Like many foodies, I imagine, I’m always experimenting in the kitchen. Chocolate and tea are favorite exploratory ingredients, but with Rosh Hashanah just around the corner lately I’ve had apples and honey on the brain. So yesterday afternoon I decided to take a break from schoolwork by playing around with my recipe for Honey-Vanilla Challah. A few hours later I had a woven round loaf of Apple-Honey Challah sitting on the kitchen counter. This was the ‘test loaf’ that, if delectable, would make a return appearance at Rosh Hashanah dinner. Shown above sliced and covered in blueberry-peach butter, I’m happy to report that this challah was a scrumptious combination of three Rosh Hashanah symbols: apples, honey and round challah goodness. An encore is definitely in order.

Shabbat challot are usually baked into braids made with three, four or six strands of dough, and according to Gil Marks the resulting spiral symbolizes the ascent to heaven. But on Rosh Hashanah challah is shaped into round loaves of bread whose circular form represents the continuity of life. Other festival shapes include crowns (symbolizing God’s place as ruler of the universe), ladders (recalling Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28:10), keys (symbolizing the gates of heaven) and on Yom Kippur, a bird shape (symbolizing the forgiveness of sins and that one’s prayers soar to heaven.) I’ve included instructions for making round loaves of challah, woven loaves and the traditional braid here. If the kitchen spirit moves you, I say go with it!