How to Make Hanukkah Latkes - Potato Pancakes for the Holidays

The basics of the Hanukkah story are that the Romans destroyed the Great Temple in Jerusalem. When the Jews went into the rubble, they found just enough oil left to light the Eternal Light (a lamp that's never allowed to go out) for one night. Instead, the oil lasted for 8 days and nights, and thus, the miracle of Hanukkah.

So on Hanukkah, you fry foods in oil as a symbol of the miracle of the oil for the Eternal Light.

for a yule log: bake chocolate cake in a large flat pan (I actually use a cookie sheet with a rim).  Spray the pan with oil, then put parchment paper cut to fit in the bottom of the pan, then the cake batter.  bake until done, and cool.  invert the cake onto something (I use my large cutting board, then re-vert onto your prep surface so that the parchment is down.  Thinly spread the cake with your filler (I use raspberry jam and stiff-whipped cream) and use the parchment to help you roll it up evenly (pulling the parchment off as the cake starts to go inside it's self.  For a forked 'branch' look, cut the log on a diagnol about 1/3 of the way down and 't' the two pieces before frosting.  sprinkle with powdered sugar "snow" and add some meraunge mushrooms for quirk.  enjoy!

Well, our Grandpa DID grow up in Poland, so perhaps his recipe is more pronouncedly Polish than others. All I know is, it's delicious. I can see a mushroom sauce working well, but I'm with you - sour cream and sugar is all I want on top!

Wow!, that's amazing! My catholic polish family recipe has exactly the same proportions of potatoes and onions, and the same toppings (sour cream and sugar).
When I cook latkes (for me named "placki kartoflane"), I used to fry a half, and bake in the oven the other half. In addition I use a couple tbs of normal flour instead of matzo.

My parents also grew up in Poland! We also eat a lot of cabbage. My mom makes Golampki (not sure about spelling). Golampki are basically cabbage rolls filled with meat and covered in tomato sauce.

Happy Hannukah!

Hopefully we can have some more Jewish holiday dishes for  everyone down the road!

I didn't even know they had one! I'm not surprised, but still.

You could just as easily use flour in the recipe. Just be careful not to add too much.

Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully we can do some more Jewish foods down the road! There are some really fantastic dishes out there.

Latkes are so good, they transcend cultural borders! I hope you enjoy our recipe as much as we do.

Thank you! Feliz Navidad!

Yo creo que tambien. Thanks for the recipe guys! I guess latkes can be American too (hashbrowns).

Actually potatoes come from the Americas. I guess before Columbus latkes doesn't exist or, perhaps with a different tuberculous...

Thanks, Nancy! Haha, send the academy a letter for us?

Happy Hannukah!

Squeezing does seem to be the secret to success. Give 'em another shot and let us know how it goes!