Tag: family recipe

Matzo Balls (and Andi’s No-Fail Broth)

Matzo Balls (and Andi’s No-Fail Broth)

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Florence Jones’ Recipe Box (????)

About the Recipe

This year, I had the pleasure of hosting a family Passover Seder. And when I say host, I mean the whole darn thing, including the Festive Meal. For those not familiar, there’s some ceremony and storytelling that come before anyone can eat. Sometimes it’s a lot, and sometimes it’s short and sweet. But any way you do it, the highlight is always the Festive Meal. And the Festive Meal must have matzah ball soup.

I had planned on grabbing a matzah ball recipe from my cousin, or perhaps sourcing from the internet. But, by chance, I was going through Grandma’s recipe box and I stumbled on this recipe! It was no doubt cut from the back of the matzah meal box. There are layers of tape on it. Knowing my grandma, she probably taped it to her cabinets each year for easy reference during the holiday season.

A reverse image search on Google says that this is probably Manischewitz, likely from the late 20th century. That sounds about right. Let me tell you – they’re floaters, and they’re delicious.

Some tips on making a great matzah ball:

  • Seltzer instead of water or broth is said to make extra fluffy balls
  • Make the batter and then let it sit in the refrigerator. The recipe says 15 minutes, experience says at least a few hours.
  • Cook the balls in water the day before your Seder. Drop them in your broth and let the broth and balls sit in the refrigerator overnight.
  • A little extra salt never hurts
  • Use one of your balls as a tester for done-ness. Remove it from the pot and cut it in half. If it’s not done, pop the halves back in and cut one of them again to test again. It almost always requires at least 10-20 minutes more than the recipe to get them fully cooked and fluffy.

For more recipes from my family recipe box, check out my Recipes from Grandma page.

A vintage Seder

I love using my family heirlooms and vintage Pyrex to make a celebration dinner beautiful. I used my great-grandfather’s dining table, my great-aunt’s tablecloth, grandma and great-aunt’s china, grandpa Koppelman’s kiddush cup for Elijah… and so much more. Everything was topped off with a Pyrex Seder Plate and Matzah holder.

Andi’s No-Fail Chicken Broth

A great broth is an absolute must when cooking Matzah Ball Soup. Here’s how I do it:

  • I make turkey stock from my Thanksgiving turkey bones. If you can’t make your own stock, don’t stress. Penzeys has some great bases.
  • Line a big stock pot with cheese cloth. Put in the cheese cloth one roaster chicken, some onions, some carrots, some celery, and one big sweet potato (don’t sleep on the sweet potato). Cut your veggies into chunks before putting them into the cheese cloth. You’ll want to save them for when you serve the soup.
  • Gather the corners of the cheese cloth together and bind them at the top with a rubber band or some twine. The goal is to be able to lift the whole bundle out of the soup when it’s done.
  • Add your stock or soup base, a little salt, a little pepper.
  • Cover the bundle with water, just until you hit the twine. Cover and simmer for 4-5 hours.
  • Let it cool enough to handle the bundle. Take the bundle out and put it into a bowl. It’s going to drain some more delicious broth, so don’t put it into a colander or over the drain!
  • Open your bundle, but don’t get rid of the cheese cloth yet. Get rid of the sweet potatoes. Pick the meat off the chicken and put the meat along with your veggies in a container and into the fridge. You’ll want to put that back into your soup before you reheat it.
  • Re-bundle your cheese cloth and squeeze all of the broth out of what’s left. Throw out the bundle and put the additional broth back into the pot.
  • Matzah balls go into the broth and the whole pot goes into the fridge overnight. When you’re about an hour away from the Festive Meal, take the pot out of the fridge and skim the fat. Put the pot back on the stove and add back in the chicken and veggies. Simmer until it’s time to eat.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 T vegetable oil
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup Manischewitz Matzo Meal
1 t salt, if desired (from Andi: yes, you’ll want to add this)
2 T soup stock or water

Directions:

Blend vegetable oil, eggs, matzo meal and salt together.

Add soup stock or water and mix until uniform. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes

Bring 1 1/2 quarts of water to a brisk boil

Reduce flame and drop balls approximately 1-inch in diameter formed from refrigerated mixture

Cover pot and cook for 30-40 minutes

Makes about 8 matzo balls

Spice Cake

Spice Cake

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Florence Jones’ Recipe Box (19??)

About the Recipe

As happens sometimes, I woke up yesterday with a baking itch. I felt like I needed to try something new, but I had no idea what. I went to one of my cookbook shelves and saw my grandma’s recipe boxes. I’ve actually been a little bit wary of sifting through them. They look a mess. But actually, behind the last few shoved in the front, they’re meticulously organized. I found this little gem filed in the “Cakes” section.

When I looked at the method, I thought it couldn’t possibly make a cake. It’s strange to put an unpacked crumb on the bottom of a cake. And then stranger still to mix the crumb with sour cream, an egg, and some baking soda and call it a cake. But maybe worth a shot?

I messaged my dad to see if he remembered it. His response? “Yes, very good.” Okay then!

Reader, this cake is magnificent. It’s almost like an upside down coffee cake. The texture is light and fluffy from the chemical reaction of the sour cream (acid) and baking soda (base). The flavor, light on spices though it be for a spice cake, is divine. Dad suggested some icing on it. A cream cheese frosting would go well if you want to ice it, but it’s fine standing on its own.

No notes. Thanks, Grandma.

For more recipes from my family recipe box, check out my Recipes from Grandma page.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 t salt
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 egg

Directions:

Combine brown sugar, flour, butter, salt, nutmeg in mixing bowl. Blend with pastry blender until mixture is crumbly and completely blended. 

Butter 9-inch square pan, spoon in half of crumb mixture. Stir soda into sour cream. Mix with remaining crumbs along with egg. 

Pour batter over crumbs and bake at 350*F 40-50 min.

German Sweet Chocolate Cake

German Sweet Chocolate Cake

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 2 Comments

A Recipe from Florence Jones’ Recipe Box (19??)

About the Recipe

There are a few core memories that pop up when I think about going to Grandma in Washington’s house growing up. There are the walls covered with family photographs. There are the artifacts from her travels all over the world. But more than almost anything else, there’s German Chocolate Cake.

Every time we had a family celebration or holiday, especially one that had to do with my father, my grandma made a German Chocolate Cake. She made hers with two layers. Take a minute and check out the recipe. 3 layers. There are 3 layers in that recipe. We endlessly gave her a hard time about it. She laughed it off with her usual “oh, shit!” knowing that we were going to love the cake no matter the number of layers.

Indeed, this was the cake that she was best known for. In all the years that she made it, I kept asking for the recipe. Her answer was always no. “It came off the back of the box, Andi! It’s nothing special.”

My grandma passed away on September 14, 2025 at the age of 94. A few years ago, she gifted me her recipe boxes and her cookbooks, as well as most of her pans. When I received the news of her passing, the first thing I wanted to do was bake this cake. I found the recipe card stuffed in one of her recipe boxes. And y’know – it was right off the back of the box!

This cake is a labor of love. It’s a little bit tricky, and the icing takes an awfully long time to get just right, but it’s worth it.

Some tips from my time making it and all the years of Grandma serving it:

  • The layers freeze exceptionally well. She always had a few spare layers and frosting waiting in the freezer. Let everything thaw in the refrigerator overnight, and you’re good to go.
  • The icing takes awhile to get just right. I stirred for about 25 minutes until I got the right color and thickness.
  • For your eggs: Separate them when they’re cold, then let them come to room temperature before baking.
  • I used butter; Grandma used margarine (so that the cake is kosher pareve). Both work.
  • There are enough egg whites leftover from the icing to make a delicious meringue.
  • Always double the icing. A thick layer in the cake serves well, and people always want to nibble the extra.

For more recipes from my family recipe box, check out my Recipes from Grandma page.

About the book

A quick note to say that the recipe on the back of the current Baker’s German Chocolate is slightly different than this one. I didn’t try that one, so I can’t speak to it.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 package (4 ounces) Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 t vanilla
2 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites

COCONUT-PECAN FILLING AND FROSTING:
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) margarine or butter
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 package (7 ounces) Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut (about 2 2/3 cups)
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

Heat oven to 350*F. Line bottoms of 3 9-inch round cake pans with wax or parchment paper.

Heat chocolate and water in heavy 1-quart saucepan on very low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat margarine and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating after each addition until smooth.

Beat egg whites in another large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir into batter. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center. Immediately run spatula between cakes and sides of pans. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pans. Remove wax paper. Cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Coconut-Pecan Frosting between layers and over top of cake. Makes 12 servings.

COCONUT-PECAN FILLING AND FROSTING

Mix milk, sugar, margarine, egg yolks, and vanilla in large saucepan. Cook and stir on medium heat about 12 minutes or until thickened and golden brown (it took me about 25 minutes before the color and texture were right). Remove from heat. 

Stir in coconut and pecans. Beat until cool and of spreading consistency

Makes about 4 1/4 cups.

Mama Koppelman’s Noodle Kugel

Mama Koppelman’s Noodle Kugel

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from the Koppelman Family Recipe Box (????)

About the Recipe

For many of us, there are recipes that live in our hands and brains and hearts. We recognize the ingredients when they’re set out on the counter. We recognize the smell as we come down the stairs. It’s the recipe made by our family over and over again, consistently on every family holiday table. It’s the recipe we share with friends and pass on to our children. This is that recipe in my family.

Just as every Italian family has a family tomato sauce recipe, every Ashkenazi Jewish family has a kugel recipe. This recipe came to me from my grandma on my mother’s side and my mother. That side of the family came to America through Ellis Island in a journey that began in Lithuania. I have no doubt that it’s been iterated on and changed over the years (I’m pretty sure that we didn’t have cans of crushed pineapple in the old country).

Here are a few variations and tips to consider that the family has gathered over the years:

  • Margarine can be substituted for the butter for a kosher parev version
  • My father loves the addition of golden raisins, about 3/4 to 1 cup
  • I always have measured the cinnamon sugar with my heart
  • Substitute a good pie spice for the cinnamon for a bit more depth of flavor
  • I use crushed pineapple in juice, my mother prefers the heavy syrup version, any variation is fine as long as it’s about a 15 oz. can
  • Great to make ahead and either refrigerate or freeze until your meal. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator and then reheat in the oven. If just refrigerated, reheat in the oven.
  • My mother often divided this recipe into 2-8″x8″ smaller kugels and then froze them. She would freeze them and thaw them to give to friends or as a last minute bring-along to a potluck.

For more recipes from my family recipe box, check out my Recipes from Grandma page.

About the book

At this point, this recipe lives rent-free in my brain. I know I have a written down version somewhere, but I honestly don’t even know where at this point. Trust me when I say – this is the right one for today, and this is how it goes:

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. wide or extra wide egg noodles
1/2 lb. unsalted butter or margarine, divided
large can (~15 oz.) crushed pineapple
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar, divided
pinch of salt

Directions:

Cook and drain egg noodles. Melt 1/4 lb. of the butter. Add the melted butter, pineapple, eggs, about half of the cinnamon sugar, and the salt to the noodles. Mix well and pour whole mixture into a 9″ x 13″ x 2″ baking dish.

Melt the remaining butter and sprinkle it over the whole top of the noodle mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the butter. Bake at 350*F for 55-60 minutes, until the top is browned and the mixture is bubbly. 

Serve hot and enjoy leftovers hot or cold.Â