions

1. Toast aniseed in small skillet over medium heat until slightly darker in color,about 3 minutes. Place seeds in processor. Add next 5 ingredients; blend 5 seconds. Add butter; blend, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Drizzle egg over and stir until ingredients are evenly moistened.
2. Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl; stir to blend. Add apples and lemon juice; toss to blend. Transfer filling to 11×7x2- inch glass baking dish (or other shallow 2-quart baking dish).
   
3. Crumble topping finely over filling. Bake dessert until apples are tender, juices bubble thickly, and topping is crisp and golden, about 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes. Serve crisp warm with gelato.

SHE'ELAH: What's your favorite combination of fruit for a crisp?

The Ridiculous Applesauce Cake

Each year my family spends the first night of Sukkot in the the home of my childhood rabbi. They always build a beautiful sukkah, prepare a nice meal and invite fun company - it is a great opportunity to reconnect with family friends. The evening is pretty routine, and I enjoy the traditional progression of the evening from shmoozing in their living room to the chanting of brachot and tasty meal together. More so, it's fun to relive stories from childhood and to dust off (literally) the same photographed song sheets we use each year to sing the two distinctly Sukkot-themed songs in their repertoire. ...but I digress.

A number of years ago I was an eager, emerging baker and offered to bring something for dessert. After pouring through the recipe books I settled on a cake that seemed appropriate for the holiday: Applesauce Cake with Caramel Sauce. The recipe seemed simple enough, and I was attracted to the applesauce twist, some bold spices, and the bonus of a yummy sauce. In my opinion the cake was good enough - the spices give it a distinct flavor, the consistency is moist (in the way you want a cake to be moist), and the sauce certainly adds a sinful touch. Good, but certainly not anything particularly amazing. My own family seemed to concur.

Well, my rabbi and his family went bonkers. The men in the family enjoyed their first slice ... and their second. There was about 1/2 a cake left after everyone had finished eating, and yet, when the cake plate was returned to me from the kitchen at the end of the evening, it was completely cleared and cleansed. Not a single crumb left. "Where did the rest of the cake go?" I wondered. The answer - directly into their refrigerator to be consumed through the rest of the holiday.

When invited back the next year I again offered to bring a dessert. "That would be so nice - we really enjoyed the cake from last year" was the response to my offer. I picked-up on the not too subtle hint. When I arrived at their home, their eldest son answered the door and asked, "Did you bring it?!?" he asked with an intense look in his eye as he stared me down while blocking the doorway. I was thrown into a bit of an inner-panic! What was it that he was expecting me to bring with such great anticipation? I held up the only item I could offer - the cake. "Thank goodness!" he exclaimed and moved aside so that I could enter. The evening proceeded as it always does - shmoozing, eating, singing, benching ... and then a completely cleared and cleansed cake plate returned to my hands.

Thus began the tradition of the Applesauce Cake with Caramel Sauce on the first night of Sukkot. Again, I think the cake is good, but clearly there are others who think it is something really special! Each year I am greeted at the door with the same glaring look from some of the family - seeming more like addicts craving their annual hit than like gracious hosts - followed by a string of anticipatory comments as we lead up to dessert, during which time the harassment ceases only because their mouths are full with this ridiculous Applesauce Cake.

APPLESAUCE CAKE w/CARAMEL SAUCE

Serves: 12

Cake Batter Ingredients
½ cup butter or margarine, softened

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour, sifted
1 ½ tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 Tbsp. baking soda
2 ½ cups applesauce
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 cup raisins or chopped dried apples
1 cup chopped walnuts

Caramel Sauce Ingredients
½ cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tbsp. light cream or soy milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ to ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions

1. Cream together butter, sugar and olive oil. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each egg.
2. Sift together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Combine applesauce and corn syrup in a small bowl. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sifted ingredients. Fold in raisins/apples and nuts.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 ½ to 2 hours until cake tests done when tester is inserted (from multiple angles). Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. Drizzle caramel sauce on top see below).
5. Prepare caramel sauce: In a medium saucepan combine butter, brown sugar and light cream. Heat until melted. Add vanilla and remove from heat. Using a hand mixer, beat in powdered sugar and mix thoroughly. Pour sauce over cooled cake and sprinkle with extra chopped nuts to decorate.

Adapted from California Sizzles

SHE'ELAH: What is the most unique sukkah decoration you have seen?