Ashkenazi · dessert

Lokshen Kugel (Sweet Noodle Pudding with Curd and Cinnamon)

Name: Lokshen Kugel (Sweet Noodle Pudding with Curd and Cinnamon)
Prep time: 1 h 14 min
Total time: 1 h 34 min
Cuisine: Ashkenazi
Ingredients: egg noodles — 400 g; eggs — 600 g; full-fat curd cheese — 250 g; sour cream — 250 g; caster sugar — 150 g; unsalted butter — 120 g; raisins — 120 g; ground cinnamon — 5 g; salt — 3 g; vanilla extract — 5 g; lemon zest — 15 g; cornflake crumbs — 60 g; sugar — 25 g

Lokshen Kugel (Sweet Noodle Pudding with Curd and Cinnamon) reads sweetness 6.9, citrus 4.5 and richness 4.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Ashkenazi dessert, about 1 hr 34 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 3.6 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 8.1 / 10
Sour & Bright — 5.4 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 0.7 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.4 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 3.3 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 6.9 · Citrus 4.5 · Richness 4.1 · Fruity 3.8 · Salinity 3.2 · Floral 3.1 · Sourness 3.0 · Funk & Ferment 2.4 · Warm Spice 1.9 · Umami 1.7 · Nutty 0.9 · Herbaceous 0.9 · Earthy 0.6

What's in it (13)

egg noodles — 400 g
eggs — 600 g
full-fat curd cheese — 250 g
sour cream — 250 g
caster sugar — 150 g
unsalted butter — 120 g
raisins — 120 g
ground cinnamon — 5 g
salt — 3 g
vanilla extract — 5 g
lemon zest — 15 g
cornflake crumbs — 60 g
sugar — 25 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 34 min (1 hr 14 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 208.7 kcal, 7.2 g protein, 11.5 g fat, 30.5 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

Boil the noodles for 7 minutes, which is about 2 minutes short of done. They will absorb custard and go on cooking for an hour in the oven, and noodles boiled to tender first turn the whole kugel to paste.
Drain and toss immediately in half the melted butter, 1 minute, so they do not weld together.
Beat the eggs with the curd cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt for 3 minutes until smooth and pourable.
Fold the custard through the noodles with the drained raisins and the cinnamon, 2 minutes.
Tip into a buttered 23 by 33 cm dish, 3 minutes, pressing the noodles down so the custard rises through them.
Scatter the sweetened cornflake crumbs evenly over the top.
Bake at 180 C for 58 minutes, until the centre no longer wobbles, the edges are lacquered dark brown and the crumbs are crisp. The dark chewy edge pieces are the ones people fight over.
Rest 20 minutes before cutting. This is the dairy, milchig, kugel, eaten at Sabbath lunch or at Shavuot; the savoury salt-and-pepper version, made with schmaltz and no cheese, is the one that belongs beside meat.
Substitutions: farmer cheese can stand in for the full-fat curd cheese.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Christmas Stollen — German
Kaiserschmarrn mit Zwetschkenröster (Shredded Emperor's Pancake with Plum Compote) — Austrian
Papanași (Fried Curd Doughnuts with Sour Cream and Bilberry Jam) — Romanian
Babka Wielkanocna (Easter Yeast Babka with Saffron and Raisins) — Polish
Tzimmes (Carrot, Prune and Honey Braise) — Ashkenazi

Keep reading: what sweetness, citrus, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.