I don’t think my mother ever made a noodle kugel for the Jewish holidays, but that didn’t stop her from clipping recipes from a variety of sources and stuffing them into a Jewish cookbook that she kept on her shelf. This gave me a wide selection for the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which we celebrated earlier this month.

Most of the dairy versions of this dish call for noodles, sour cream, cottage cheese, eggs, sugar, and raisins. To do something a little different this year, I went for a recipe that calls for applesauce and apricot preserves. It appears to be from a synagogue newsletter published in the 1980s. My mother belonged to two synagogues in Richmond: the traditional one that her grandparents had attended, and a progressive one that she helped to start in the 1970s and is still going strong. She always liked to be part of more than one community. I remembered her fondly as I made this recipe with layers of sweet ingredients for a sweet new year.

Baked Noodle Pudding (1980s)

Serves 6-8

• 6 ounces medium egg noodles
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 3/4 cup applesauce [I used unsweetened]
• 1/2 cup golden raisins [I used dark raisins]
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts [I used pecans]
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar [1 just used 1 tablespoon – everything seemed sweet enough by this point]
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Dash of nutmeg

1. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Do not overcook. Drain well and place in a mixing bowl.
3. Add the melted butter, applesauce, raisins, walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon and mix well.
4. Spoon the noodle mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread the preserves over the top [the preserves will not fully cover the noodles – just try to evenly distribute].
5. In the mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and nutmeg. Pour over the noodle mixture.
6. Bake, uncovered, until the custard has puffed and the pudding is firm, about 40 minutes. Serve hot.