Honey cake is a hallmark of Rosh Hashanah and the fall Jewish holidays — Ashkenazi honey cake, that is. But did you know there’s a Sephardi cake traditionally served for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur break fast and during Sukkot? Like its Eastern European counterpart, tishpishti symbolizes wishes for a sweet new year and the fullness of life. The cake is also popular for Purim and adapted for Passover.
Semolina pastries and puddings have been made for centuries throughout the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East. Tishpishti is traditionally made with fine semolina and soaked in a sweet syrup of sugar, honey or a mixture, but beyond these common elements, there are many variations in both the way tishpishti is made — such as nuts or no nuts, eggs or no eggs, flavored with lemon, orange or rose water — and even what it’s called according to different geographic and cultural roots. For example, in Egypt, it’s basboosah or baboussa, namora or namoura in Syria and shamali in Crete.
Tishpishti is perhaps the name most used and, as we know it today, the cake originated in Turkey. In the “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” Gil Marks explains that in Israel and for Jews from once-Ottoman Turkey, Greece and the Balkans, the name is probably a nonsense name from the Turkish “tez” (fast/quick) and “pişti” (plane/slope). Put together, it means “quickly done.” In Ladino it might also be called pispiti, tupishti and revani, which Joyce Goldstein in “Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean” notes is named after a 16th century Turkish poet “who wrote about the delights of food.”
Many tishpishti recipes use eggs, including ones that instruct you to whip the whites separate from the yolks, a Sephardi contribution to tishpishti. This recipe, however, is based on a very old traditional way of making cakes from a thick dough without eggs. My concession to modernity is adding baking powder and soda, both 19th century products, to lessen the density of the cake. Using ground almonds instead of walnuts will result in a lighter colored cake, which is traditional at Rosh Hashanah to symbolize a bright new year. Tishpishti is delicious on its own or served with a spoonful of yogurt, labneh or whipped cream and a cup of mint tea or strong Turkish coffee.
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Notes:
- It is best to make the syrup ahead of time so it has time to cool, although you can choose to make it while the cake bakes, then refrigerate it to cool more quickly.
- Tishpishti is best when left at room temperature for several hours or overnight so the syrup penetrates the cake.
- Store wrapped at room temperature for two days or a week in the refrigerator. The cake can be well-wrapped and frozen for two months. Defrost and then refresh with some drizzles of warm syrup.
B’h i have just enuf semolina. Can i use butter?
What is the difference between semolina and semolina flour?
Pisti (Pishti) means baked/cooked in Turkish .. so TizPishti would be quickly baked. A version of this is prepared for Passover (with proper ingredients)
Rema (Orach Chaim 583:2) writes that some are careful not to eat egozim (walnuts) on Rosh Hashanah. This is because the gematria (numerical value) of the Hebrew word “egoz” is the same as the numerical value for the word chait (sin). Additionally, nuts cause an increase in phlegm, which can disturb one’s prayers.
Hi! Any ideas for substituting the ground walnuts/almonds for a tree nut free version? Unfortunately we have tree nut allergies in our household 🙁
I would suggest making a different dessert if you need to avoid nuts.
can this be made without any type of nuts ? or will it change the cake to much ??
I would suggest making a different dessert if you need to avoid nuts.
The syrup instructions list “1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice or orange blossom water”.
QUESTION – Which is better to use, lemon juice or orange blossom water?
Then, the instructions say to make the syrup, “stir the honey, water, and lemon or orange juice”. Then says “if using orange blossom water, stir it in now”.
QUESTIONS: Is the orange blossom water IN ADDITION TO the lemon juice? Is OJ used instead of lemon juice? How much of each?
I can’t find semolina. What should I substitute??
Hi Rhona, I recommend looking for semolina on Amazon or at Middle Eastern stores.
Looks great 👍 and thanks 😊 for sharing 😀 👍 😊 THANKS AGAIN
It has no eggs?
No! And happily eaten by my egg allergic grandson. Enjoy!
I made the cake and froze it. After it was defrosted and room temperature I put another batch of syrup on but it only partly absorbed. I think it would have been better to warm it a bit in the oven before putting the syrup so it wouldn’t be so wet. But my husband says it tastes fine.
I can’t wait to make this!
Is Cream of Wheat a good substitute for the semolina?
They tend not to be interchangeable in recipes, sorry about that.