I know that this is hard to believe but the Torah doesn’t anything about blintzes or cheesecake, or cheese kreplach or even sour cream for Shavuot.

The only cooked food mentioned is bread, as in the Shnei Lehem, two loaves made from the wheat of the new crop and brought to the Temple along with the bikurim, the first fruits. To recall this we bake special loaves.

Below is a Ladder Challah, a Ukrainian Jewish tradition (source Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Gil Marks). The strips bisecting the challah are rungs—seven of them denoting the seven celestial spheres that opened when the Torah was given. I wonder if the Ba’al Shem Tov ate these.

You don’t need to be a culinary school grad to make this-just fashion a large oval loaf and roll out small strips. I glazed mine with egg yolk so that it would shine. By the way, kids love this kind of stuff . It will impress your guests and it’s really no harder than braiding. Enjoy!