Happy Sweet New Year Recipes - Rosh Hashanah

This week is full of holidays, including the start of the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah.  Beginning this Wednesday night, Rosh is also one of the major high holidays, during which Jews get together with family to welcome the new year.  Typically, there's a big dinner with lots of sweet things that symbolize the start of a sweet new year.  In honor of that, I'm featuring a mini round-up of desserts fitting for the occasion:

Apple Fig and Almond Crostata - I love that this rustic tart combines seasonal ingredients such as apples and figs.  While it looks impressive, it's wonderfully forgiving, meaning that you can improvise with it and make lots of aesthetic mistakes, because it'll still look and taste really good.

Castagnaccio (aka spicy chestnut cake) - Another rustic dessert, this one uses mostly dried fruit, nuts and savory herbs such as fresh rosemary.  It's a pretty hodgepodge of things that work really well together and remind you of fall.  This is a perfect kind of cake to have with tea or coffee, and a generous helping of honey on top. 

Nectarine Upside Down Cake -Another fruity dessert, this one switches things up, as it uses nectarines instead of apples, which are traditional for Rosh Hashanah.  Fresh or frozen nectarines will do just fine, and make sure you also use the plain Greek yogurt the recipe suggests to keep the cake nice and moist.

Baked Apples with Chocolate Granola - Anyone who's looking to whip up a quick, homemade apple dessert can create this.  Made up of any kind of sliced apples, a few dashes of cinnamon, lemon, maple syrup and sage, it's my own take on the classic apple crisp, except with granola on top. 

A Sweet New Year with Nectarine Upside-Down Cake

The reason for the title of this post is because today is the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah and for this holiday, you typically eat lots of sweet foods to symbolize the start of a sweet new year.  I celebrated with my family of course and went to my aunt Hela and uncle Andy's house for Rosh Hashanah dinner.  I decided to contribute dessert, and tried to bring it to the next level with an earthy nectarine upside-down cake.

The recipe for this cake came from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine.  I liked it because I tend to favor fruit desserts, and thought it would provide a break from the typical honey-based treats that are customary on this holiday.  My family loved it and some people even went back for seconds.  My cousin went as far as to say it was a "grandma" dessert, meaning that it was comforting and nostalgic.  I was happy to hear it!

Here's the recipe.  If you choose to make it, I can guarantee that you won't disappoint your guests.

Nectarine Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients (serves 8)
10 tbs of unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

4 cups of frozen nectarines (or fresh if you have them), cut into bite-sized pieces

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of coarse salt

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.  Place 4 tbsp of butter in a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep) and melt in the oven.  Remove pan from oven and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter.

With 2 double-thick layers of paper towels, press as much liquid as possible out of nectarines.  Skip this step if using fresh nectarines.  Arrange fruit in an even layer in pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 6 tbs of butter on high until light and fluffy.  Add granulated sugar and beat until well combined.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed.  Beat in vanilla.  With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with 2 additions of yogurt, and beat to combine.

With a spatula, spread batter over nectarines.  Bake until cake is dark golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack, 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert cake on to a serving plate.  Serve warm or at room temperature.