8 Apple Desserts for Rosh Hashanah (That Aren't Cake)
End the meal and start your New Year on a deliciously sweet note with one of these easy recipes.
Apples and honey are a symbolic pairing for Rosh Hashanah, which is why many holiday dinners end with apple cake, sometimes sweetened with honey or with a combination of honey and sugar. Simply put, apple cake is the dessert of Rosh Hashanah, but for every cook who makes an apple cake from a cherished family recipe each year, there's another looking to try something new.
If you have a much-loved, slightly worn recipe card with the recipe for that apple cake you could probably make without even glancing at the recipe (you know it by heart by now!), this might not be the roundup for you. But if you're considering baking something a little different that still has the homey apple dessert flavors your Rosh Hashanah crowd adores, consider making one of these non pareve apple desserts for a sweet start to the New Year.
Related: 11 Apple Cake Recipes for Rosh Hashanah and Beyond
Apple Sundaes With Cider Caramel Sauce
The oven does the work for this easy apple dessert. The sauce cooks alongside the apple slices in a baking dish. There's no need to stand and stir at the stove—and the sundaes are irresistible.
Raisin-Challah Apple Betty
Justin Walker
It's easier than baking a cake, and we'd argue just as delicious. What's more, our recipe for Raisin-Challah Apple Betty stars apples and honey as well as challah, so it's doubly lucky for Rosh Hashanah.
Apple Pandowdy
A pandowdy is a cozy, nostalgic dessert with an apple filling and a cut-up pastry topping. (Cutting up the pastry is “dowdying” it.) It has the flavors of apple pie but is much easier to make as there's no fitting pastry into a pie plate or crimping the crust.
Apple Pie Bread Pudding
A most delicious hybrid, this Apple Pie Bread Pudding will win over fans of both apple pie and of bread pudding. It's an inspired combination that pairs a creamy custard with apple slices and pieces of toasted brioche—there's no pastry in this "pie."
Apple Crumble
There are 3 pounds of apples in this sweet, easy dessert. The topping for this Apple Crumble is classic: It's simply made with butter, brown sugar, and flour.
Apple Galette
Another apple and pastry dessert that's easier than pie. A galette is free form and forgiving, a rustic take on pie. You don't need a pie plate, it bakes on a baking sheet—and it's so delicious, it goes fast.
Bird's-Nest Pudding Pie
A bird's-nest pudding is whole apples baked in cake batter. This dessert takes it a step further, putting everything into a pie crust. It's a striking dessert that tastes as good as it looks, and the apples are so tender that a knife slides right through them when it's time to serve.
Apple Skillet Cake
Despite it's name, we'd argue this dessert isn't really a cake. It's heavy on apples and light on batter so it's more moist and eggy like a pancake than a tall and fluffy like a cake. Plus, it's baked in a skillet rather than a cake pan.
