Sweet Noodle Kugel

Today is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year (Shana Tova!) Since I have the tendency to be bad at holidays (across all of our religions), this year, I decided I want to be more festive, and threw together a last minute holiday dinner with friends (4 Jewish-Catholic/Christian families… go figure!). One of the main traditional Jewish dishes is Noodle Kugel, something that is very Jewish but not something I ever grew up eating. I was looking for recipes on the internet when I decided to contact one of my old-time friends who I met when we were on a Teen Tour of Israel together. And sure enough, Heidi-ho got in contact with her mother (who just happens to be a chef!) and immediately sent over her go-to Sweet Noodle Kugel. Although it has been decades since I last saw Patty Padawer (can we talk about the awesomeness of her name), I remember her delicious food fondly. Talk about helpful — she saved the day — thank you SO much, Patty!

Not just any kugel, special and easy sweet kugel.

Ingredients:

The Noodle part

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 package (12 ounce) egg noodles, cooked according to package directions
* 1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 4 eggs, beaten
* 12 ounces apricot nectar .
* 1 can (16 ounce) crushed pineapple and juice

Topping

* 2 cups crushed cornflakes
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup milk, if reheating after frozen
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Noodles: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss cooked noodles with the butter. In a mixing bowl mix cream cheese, sugar. Beat eggs and add to cheese mixture. Add nectar and pineapple with juice. Blend with noodles and pour into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Noodles and topping.

Topping: Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup butter, sugar, cinnamon and add cornflakes. Sprinkle over noodles and bake 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool before cutting. To reheat, pour 1/4 cup milk over top.

Topping — crunchy and sweet and buttery.

Kugel is custard noodles and just tastes delicious.

Thank you, Patty! It is beyond delicious and I love having a new Jewish to cook yearly! And for those of you scared to make a kugel — try this. It is easy and will make all your guests super happy.