Skip links

Main navigation

Taking on tradition: Giving Shavuot cheesecake a run for its money

Tradition has it that we eat dairy on the holiday that celebrates when we received the Torah at Mount Sinai. There are many reasons given for this, but none definitive. Whatever the impetus, we really like a meal dedicated to all things creamy and cheesy.

We asked some of our favorite food bloggers who keep us informed of all things fresh, local and Jewish, what they’d serve for Shavuot. Here are some of the answers, recipes included.

Liz Reuven hosts Kosher Like Me. She’s a Connecticut-based blogger, who features kosher and vegetarian options for dining and cooking. She suggests making this creamy kugel with a nod towards Italy for the holiday, contributed by Melissa Roberts. We say, buon appetito!

Sandy Lebowitz bills herself as “your typical Hispanic Jew,” and dips into all sorts of traditions on her blog, The Kosher Tomato. She’s offered us both sweet and savory for Shavuot. The sweet, arequipe, or the indulgent milk caramel we’ve all come to know as dulce de leche, comes from her Argentine childhood, and the savory is vodka sauce, the most popular recipe on her blog.

Cheese in the form of cake is as traditional as it comes for Shavuot. Blogger and cookbook author Ronnie Fein offers cheesecake cookies for a different spin. If you want something to serve for dinner, check out her mashed potato, feta and kale pancakes (works for Hanukkah, too!), from her cookbook, Modern Kosher Kitchen.

Jewhungry: recipes and stories from my shvitzin’ kitchen is Whitney Fisch’s self-described “all-the-time food blog and a some-of-the-time parenting/school counseling/Jewish life blog.” She provides some dairy-does-it heat relief with key lime cheesecake popsicles. She’s also got a savory, challah-based bread pudding that’s both filling and fun.

Got a favorite recipe and a story to tell that makes it Jewish? Send it to [email protected].

Subscribe to JCC Circle
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Reader Interactions