Passover Cake and Kugel

Here it is, the evening before the first night of Passover which will begin at sundown March 29th and I couldn't have said it more aptly than Happily Losin It of Words & Weigh . I think it went something like "somehow Jewish housewives were left out of the freedom from slavery part when it came to Passover".

We've blogged about Passover in previous years here and here and both of these previous posts have been extremely popular consistently.

Today I'm preparing for tomorrow night's dinner and finished a couple of recipes that I think will be equally as popular. I happened to find a recipe on the King Arthur Flour site that looked pretty interesting. The important thing to note with this recipe is that if you use the glaze there is cream in it and wouldn't be appropriate with a meat meal.

Flourless Chocolate Nut Cake

10 large eggs, room temperature, separated
3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup chocolate chips
heaping 1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar, to mix with the egg yolks
2 cups diced pecans, finely ground; OR 2 cups pecan meal
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar, to mix with the egg whites

Glaze
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp espresso powder
3 Tbsp heavy cream

1. Lightly grease a 10" tube pan or angel food pan. For best results, cut a piece of parchment or wax paper to fit the bottom of the pan and grease the paper. (I did this and it worked like a charm) Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Separate the room-temperature eggs, putting the whites and yolks in separate large bowls.
3. Melt the two chocolates together, stirring till smooth and set aside. (note: best to do this over simmering water in a bowl to avoid burning the chocolate)
4. Beat the egg yolks till smooth and lemon-yellow. Add the salt and 2/3 cup sugar and beat again till thickened and lightened in colour.
5. Stir in the melted chocolate.
6. Stir in the nuts. They should be processed as fine as possible; they'll probably be a bit pasty.
7. Beat the egg whites and vanilla till foamy.
8. With the beater going, sprinkle in the 1/4 cup sugar, beating till soft peaks form.
9. With the mixer at low speed, gradually fold the whites into the yolk mixture, mixing gently till no streaks show.
10. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.
11. Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes (mine took 45 minutes) till a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and set it on a rack. Loosen the edges and let it cool in the pan for 1 hour. Loosen the edges again.
12. Invert the cake onto the rack and prepare the glaze
13. To make the glaze, combine all of the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl or saucepan and heat till the chips are very soft. Stir till smooth.
14. If the glaze isn't pourable, add more cream to thin it out. (I probably could have added more cream but as it's cooling and setting I can see it's smoothing out). Pour over the cake. It's OK if the cake is still warm when you glaze it.

Yield: 10" cake, about 16 servings.

My second find came from All Recipes . It's very quick and based on the reviews it should be a hit.

Matzo Apple Kugel

This dish can be served with either meat or dairy dinners. Can also be made ahead and cooked later.

4 matzo crackers, crushed
3 eggs beaten
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup applesauce (preferably unsweetened)
3 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries

For the topping:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
(I used half of this amount)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Place the crumbled matzos in a medium bowl and add enough water to cover. Let stand for 2 minutes, then drain off excess water. Do not squeeze.
2. To the bowl of matzo, add eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, lemon juice and applesauce. Stir to combine. Mix in the apples and dried cranberries. Spread the mixture evenly into a greased 2 quart casserole dish. Mix together the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.
3. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and the apples are soft.

Enjoy!
To all our friends who celebrate this holiday - Chag Sameach!!! Next year in Jerusalem!