Yom huledet sameach

November 2, 2010 - 9:25 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Food, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Just experienced another first as a mother of toddlers, as we ‘hosted’ our first gan birthday party this morning. As is de riguer, at least in many ganim, or Israeli daycare centers, we had to bring a) a cake b) small gifts for each of the kids in the gan and c) a gift for the gan.

After consulting with many fellow mother friends, I learned that not all of these are always required at a gan fete, but that’s what you do at the one that our boys attend. And, I have to say, I was slightly more stressed about this than I thought I would be. First of all, the boys’ second birthday was weeks ago, but due to several circumstances, including an intestinal flu, a major deadline, a husband traveling for work and the fact that the gan party can only be held on Tuesdays, we waited until today.

And so, following the advice of friends/mothers who have done this before, I bought Mickey Mouse stickers for each child, a plastic front-end loader vehicle and finger crayons for the gan, and made banana cupcakes with banana frosting for the party. We loaded up the car with said accoutrements, including candles and the camera, and made our way over to Gabi’s.

In the space of the hour-long party, the boys wore their artificial flower wreaths, mostly, and we were all entertained for 20 minutes by Rena the music teacher, who put us through the paces, including dancing, singing, clapping, banging wooden sticks, shaking scarves and playing with balloons. Michal, one of the kids, cried because there were parents there (us); Lev, one of my twins, was clearly wierded out by our presence or is getting sick (very possible); Ziv (the other twin), participated nicely and the younger kids seemed nonplussed by it all. And then there was the gift presentation. Gifts from each child to our children (who knew?), gifts from the ganenet (gan teacher) to our kids and the gifts from us to the gan (hopefully we bought the right items).

The finale? The banana cupcakes eaten at the kitchen table, and compliments from Gabi the Ganenet for making cupcakes, and not just a cake. In all her 18 years as a ganenet (wow), she’s never had a parent bring cupcakes. Sigh of relief. The Anglo parent did something right.

And now, home again, celebrations over. Until next year.

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A name for cupcakes

October 4, 2010 - 3:58 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Blogging, Business, Food, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life 

Mint chocolate cupcakes from the ilovecupcakesisrael blog

The cupcake craze has arrived in Israel, at last, although not in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, we can live vicariously through our Tel Aviv compatriots. Given that it was happening already in the U.S. as of 2008, even 2006 according to some reports, we’re only two to four years behind.

But the real sign that cupcakes are a pastry delicacy to be seriously considered is the current Facebook vote to find a suitable Hebrew name for them. Until now, they’ve just been called ‘cupcakes,’ Israeli accent included. But pastry chef Judith Yud Zer-Aviv, creator of the marzipan Fendi hat, decided to do something about it and put together a Facebook vote for best Hebrew term for the muffin-sized cakes.

According to her tally, the most popular offerings were: Inogit (anog means soft, delicate, refined); Maafiyon (maafe is a pastry); Givionit (gaviya is a cone); Mafokit (again, a play on pastry); and Ugit (as in a small cake). Her personal preference is for Ugvis (ugiya is a cookie), but unfortunately I was left feeling that no real decision had been made, (although I did like mafokit).

It’s clear that we need the Academy of Hebrew Language to step in, as they did recently with the addition of kruchit, the new official word for the @ sign in the global email language.

Until then, however, looks like we’ll be making do with the standard term, cupcake. And eating them.

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Sceptical about the Israeli cupcake trend

July 10, 2009 - 1:41 PM by · 7 Comments
Filed under: Business, Food, General, Israeliness 

cupcakesThere’s plenty of sweet treats to eat in Israel – and I still haven’t tasted anything better than a chocolate rogalach from Marzipan. But over the years, I have missed some of the American baked delicacies I grew up with – like donughts, muffins and cupcakes.

Dunkin’ Donuts failed miserably here (small donughts – large prices), and the Israeli versions which are available are just too doughy (and never mind comparing the Hanukkah sufganiyot – a totally different creature).

There are a few places you can get muffins – like Holy Bagel – but they’re took cakey and bland, compared to the blueberry muffins of Maine.

And cupcakes? I don’t think I’ve seen one anywhere. So it was suprising to read yesterday in our parent site ISRAEL21c about a number of cupcake options including the ‘I Love Cupcakes’ bakery and the Tel Aviv Cupcake Co. and Cupcakes, another Tel Aviv bakery.

While the Tel Aviv Cupcake Co. has the traditional flavors, it also boasts uniquely Israeli creations like Crembo, halva, and carrot-flavored cupcakes.

“Most Israelis think that a cupcake is like a muffin,” I Love Cupcakes owner Haylie Rabie told The Jerusalem Post. “The challenge we face is to educate the masses.”

I’m willing to give these cupcake establishments the benefit of the doubt – and hope that they’ll resemble the rich, frosted cupcakes of my youth.. But I’m still waiting to find a good blueberry muffin.

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