Honey-Based Sweets for the Jewish New Year : Rosh Hashanah: Hallah bread and sliced apples highlight the natural sweetner for festive times.

The Jewish New Year begins at sundown Wednesday. The traditional round hallah bread is served on Rosh Hashanah, and you will always find a plate of sliced apples to be dipped in honey, symbolizing a sweet year ahead. I like to serve the honey in a large, hollowed-out red apple, surrounded by apple slices.

The use of honey for this holiday dates back to Biblical times when refined sugar was unknown. Its sweetness adds a distinctive flavor to ice cream, cakes, cookies and pastries, and it can be used as a glaze for everything from carrots to broiled chicken. Honey is an important ingredient in many favorite Rosh Hashanah dessert recipes such as lekach (honey cake), taiglach (honeyed nuts), and baklava. Honey is also used in some fish recipes; it’s fermented to produce a wine called mead; and it adds a distinctive flavor to salad dressing.

Since you don’t want to overdo the sweetness of honey, use only one or two of these recipes in your New-Year menu. Save the rest for other festive occasions. Many types of honey are now available--produced from lavender, clover, orange, pine and wild flowers, to name a few.

The suggested dessert recipes for Rosh Hashanah have an international flavor. They include Joan Bram’s Honey Cake, of German origin, enhanced with coffee, brandy and spices; Honey Ice Cream, a specialty of Provence, famous for its lavender honey; and Swedish Apple Squares, a blend of buttermilk, honey and whole-wheat flour. My favorite recipe, Honey Baked Apples, goes well with meat or dairy meals.

COOKING AND BAKING WITH HONEY

--Honey is twice as sweet as sugar and is semi-liquid. Do not substitute honey in a recipe without exact measurements.

--Dark honeys are usually the sweetest.

--To measure honey easily, place a jar of honey in a pan of hot water.

--If honey granulates, warm it to liquefy.

--Heating honey also makes it easier to blend with other ingredients.

--Store honey in a dark place.

--Cakes and cookies made with honey rather than sugar are moister and stay fresh longer.

JOAN BRAM’S HONEY CAKE

1/2 cup currants or raisins

3 tablespoons brandy

1 3/4 cups honey

1 cup strong coffee beverage

1/4 cup oil

1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

Soak currants in brandy. Combine honey and coffee in saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat. Cool.

Combine oil, brown sugar and eggs in electric mixer bowl. Blend well at medium speed. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients alternately with coffee mixture into egg mixture. Fold in almonds, currants and orange zest.

Pour batter into 2 oiled 9x5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 300 degrees 1 hour or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean (top will be sticky). Makes 2 loaves.

HONEY ICE CREAM

2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup honey

2 cups whipping cream

Combine milk and 1/2 cup sugar in heavy saucepan. Heat to just boiling. Add vanilla bean, cover and remove from heat.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat egg yolks with remaining 1/4 cup sugar and honey until thick and pale in color, about 3 minutes. Slowly add 1/2 cup warm milk mixture, blending thoroughly. Return egg yolk mixture to saucepan. Simmer and cook until thick (about 180 degrees on candy thermometer). Pour into heat-proof bowl.

Place custard bowl in larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water. Add whipping cream and stir until mixture is cool. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Remove vanilla bean and turn mixture into canister of ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Makes about 1 quart.

HONEY-BAKED APPLES

1 cup raisins

3 tablespoons Concord grape wine or juice

3/4 cup honey

Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon

6 large Rome Beauty apples

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 cups apple juice

1/2 cup apricot preserves

Plump raisins in wine 1 hour. Add honey, lemon juice and zest.

Wash and core apples. Cut off thin strip at base so apples stand upright. Place apples in baking dish. Fill centers with raisin mixture. Sprinkle with almonds. Pour apple juice around apples. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees 40 minutes.

Pierce skin of apples 2 to 3 times with sharp knife. Add preserves to juices in pan and mix well. Baste apples. Continue baking 20 minutes longer. Serve warm or cold. Makes 6 servings.

SWEDISH APPLE SQUARES

1/2 cup unsalted margarine or oil

2/3 cup honey, warmed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups diced apples

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Cream margarine and honey together in bowl. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Combine buttermilk, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add flour and mix well. Add apples and nuts.

Pour into greased 12x8-inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees 35 minutes. Cool slightly and cut into 2-inch squares. Makes 24 squares.

TAIGLACH

(Honeyed Nuts)

3 eggs

2 tablespoons oil

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup honey

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

Blend eggs and oil in large bowl of electric mixer. Add 2 cups flour and salt, beating into soft dough. Knead in additional flour if dough is sticky. Divide dough into several parts. Roll each part into long rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Combine honey, sugar and ginger in heavy saucepan. Bring to rolling boil over high heat. Drop in dough pieces, few at time. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, shaking pan occasionally to prevent sticking.

When top layer has browned, turn gently with wooden spoon to bring bottom pieces to top. Cook until golden brown. (To test, break 1 open and if inside is crisp and dry, remove from heat.) Using perforated spoon, remove Taiglach from honey mixture into cooling rack placed on tray to catch drippings. Repeat with remaining dough, adding 2 tablespoons boiling water to honey mixture if too thick. Cool. Makes 8 servings.