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Passover begins at sundown Monday evening. The eight-day festival of freedom celebrates the exodus from Egypt when, according to the bible, 600,000 men, women and children followed Moses into the desert, crossed the Red Sea and, after some turbulent times, settled in the Promised Land. Alas, poor Moses, he never did see the land of milk and honey.
Monday night’s Seder is my sister Sandy’s birthday. When we were growing up, her birthday included a sponge cake that my grandmother would brighten up with candles. That was it. No ice cream, no chocolate frosting, just plain sort-of-dry sponge cake.
Sandy and I thank the brilliant pastry chefs of the 21st century for giving us the heavenly rich chocolate fudge-like cake known as the flourless torte. It has become popular over the last century, and if Passover falls on Sandy’s birthday, she delights in this rich cake that we serve with strawberries.
I recently stuck my big toe into the sea of baking. I thank my friend chef Christopher Thames who showed me how easy it is to bake biscotti. Several months ago, I made some baking equipment purchases at Fante’s with the help of the delightful Mariella. Every sales person in this store gives you good advice. I came home with a Cuisinart stand mixer which can be detached and used as a hand mixer; two 9-inch cake pans; two cookie sheets and a muffin tin pan. Who knows? I might just try my hand at cupcakes which seem to be all the rage.
Whole Foods bakes flourless chocolate cakes during Passover. There are dozens of recipes for this dessert that you can find on the Internet. Our friend Thom is bringing Sandy’s birthday cake. But I am going to christen my cookie sheets and bake enough Passover cookies and sweets to last a full eight days.
Sienna Almond Cookies
from “The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews” by Edda Servi Machlin
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
Dash of salt
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 orange rind, freshly grated
1 teaspoon of pure almond extract
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
10 ounces of blanched almonds, finely chopped
1/4 cup of Passover cake meal
1/4 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of margarine
Confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff and dry. Gradually add the sugar and beat until you have the consistency of a marshmallow. Add the orange rind, extracts and almonds. Mix until it is a rather hard paste.
Combine the cake meal with the sugar. Generously grease a baking sheet with the margarine and sprinkle it with the cake meal/sugar mixture.
Divide the almond paste into 24 to 30 equal parts. Wet your hands. Form the cookies into diamond shapes. Place them two inches apart and bake for about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and, while still hot, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Place on a cooling rack. When cool, store in an airtight tin.
Makes 24 to 30 cookies.
Pistachio Sweets
from “The Book of Jewish Food” by Claudia Roden
Ingredients:
2-1/3 cups of shelled unsalted pistachios, coarsely ground in the food processor
1 cup of superfine sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Leave the pistachios in the food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the mixture by heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly firm.
Makes about 22 sweets.
Almond and Chocolate Cupcakes
from “The Book of Jewish Food” by Claudia Roden
Ingredients:
7 ounces of dark, bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup of roasted blanched almonds
3 eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put everything in the food processor and blend to a soft, creamy paste.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the mixture by heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, or until slightly firm. They are supposed to be soft and moist.
Makes about 28 cupcakes.
Note from Phyllis: When people ask me which Jewish cookbook I recommend, “The Book of Jewish Food” is the one. It is a culinary masterpiece of research, history and culture of the Jewish people. SPR
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