Thank you Esther Sasson! Esther lives in Israel and shared pictures of  two beautiful Hanukka parties that she created. Esther plans parties and dessert buffets in Israel. She also creates beautiful flower arrangements such as the menorah centerpiece below. You can contact Esther at asassoon@neto.bezeqint.net.

“Hi Marlene,

These pictures were taken in Israel at a Hanuka party that I made for my husband’s students and their wives.

In the first pictures I made an olive themed party. I set out all different types of marinated olives.  For the centerpiece of the main table I made a menorah out of  glass squares  built on top of a long glass sheet. The cups are filled with olive oil and can actually be lit with floating wicks.  Under the menorah I put a small jug of olive oil pouring into a square of olives.

On the buffet tables I just put pretty, purple, brown, and green artificial flower arrangements, that I made,  with pretty olive trifles.

The blue party pictures were  a party that I made for the Syrian women of Israel. I just took mirrored trays and set them with all different types of desserts. The menorah centerpiece in the middle was built out of long goblets filled with blue marbles. On top of the goblets I put small cups of blue water with tea lights in them. On the table itself I put all kinds of blue Hanuka knick knacks like marbles, candles, coins, and dreidels.

That’s basically what I did in a nut shell. If you have any more questions, I’d be happy to answer.

Good luck, Esther”

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by Joan Nathan

We scoured the ‘net for a lowfat soufganiyot recipe for our calorie conscious Jewish Hostesses and we found Joan Nathan’s great recipe

to share. I wasnt sure if my kids would love the apricot filling so I bought caramel and custard filling from Kitchen Caboodles on Avenue P in Brooklyn.

Enjoy!

Baked Soufganiyot–Low Fat Israeli Hanukkah Jelly Doughnuts

This recipe serves:  24

• 1 package dry yeast (1 scant tablespoon)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (approximately)
• 1 cup lukewarm skim milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• pinch of salt
• grated zest of one lemon
• 3 tablespoons reduced fat butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup apricot jam  or caramel, chocolate, or custard filling.
• confectioner’s or granulated sugar for rolling

1. Dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the water.

2. Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor equipped with a steel blade. Add the dissolved yeast, milk, egg, egg yolk, salt, lemon zest and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Process until blended. Add the butter and process until the dough becomes sticky yet elastic.

3. Remove the dough to a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour. If you want to prepare the dough in advance, place it in the refrigerator overnight, then let it warm to room temperature before rolling and cutting.

4. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Dust a pastry board with flour. Roll the dough out to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using the top of a glass as a cutter, cut into rounds about 2-inches in diameter and roll these into balls. Place the balls about 1 to 1 1/2-inches apart on the greased cookie sheets. Cover and let rise 30 minutes more.

5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the doughnuts for 12 to 15 minutes or until they’re golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.

6. Soften the jam in a food processor. Using an injector, insert a teaspoon of jam into each doughnut. Roll the soufganiyot in confectioner’s or granulated sugar and serve immediately.

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