Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (84 page)
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cups hazelnuts
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4
cup cake meal or matzo meal
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Pinch of salt
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan in oven about 8 minutes or until skins begin to split. Transfer to a strainer. (Leave oven on.) Rub hot hazelnuts energetically with a towel against strainer to remove some of skins. Cool nuts completely. Grease 9-inch springform pan with margarine and set aside.
2.
Grind hazelnuts with cake meal and
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cup sugar in food processor until fine; set aside. Beat egg yolks with
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cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until batter is light and fluffy. Beat in lemon rind just until blended. Set aside.
3.
Whip egg whites with pinch of salt in a medium clean bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining
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4
cup sugar, beating until egg whites are stiff and shiny.
4.
Alternately fold whites and nut mixture into yolk mixture, each in 3 batches. Transfer to prepared pan. Bake about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Run a metal spatula gently around cake and remove sides of springform pan. Cool on a rack. Cake will sink slightly.
5.
Serve cake at room temperature.
This is a traditional light Passover sponge cake with a surpriseâripples of cinnamon-sprinkled apple slices running through the cake. My mother taught me how to make it fairly recently, when she came from Jerusalem to celebrate Passover at my house.
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cup matzo cake meal
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4
cup potato starch
6 large eggs, separated
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4
cup sugar
1 teaspoon strained fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Pinch of salt
2 Golden Delicious apples (10 to 11 ounces), peeled, cored, and cut into
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8
-inch slices
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar
1.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Have ready a 9-inch springform pan; do not grease it.
2.
Sift cake meal with potato starch into a bowl. Beat egg yolks in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in
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cup sugar. Whip at high speed about 5 minutes or until mixture is pale and very thick. Stir in lemon juice and zest.
3.
In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites and salt with a mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining
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4
cup sugar. Beat at high speed until whites are stiff and shiny but not dry.
4.
Fold cake meal mixture into yolks. Lightly fold in whites in 3 batches, just until batter is blended.
5.
Lightly spoon about one third of the batter in prepared pan. Gently cover with half the apples. Sprinkle them with 2
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2
teaspoons cinnamon mixture. Top with half the remaining batter, then with the remaining apples, and sprinkle them with the remaining cinnamon mixture. Spoon remaining batter over apples and spread gently.
6.
Bake about 1 hour or until top is firm and a cake tester inserted in cake's center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Run a metal spatula carefully around cake. Remove sides of pan. Cool completely. (Cake can be kept, covered, 2 days in refrigerator.)
 or
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Like many Passover cakes, this one is made with potato starch instead of flour. For vegetarian or fish dinners, I like to prepare the cake with butter rather than margarine. The cake is luscious enough to be served on its own but if you're serving it after a meatless meal, you might like to top each portion with a spoonful of whipped cream.
1 cup blanched almonds
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2
cup sugar
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
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2
cup (1 stick) unsalted margarine or butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons water
4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
2 tablespoons potato starch
1.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an 8 · 2
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2
-inch springform pan with margarine and line its base with parchment paper or foil and grease. Set aside.
2.
Grind almonds with 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor until almost a powder. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. (Note: Process in pulses to prevent heat from making the nuts a paste instead of a powder.)
3.
Combine chocolate, margarine, and water in a large bowl set above a pan of hot water over low heat. Stir until smooth. Remove bowl of chocolate mixture from pan of water.
4.
Whisk egg yolks to blend in a small bowl. Gradually add yolks to chocolate mixture, whisking vigorously. Stir in
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cup sugar, followed by almonds and potato starch. Mix well.
5.
Whip egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Whip at high speed until whites are stiff and shiny but not dry. Gently fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 batches, folding just until blended.
6.
Transfer batter to prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake about 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
7.
Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife or metal spatula carefully around cake. Turn cake onto rack, gently release spring, and remove sides and base of pan. Carefully remove liners and cool cake completely. Invert cake onto another rack, then onto a platter so that smoothest side of cake faces up.
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With its orange frosting and garnish of toasted nuts, this cake makes a festive finale to the Seder. If you're serving it after a meatless meal, you might like to make the frosting with butter instead of margarine.
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2
cups walnuts
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2
cups sugar
5 tablespoons matzo cake meal or sifted matzo meal
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
Passover Orange Frosting and Filling
3 tablespoons toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Using margarine, grease two 9-inch round cake pans, about 1
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2
inches deep. Line base of each with parchment paper or foil and grease liner. Use a little matzo cake meal to flour sides of pans and lined bases, tapping to remove excess. Set pans aside.
2.
Grind 1
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cups walnuts with
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cup sugar in a food processor to a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining walnuts and another
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cup sugar, and add to first nut mixture. Sift cake meal with cocoa. Add to nut mixture and stir until blended.
3.
Beat egg yolks with
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2
cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer, about 5 minutes or until mixture is pale yellow and very thick.
4.
In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites with a mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining
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2
cup sugar and whip at high speed about 30 seconds or until whites are very stiff and shiny but not dry.
5.
Sprinkle
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3
of nut mixture over yolks and fold gently until nearly blended. Spoon
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3
of whites on top and fold gently. Repeat until all of nut mixture and whites are added. Fold just until blended.
6.
Pour into prepared pans and spread quickly. Bake about 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center of cakes comes out clean. Set a rack on each pan, turn over and leave upside down for 10 minutes, with pan still on each cake. Turn back over. Run a metal spatula around sides of each cake. Turn out onto racks, carefully peel off liner, and let cool completely.
7.
Spread about
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3
of frosting on one cake layer. Set second layer on top. Carefully trim top layer to make it flat, if necessary, using a serrated knife. Spread frosting in thin layer on cake sides, then on top. Smooth frosting with a long metal spatula. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.