Jewish Mandel Bread also known as Mandelbrot literally meaning almond or mandel bread or brot, was a fancied dessert among the Eastern European Jews. Mandelbrot resembles Italian biscotti as both of them are hard breads made by baking twice. It may be assumed that the Jews initially tried the biscotti in Italy and then carried the recipe to Eastern Europe and rechristened it as mandelbrot. It is probable that Eastern European Jews took liking to mandelbrot as it fitted the bill of being the perfect Sabbath dessert. it was easy to store mandelbrot as it is made with oil. The Jewish Mandel Bread can be served post festive meat meals as it is pareve.
Traditional Jewish Mandel BreadRecipe
Jewish Mandel Bread is made from typical kosher ingredients including whole wheat flour, baking powder or a kosher rising agent, salt, almond extract, vanilla extract, eggs, oil, citrus and fruit juices. The dough is mixed, raised and then baked. It is removed, sliced, coated with mixture of cinnamon and sugar and returned to the oven for five more minutes to dry. Potato starch is gluten-free flour made from cooked, dried and ground potatoes. Cake meal is matzoh that has been ground to a fine powder. A little bit of this and that, a few changes here and there, and voila.
Significance of Jewish Mandel Bread
The term Mandelbrot for Jewish Mandel Bread belongs to Germanic heritage and this specific dish is habitually connected to the Eastern European Jews. This implies that (notwithstanding the recipe being ancient) the origin of the dish with this name may be literally positioned in Medieval Eastern Europe.
Modern Jewish Mandel BreadVariations
Of late, gluten-free/casein-free (or GFCF) diets have gained immense popularity. Therefore Jewish Mandel Bread is among the sought after gluten free versatile dishes.
Jewish Mandel Bread Trivia
Jewish Mandel Bread may also be presented in a gift basket garnished with interesting toppings such as the Lime Pie, Peanut Butter and jelly.