The only kosher bakery on Vancouver Island is making its mark this Purim—with a challah-doughnut

But they're still selling hamentaschen for Purim, of course.
Leah and Moshe Appel
Leah and Moshe Appel stand in front of their My Way Bikery bakery at the Victoria Public Market: it is the only kosher bakery on Vancouver Island. (Moshe Appel photo)

My Way Bikery, the only kosher bakery in Victoria, B.C., will of course be selling traditional Purim hamantashen cookies for the rest of March. But Moshe and Leah Appel, the bakery’s new owners, are becoming known for one of Leah’s creative inventions: the “challnut”. It’s a doughnut made from challah dough, filled with jelly and topped with sugar.

They are so in-demand that, last week, someone actually stole a whole tray right out of the bakery’s storefront location inside Victoria’s Public Market.

The story of how the Appels opened their new bakery just two months ago is not just a kosher food journey: it’s also a love story that reunited these two ex-Montrealers, who had known each other since elementary school. The Appels join The CJN Daily from their noisy bakery in Victoria to explain why going kosher was more than just a business decision.

What we talked about:

  • Learn more about My Way Bikery in Victoria
  • Moshe Appel on The CJN Daily from July 2021 about why gay men should be allowed to donate blood in Canada

 Credits:

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.

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