Nondairy Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cake

Rosh Hashanah begins on Friday night this year and marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days.

It's not quite as totally festive a holiday as Hanukah, but food and family gatherings traditionally play a huge part in the observation, as Linda Morel writes in the Jewish Advocate.

In fact:

"This is prime eating season," says Azriela Jaffe, author of After the Diet: Delicious Kosher Recipes With Less Fat, Calories and Carbohydrates (Hakoras Hatov Publishing, 2005). "By the time the holidays are over, you can gain 10 pounds without even thinking."

You can check of many of Jaffe's recipes at her web site, www.azriela.com.

She uses, of course, nondairy items in her meat dishes to stay in keeping with the Kosher laws. Her neo-classic Beef Stroganoff is made with nondairy sour cream. (Tofutti and other firms make this. See my Products section of my web site for brands and contact information.)

And she even has a recipe for the nondairy Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cake of the title. It's pareve, a word that means neutral so that it can be served with either meat or milk dishes. Pareve foods are also good for vegans or those with lactose intolerance or dairy allergies.

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cake
[Pareve]

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup Splenda
1 tsp. instant coffee, microwaved in 3/4 cup water for one minute
1 egg
1/4 cup Egg Beaters
3/4 cup pareve chocolate chips
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup pareve cocoa
1/2 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix until thoroughly blended.

Spray a Bundt pan with oil. Pour batter into pan.

Bake about 40 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 16 servings.