Passover dessert advice

I know it's a little early, heck I haven't even made hamantaschen yet, but I'm charged with bringing dessert to our Seder this year. Someone else will probably bring a flourless chocolate cake and macaroons which leaves me trying to be different.

So I turn to LTH for suggestions for....something a little different? a little unexpected? Kosher for Passover?

What does your family love? and even more important: Will you share the recipe?

Many thanks.

Cheesecake. Always popular.
Use chopped walnuts or pecans, butter and sugar for the crust

How about a sponge cake with some fresh fruit and whipped cream as a topping. It's always a hit at my Mom's Sedar. Sorry, I haven't been able to pry the recipe away from her yet.

JoelF wrote:Cheesecake. Always popular.

stevez wrote:How about a sponge cake with some fresh fruit and whipped cream as a topping.

That depends on how kosher for Passover you want to be. The rules for Passover don't obviate the general rules of kashruth. If you're just avoiding bread for appearances' sake, then it doesn't matter and you can make any kind of dessert you want. If you're going to be kosher, though, you can't serve cheesecake or whipped cream at the seder because the entree is usually meat. (I'm not sure if there's any religious reason not to serve fish or dairy as the main course, but most people don't. Possibly the presence of the lamb shank on the seder plate is enough to render the meal fleishig.)

When I was growing up, Pesach dessert always meant first, a compote of stewed dried fruit (with lots of prunes, because "matzo is binding") and then my bubbe's special spongecake. Some people don't like spongecake because it's often dry, but hers, flavored with orange and lemon and bits of chocolate, cinnamon and nuts, was delightfully moist and light ... when it didn't fall -- which it sometimes did, even for her, after more than 50 years of making it.

People to whom she gave the recipe sometimes accused her of leaving parts out, because it's really tricky, and ultimately we realized that the only way to pass the recipe on was to demonstrate. I don't think even a video would work because you couldn't effectively show the texture of the eggs at the various stages.

However, there are lots of recipes for Passover spongecake floating around, and you can always counter dryness with a fruit sauce.

Since you're covered for cakes and cookies, how about candy? Nuant is a very traditional candy for Pesach, usually made with walnuts. It's similar to nut brittle, though typically a bit softer. (In a weird Internet moment, I went Googling to see what nuant recipes were online and what came up were a bunch of copies of a version I posted to rec.food.cooking more than a dozen years ago.) Meringues are nice, too.

If you need something more substantial, there's apple cake and brownies. The brownie recipe below comes from Larry and Randee Estes, longtime owners of Max's and Fluky's/U Lucky Dawg on Western.

Other good desserts for Passover include fruit dishes, such as baked apples, poached pears or ambrosia. Sorbets can be terrific, since the meal is usually a heavy one. I made one with sweet kosher wine once, although I served it as an intermezzo, not dessert.

These are all pareve recipes, suitable to be served with meat or dairy.

Nuant
Passover nut candy

1/2 cup honey
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cups walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts or cashews, chopped if large
(Note: Peanuts are not kosher for Passover)

Bring the honey and lemon juice to a boil in a deep, nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Add the nuts and keep stirring until the mixture has thickened and darkened slightly, 15 to 20 minutes -- don't let it burn! (This would probably be about 290 to 300 degrees -- just over the soft-crack stage -- on a candy thermometer, but I never use one for this; nuant is typically a bit softer and stickier than nut brittle.)

Moisten a large nonstick skillet or a nonstick or silicone sheet-lined jellyroll pan with water. Pour the candy into the pan and spread it out with a wet spatula until 1/4-inch deep. Let the mixture cool completely and harden.

Break into pieces. Store airtight. Makes about 3/4 pound.


Cocoa meringue kisses

2 egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or a mix of vanilla and almond)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup chopped semisweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Line baking sheets with baking parchment or aluminum foil.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the vanilla and reduce the speed to low. Beat in the cocoa powder, then fold in the chocolate chips. Drop the batter by spoonfuls or pipe with a large star tip on the lined baking sheets, 1 inch apart.

Bake for one hour, then turn off the oven and let the kisses dry in the oven for two hours only. Remove from the parchment and store airtight. The recipe freezes well. 18 to 20 kisses.


Esther Hirsh's Passover apple nut cake

3 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
2 3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon
6 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons potato starch
2 cups matzo cake meal
1/8 teaspooon salt
Chopped nuts
Cinnamon-sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9 inch pan. Mix the apples, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the cinnamon and lemon juice in a large bowl.

Beat the eggs with the remaining 2 cups sugar and the oil till light. Mix in the dry ingredients. Pour half the batter into the pan, spread the apple mixture over that and pour remaining batter on top. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and cinnamon-sugar.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. 10 servings.


Larry and Randee Estes' Passover brownies

4 ounces good-quality unsweetened chocolate
1 cup shortening
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup matzo cake meal
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan. In a small saucepan over low heat or a bowl in the microwave, melt the chocolate and shortening and let cool.

With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the salt, then the chocolate and cake meal.
Add the vanilla and stir in the nuts.

Pour into the pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool and cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. 10 servings.

Also:
rec.food.cuisine.jewish archives
jewish-food.org Passover dessert archives

There is a recipe for potato starch sponge cake on the back of packages of Streit's potato starch. ['ve made a a couple of times and in comes out quite well. Of course the fruit options are easier, or, if you have an ice cream maker, how about a sorbet?

LAZ wrote:That depends on how kosher for Passover you want to be. The rules for Passover don't obviate the general rules of kashruth. If you're just avoiding bread for appearances' sake, then it doesn't matter and you can make any kind of dessert you want. If you're going to be kosher, though, you can't serve cheesecake or whipped cream at the seder because the entree is usually meat. (I'm not sure if there's any religious reason not to serve fish or dairy as the main course, but most people don't. Possibly the presence of the lamb shank on the seder plate is enough to render the meal fleishig.)

Yeah, meat, often brisket, is the meal... but the rules of how long after meat dairy can be eaten is a matter of debate.

Still, there's non-dairy whipped topping for the whipped cream.

Me, I plan on serving butter at the table anyway. Some of the kids will probably drink milk. It's not a critical item for our family.

The lack of dairy does explain why all the traditional passover baked goods suck.

I'm a fan of Caramel Matzoh Crunch.

Crunchy matzoh on the bottom. Homemade caramel in the middle, topped with melted chocolate. Bake a few minutes, then refridgerate/freeze, break like brittle.

Delicious and kosher for passover depending on which brands you buy. Takes almost no time to make, too.

The orginial recipe is here:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/109117

JoelF wrote:The lack of dairy does explain why all the traditional passover baked goods suck.

I don't agree; I have had terrific Passover desserts and terrible ones, and a lot depends on the skill and creativity of the baker. When it comes to creating delicious baked goods that use no flour, no yeast and no dairy products, well, it's clear that not everybody's bubbe was up to the challenge. And it gets even harder if they're trying to be non-gebrokts as well.

I have had good success with nut torte-type cakes. An almond raspberry one was very well received (my birthday often falls during passover, and no one likes to bake for passover in our family, so I tend to do the baking for my birthday)

Thanks everyone for ideas. I was stuck in a baking mode and candymaking wasn't even on my radar. I might just try that. Sorbet is another great idea. I make a lot of ice cream but never sorbet so I might just try that too. Although there are cheesecake lovers in the group, we are having meat for dinner and that's too much dairy.

And the good news is I actually thought of this early enough to make a practice version of what ever I choose!

Oh, and the hamantaschen dough is in the fridge. Finally. I'll bake tomorrow but this year the kids asked for apple (Only us grown ups like poppyseed) so I'm making apple butter to use for filling. We'll see how they turn out. I'm hoping apple butter will be sticky enough to hold up.

My three favorite passover desserts to make: flourless chocolate cake with a bittersweet chocolate glaze and a raspberry sauce, cheesecake with a macaroon crust and fresh strawberries and matzoh toffee. I'll certainly share recipes if any sound appealing.

Fruit Chews

These are really very good. They taste a little like an oatmeal raisin cookie.

Combine:
2 c matzo meal
1 t cinnamon
2 c matzo farfel
Stir in:
1 c chopped walnuts
1 ¼ c sugar
1 t salt
¼ t ginger
1 c raisins (or half raisins and half chopped dried apricots)
Beat together thoroughly in another bowl:
3 eggs, well beaten
3/4 c oil
½ c mashed ripe banana
Beat wet ingredients into dry ingredients very thoroughly. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto well greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 20 25 minutes or until brown. (You may need to switch the cookie sheets halfway through the baking to avoid burning the bottoms of the cookies.)

My mom usually makes her chocolate mousse cake, since it's flourless. It's one of her most popular desserts year round, and that it's kosher for passover is an added bonus. If interested, I can post the recipe...

The April issue of Martha Stewart Living has an article about desserts without flour. They have a recipe for
Almond-Coconut Tart . This thing has fresh blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries on it with what they call "a vanilla almond filling" and a coconut crust that is reminiscent of macaroons.

They also have a really good-sounding flourless chocolate cake with espresso glaze.

And unleavened chocolate Passover cookies that are lightened by egg white.

The most interesting recipe is a Walnut Dacquoises with Honey-Walnut Ice Cream. This looks like the kind of thing that might work better with a small group without many other dessert options.

The April issue of Everyday Food has a very easy-sounding recipe for coconut-apricot macaroons. I can't find the recipe online.

I know you said no macaroons or flourless cake but thought to post in case others are looking for ideas and recipes. I think I have to make that chocolate cake now! No waiting for Passover!

When is Passover anyway? --Joy

I make an almond/sugar/butter (yes, I know, but you can substitute margarine) crust in a spring form, bake it, and then fill it with lemon and orange sorbet. I serve it with a raspberry coulis. Yum.

I also make matzo toffee, flourless tea cakes, and an orange sponge cake with candied orange peel.

Let me know if you want official recipes.

Joy wrote:
When is Passover anyway? --Joy

It starts Saturday, April 19

Our family favorite is a hazelnut torte my mother made for years and that I make now; the recipe is adapted from one in the old Gourmet cookbook, volume 1, from the 1960s. It can be made strictly kosher if you buy kosher-for-Passover confectioners’ sugar and skip the whipped cream if you’re having a meat meal. My family mixes milk and meat and follows the spirit (no leavened products, no bread) if not the letter (no confectioners’ sugar with a trace amount of corn starch in it) of the Passover law. This is a great recipe, and my whole extended family loves it (except for my poor brother who is allergic to the nuts), and it serves many for a big group at seder:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar
10 eggs, separated
¾ lb. unblanched hazelnuts (filberts), ground*
1 tablespoon rum
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon matzah cake meal (can use regular matzah meal)

1 cup or more whipping cream
optional flavorings: sugar, vanilla, coffee extract, 1 tablespoon ground hazelnuts

350˚ oven
Butter a 10-inch springform pan and either sprinkle lightly with matzah cake meal, or cover the bottom with parchment paper and butter that as well; I prefer the latter.

Cream the sugar with the 10 egg yolks. Add the ground hazelnuts, the rum, and salt, and stir until the mixture is light and a bit foamy. Beat the egg whites until stiff and then fold them, plus the matzah meal, into the batter. Turn the batter into the springform and bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until a testing toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake before removing from the pan. Serve with whipped cream, plain or flavored to your taste.

*I buy the hazelnuts in bulk and grind them quite fine but NOT to a butter in the food processor. Over the years, I’ve bought the nuts at Treasure Island, Whole Foods, and Lincolnwood Produce.

Notes: You really need a good standing mixer for this cake—the batter is pretty stiff after you add the nuts. Be sure to fold egg whites in gently but quite thoroughly, or else the cake will not cook through properly. I serve the torte with the whipped cream on top, or generously spooned onto each slice, but the original recipe called for splitting the cake and sandwiching it with whipped cream and then, optionally, glazing the cake with water icing or sprinkling with more confectioners’ sugar. If your family is as schlag-loving as mine, you might want more than 1 cup of whipping cream to top the cake.

EvA wrote:Our family favorite is a hazelnut torte my mother made for years and that I make now; the recipe is adapted from one in the old Gourmet cookbook, volume 1, from the 1960s.

ronnie_suburban wrote:
EvA's hazelnut torte by justjoan, brownies by jygach, Panela and molasses ice cream with candied bacon and strawberry-balsamic gelato by wustlmike and Bruce's butter cookie dough cobbler (blueberry peach) by Cookie Monster

Ronnie_suburban's great photos from the LTHForum 1,000-Recipe Potluck, June 22, 2008, appear here, including this shot showing EvA's hazelnut torte, as prepared by justjoan. Joan also commented on making the cake and provided a recipe for whipped-cream chocolate frosting that she used with it.

Revisiting this topic makes me wonder, Diannie, what did you finally make?

I guess I wrote to EvA personally with thanks for the recipe and forgot to follow up here.

I made the hazlenut torte modified a bit by substituting almonds for some of the hazlenuts. (I underestimated the amount of hazlenuts I'd need). It took me longer to bake it than I expected and may be because I didn't incorporate the egg whites as completely as I should have.

The flavor was great and everyone loved it. The cake is calorie-dense and no one could eat more than a slice. It's just sugar, eggs and nuts. I could have served the entire neighborhood! It was nice to make something different and I'll make it again. We did not serve it with whipped cream because our meal was quasi-kosher.

D.

A compote of dried fruit was an essential part of my childhood Passovers -- for its taste, its chometz-free properties, and its abilities to counteract certain unfortunate attributes of eating too much matzo.

But the packages of mixed dried fruit that are an essential ingredient seem to be missing from stores. These usually contain pear, apple, apricots and the essential prunes. Any sightings? I suppose I could buy the components separately, but that would be a lot of compote!

LAZ wrote:A compote of dried fruit was an essential part of my childhood Passovers -- for its taste, its chometz-free properties, and its abilities to counteract certain unfortunate attributes of eating too much matzo.

But the packages of mixed dried fruit that are an essential ingredient seem to be missing from stores. These usually contain pear, apple, apricots and the essential prunes. Any sightings? I suppose I could buy the components separately, but that would be a lot of compote!

Are you looking for products that are passover certified or just packaged dried fruit? If you want certified try Hungarian Kosher on Oakton in Skokie or the Jewel on Howard in Evanston or even online:

http://www.ohnuts.com/buy.cfm/passover- ... ixed-fruit

, otherwise, I've seen packages of mixed dried fruit at Costco. Mariani (the fruit company, not Mariano's the grocery) also sells a packaged dried fruit available in some stores and online:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00286 ... d_i=507846

spinynorman99 wrote:Are you looking for products that are passover certified or just packaged dried fruit? If you want certified try Hungarian Kosher on Oakton in Skokie or the Jewel on Howard in Evanston or even online:

http://www.ohnuts.com/buy.cfm/passover- ... ixed-fruit

, otherwise, I've seen packages of mixed dried fruit at Costco. Mariani (the fruit company, not Mariano's the grocery) also sells a packaged dried fruit available in some stores and online:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00286 ... d_i=507846

Doesn't need to be kosher. I looked at Costco recently and their "mixed dried fruit" was pomegranate and blueberries. What's depicted in your links is what I'm after, but I haven't seen it stores.

Would this go over well as a Passover dessert? It doesn't contain flour, so it's okay on that front, but being non-religious, I'm not very familiar with all the "rules." I'm making it this next weekend for my own family for easter, but I was mostly just curious.

http://www.chefeddy.com/2010/07/swiss-style-carrot-cake/

tgoddess wrote:Would this go over well as a Passover dessert? It doesn't contain flour, so it's okay on that front, but being non-religious, I'm not very familiar with all the "rules." I'm making it this next weekend for my own family for easter, but I was mostly just curious.

http://www.chefeddy.com/2010/07/swiss-style-carrot-cake/

It does contain a cup of flour, according to the recipe at the link, and I've got a feeling that baking powder might be a no no for Passover, what with the whole unlevened bread thing. I'm sure someone with more religous leanings than I will pipe in.

stevez wrote:

tgoddess wrote:Would this go over well as a Passover dessert? It doesn't contain flour, so it's okay on that front, but being non-religious, I'm not very familiar with all the "rules." I'm making it this next weekend for my own family for easter, but I was mostly just curious.

http://www.chefeddy.com/2010/07/swiss-style-carrot-cake/

It does contain a cup of flour, according to the recipe at the link, and I've got a feeling that baking powder might be a no no for Passover, what with the whole unlevened bread thing. I'm sure someone with more religous leanings than I will pipe in.

Baking soda is acceptable for passover use but baking powder, which usually contains cornstarch, is not (unless you can track down a passover-certified brand and I don't know that any exist).

There are a few simple options for passover desserts. You can do French macarons or maybe lemon squares (lemon curd is permissible and you can make an almond-based (or other nut-based) base layer (maybe even add shredded coconut).

Interestingly, other than perhaps concerns about dairy in a dessert (such as in ganache), French Macarons are Passover friendly ... so is pavlova ... flourless chocolate cake ... cheesecake, but with a macaroon or similar crust.

stevez wrote:

tgoddess wrote:Would this go over well as a Passover dessert? It doesn't contain flour, so it's okay on that front, but being non-religious, I'm not very familiar with all the "rules." I'm making it this next weekend for my own family for easter, but I was mostly just curious.

http://www.chefeddy.com/2010/07/swiss-style-carrot-cake/

It does contain a cup of flour, according to the recipe at the link, and I've got a feeling that baking powder might be a no no for Passover, what with the whole unlevened bread thing. I'm sure someone with more religous leanings than I will pipe in.

On the other hand, you can often sub. Matzoh cake meal for flour in recipes, especially ones like this where the flour isn't the main ingredient. If you really wanted to make this recipe, do that substitution for the flour. I'd also sub the 2 tsp baking powder with 1/2 tsp baking soda and divide the egg whites from the yolks and just use yolks in step 2, otherwise doing all the steps through 3, then separately whip the whites into stiff peaks, and fold them in (step 3.5?).

edited for clarity

Oh, duh. I didn't even SEE the flour listed there. Thanks for all the input. I really was just curious, since there's no Passover requirements for my making it. Didn't know about the whole baking soda/powder thing, either. I always learn a lot of interesting stuff here on LTH. Thanks, all!

spinynorman99 wrote:Baking soda is acceptable for passover use but baking powder, which usually contains cornstarch, is not (unless you can track down a passover-certified brand and I don't know that any exist).

Geffen, Haddar, and Mishpacha Baking Powders are OU-P.
Technically - baking soda is Kosher for Passover without a special certification.
http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/passover

spinynorman99 wrote:Baking soda is acceptable for passover use but baking powder, which usually contains cornstarch, is not (unless you can track down a passover-certified brand and I don't know that any exist).

There are a few simple options for passover desserts. You can do French macarons or maybe lemon squares (lemon curd is permissible and you can make an almond-based (or other nut-based) base layer (maybe even add shredded coconut).

You'd likely have to go somewhere like Hungarian Kosher to find Passover baking powders. You can make your own single-acting baking powder with one part baking soda to two parts cream of tartar.

(For those who are wondering, "leavening," when it comes to Passover, means yeast -- both added and airborne -- the principle being that the Jews fleeing Egypt did not have time to set their dough to rise. Chemical leavening, beaten eggs and other methods are OK, so long as your dough does not start with flour made from wheat, rye, spelt, oats or barley, or, for Ashenazim, most other grains.)

Lemon curd would depend on the recipe. You'd have to use potato starch in lieu of cornstarch as a thickener.

Sponge cake is a very traditional home-made Passover dessert. My bubbe made a wonderful version full of citrus juices, cinnamon and shaved chocolate.