“You don’t know from kugel,” my Jewish pal Ginger likes to say. And it’s true. The concept of a candy pasta dish by no means appealed. Too many variations had hard-to-chew, incinerated noodles on prime, and the fillings usually clotted and clumped.
Now…give me a savory kugel, and I’ll be knocking over Bubbie to get to the vacation desk. I’d by no means met a pasta casserole I didn’t need to smear throughout my physique.
Nonetheless, “candy kugel” has been one of the searched-for recipes on LC for years, so I’ve been wanting and looking out and looking out.
After consuming my approach via a truckload of kugel wherever I went, I lastly stumbled upon this one from Shannon Sarna. The recipe appeared promising. I used to be curious concerning the cornflake topping. I puzzled if that might defend the noodles from turning into these little brown noodle fingernails.
Not solely did it maintain the noodles tender, however the sugar and butter candied the cornflakes so that they had been crispy and crunchy with a good looking sheen.
Let’s face it, although: The filling makes a kugel, and I’ve to say, this one was tender, creamy, candy, with only a little bit of tang.
☞ SUGGESTIONS FROM JUNIOR JEWS (Ginger’s nickname for us)
- As an alternative of raisins, assume golden raisins, dried cranberries, or currants.
- Go wild on the toppings. Under within the FAQs, I recommend some variations.
- I attempted this kugel heat, room temp, and chilled. I most well-liked it heat. It was most like a bread pudding then. I appreciated it least chilled. I favor my chilly noodles Asian and spicy.
Why Our Testers Beloved This
The testers had been delighted to find this straightforward candy noodle kugel recipe. They praised it for being “custardy, comforting, and completely candy.” They had been additionally happy it didn’t require any fancy elements and got here collectively “shortly and affordably.”
Components at a Look
- Sugar–The recipe requires each brown and granulated sugar. The unique recipe contained considerably extra sugar within the custard, but it surely made your complete dish too candy. When you like your kugel very candy, you possibly can add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup of granulated sugar to the custard.
- Egg noodles–These are the standard base of noodle kugel. We don’t advocate utilizing a distinct sort of pasta.
- Cream cheese–Use full-fat cream cheese right here for the very best outcomes. Diminished-fat cream cheese doesn’t soften in addition to full-fat.
- Cottage cheese–Use full-fat or 4% cottage cheese. The upper fats content material provides you with a wealthy kugel that holds collectively properly when cooled.
- Raisins–These could possibly be changed with dried cranberries, dried cherries, crushed pineapple, or drained fruit cocktail.
- Topping–This candy noodle kugel recipe makes use of cornflakes for the topping, however for a barely sweeter topping, use 3/4 cup crushed graham crackers, Biscoff cookie crumbs, cranberry biscotti, or a mixture rather than the cornflakes. You may also substitute crushed saltine crackers.
The way to Make This Recipe
- Mix the butter and sugar in a stand mixer.
- Beat the sugar and butter till mild and fluffy.
- Add the cream cheese and beat till mixed.
- Gently combine within the remaining custard elements.
- Boil the noodles in salted water till tender.
- Drain the noodles and switch them to the custard.
- Stir the drained noodles into the custard.
- Mix the topping elements in a separate bowl.
- Pour the kugel into the ready baking dish.
- Scatter the topping evenly excessive. Bake at 375°F till puffed and golden. Cool earlier than serving.
Widespread Questions
Kugel is a conventional Jewish baked casserole normally made out of noodles (lokshen) or potatoes baked in custard. It has a texture much like bread pudding or strata, and could be made candy or savory.
Kugel originated in Germany over 800 years in the past and have become a staple of the Jewish food plan in Jap Europe. The unique variations would usually embrace farmer cheese or non-dairy elements.
Jewish immigrants introduced the favored candy noodle model to America, and it has advanced over time, with variations within the fruit and kind of topping, primarily based on what was accessible and common.
This candy kugel is steadily served at Jewish holidays corresponding to Yom Kippur or Shavout, when it’s conventional to eat dairy.
Oy, so many issues! Tester Anna Scott used crushed biscotti. I feel crushed Biscoff cookies, graham crackers, or vanilla wafers would work properly. As would toasted coconut. And assume out of the field–granola or muesli could possibly be a tasty twist. However, as at all times, be conscious of Jewish dietary legal guidelines should you’re observant.
Useful Ideas
- To halve the recipe, scale back all elements by 50% and put together the candy noodle kugel in an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Additionally, in the reduction of the cooking time to about half-hour.
- If the highest of your kugel is browning too shortly, cowl it loosely with aluminum foil.
- Leftover kugel could be saved within the fridge, coated with plastic wrap, or in an hermetic container, for as much as 3 days. Leftovers could be loved chilly or reheated in a 325°F oven or microwave.
- This recipe is appropriate for vegetarian diets.
Extra Excellent Jewish Vacation Recipes
Write a Evaluation
When you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, contemplate leaving a assessment, a star score, and your finest photograph within the feedback beneath. I really like listening to from you.–David
For the noodles and custard
Stop your display screen from going darkish
Make the noodles and custard
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Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Slick a 9-by-11-inch (23-by-28-cm) baking dish with cooking spray.
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Utilizing a handheld mixer and a big bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium velocity for two minutes. Add the cream cheese and proceed to combine till clean, 1 minute extra.
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Add the eggs, vanilla, cottage cheese, and raisins, and blend gently to mix.
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Boil the noodles in a big pot of salted water in accordance with the bundle instructions, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander.
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Use a spoon to stir the drained egg noodles into the custard.
Make the topping
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Mix the melted butter, cornflake crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
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Pour the kugel into the ready baking dish. Sprinkle the cornflake topping evenly excessive of the kugel.
Bake the kugel
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Bake, uncovered, till barely puffed and golden on prime, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool earlier than serving. The kugel could be served heat or at room temperature.
- Halving the recipe–Assemble the kugel in an 8-by-8-inch baking dish and scale back the cooking time to about half-hour.
- Cooking the kugel–If the highest of your kugel is browning too shortly, cowl it loosely with foil.
- Storage and reheating–Leftover kugel could be saved within the fridge, coated with plastic wrap, or in an hermetic container, for as much as 3 days. Leftovers could be loved chilly or reheated in a 325°F oven or microwave.
- Dietary–This recipe is appropriate for vegetarian diets.
Serving: 1 portionEnergy: 489 kcalCarbohydrates: 81 gProtein: 15 gFats: 12 gSaturated Fats: 6 gMonounsaturated Fats: 3 gTrans Fats: 0.04 gLdl cholesterol: 150 mgSodium: 371 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 43 g
Vitamin info is mechanically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
Recipe © 2022 Shannon Sarna. Photograph © 2023 David Leite. All rights reserved.
Recipe Testers’ Evaluations
Custardy, comforting, and completely candy, we adored this candy dairy noodle kugel, each heat from the oven and chilly the next day for a breakfast deal with with espresso. It makes use of primarily pantry and fridge staples, so it comes collectively shortly and affordably.
I used golden raisins as my fruit add-in. I had home made biscotti within the freezer, so I floor them into crumbs in my meals processor for the topping. (I didn’t add further sugar, salt, or butter to my crumb topping, seeing that my biscotti already contained sugar and salt, and the custard was already so wealthy, I didn’t assume it wanted something however the crumbs on prime.
A pal invited me to her home for a potluck Passover dinner. Not being Jewish, I searched the web for what to make, and when this recipe for candy noodle kugel turned up for testing, it match the theme properly.
This was a simple Saturday afternoon exercise with elements which might be straightforward to search out in your typical grocery retailer. It makes your entire home scent like vanilla and sugar whereas it’s baking…very cozy! For extra distinction, I used golden raisins and made a crumble topping with brown sugar, crackers, and butter.
General, this was successful with everybody on the dinner. The noodle kugel was candy, creamy, and decadent and contrasted properly with the crunchy topping. Personally, I don’t have a degree of reference, however my Jewish buddies who had been consuming kugel their entire lives cherished it and had been reaching for seconds, so I’ll take that as the very best signal of approval.
