Paula Shoyer’s Thanksgivukkah Menu: Plus Plenty of Ideas for a Memorable Dessert

As you’ve probably heard, this holiday season includes the once-in-a-lifetime convergence of Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah, an occasion more popularly known as Thanksgivukkah. Cooks all over the country are embracing the opportunity to mix the traditional foods of two holidays on one table, and this week we are sharing Thanksgivukkah recipes and ideas from our favorite chefs and cookbook authors.

Today pastry chef Paula Shoyer, author of The Kosher Baker and The Holiday Kosher Baker, shares her advice for combining the flavors and recipes of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah into memorable desserts worthy of this special holiday.

What will you be serving at your Thanksgivukkah meal?

I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving so I will be making the same recipes I have made for years. I will definitely make potato latkes and serve with homemade apple sauce to which I will add a few tablespoons of the cranberry sauce.

Here’s what’s on my menu:

• Caramelized Onion and Sweet Potato Soup
• Roast Turkey with Shallot, Fresh Thyme and Sage Rub & Stuffing
• Triple-Cranberry Sauce
• Potato Latkes
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• String Beans with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

For those who like to bake, what are your suggestions for a special Thanksgivukkah dessert?

Pumpkin Doughnuts from The Holiday Kosher Baker. They are the perfect mashup recipe with Thanksgiving flavors made into a doughnut, the traditional Chanukah dessert made to recall the miracle of the small pot of all that made the menorah in the destroyed temple burn for eight nights. Another recipe to try is my Thanksgiving Babka.

I will also be serving my best Thanksgiving dessert recipes: Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie, Mocha Pecan Pie, and Pear and Almond Tart from The Kosher Baker. My family would rebel if they missed out on their favorite Thanksgiving pies.

Do you have any advice for planning a memorable Thanksgivukkah meal?

Serve your favorite Thanksgiving recipes, add two favorite Chanukah dishes or desserts and then add two recipes that combine both traditions such as the doughnuts, a challah bread turkey stuffing, sweet potato latkes, something that your family will remember from that crazy year when the two holidays happened on one day.

To create your own Thanksgivukkah desserts, think about using traditional Jewish dessert doughs and filling them with Thanksgiving ingredients. Take a great rugelach dough such as this one and add cranberry preserves, dried cranberries and pecans.

→ Read her cookbooks: The Holiday Kosher Baker and The Kosher Baker
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