passover bliss

Okay, I know. I'm the crazy girl who actually looks forward to Passover every year. When my sister and I were younger, there was Matzah in our house all year round, because we loved to snack on it (matzah and butter- really what is better than that?). Though our taste buds have grown a bit since then, I still look forward to the holiday every year. The combination of the wonderful Jewish traditions, spending two days with my family and friends, and cooking up a storm with my mom all come together in perfection. Between my mom's amazing cooking, and my dad's witty retelling of the story of Passover, they really know how to throw a Seder (the traditional Jewish meal held on the first two nights of Passover, which is eight days long). My mom's chicken soup with matzah balls just can't be beat, and she's very into making non-traditional passover food as well (this year it was tuna tartar instead of gefilte fish- if you don't know what it is, trust me, you don't want to know). Seder this year was no exception, and everything was truly delicious.

If you hadn't guessed by now, my mom put me in charge of desserts for passover this year. She and I had many a conference call finalizing our menu, and settled on a mere 7 desserts to serve at seder. Fortunately, I had a wonderfully large kitchen to spread my baking wings out in. Going home to cook is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Not only do I have an amazing cooking partner in my mom, but I have an incredibly large, newly renovated, perfectly stocked at all times kitchen to bake in. This is even more important when there are 7 desserts on the menu. To top it off, I was convinced to make my desserts gluten free. You may not know this, but matzah is actually made with wheat, as are all matzah products. Therefore, not all things that are kosher for passover (permitted to eat during the week of passover) are gluten free. Being put on dessert duty when I couldn't use the typical passover flour substitute, matzah cake meal, was somewhat challenging. However, because I was forced to think a little bit outside of the box, I think that my desserts came out amazingly. Getting creative definitely paid off here. Enjoy all of the recipes, which are naturally kosher for passover, but delicious to make all year round. I definitely will not be retiring these until next year.

You'll notice 5 recipes below, and I know, I said 7! The first dessert was a fruit salad (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and pineapple) with fresh grated lime zest topping it. I know it sounds crazy and so simple, but the lime zest really made the difference in this salad. I promise to post pictures in the future with the recipe its self, but go and try it. Its delicious. The second recipe was my mom's delicious mandel bread. Its an amazingly delicious mix between a biscotti and a thick chocolate chip cookie, with all of the best parts of both. It's a secret family recipe, but maybe one day soon I'll share it with you. For now, enjoy the five below!!


Pistachio Cookies

seriously easy, with seriously delicious flavor.

3 cups ground pistachios (use a food processor to chop the pistachios into large "crumbs")
3 egg whites
1 cup of granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees
Mix together the three ingredients until they reach a nice thick, sticky consistency
Refrigerate the batter for 20 minutes, to allow it to come together
Use a spoon to drop the batter into rounded balls onto a lightly greased baking sheet
Cook for about 15 minutes until the tops of the cookies start to turn golden
Move the cookies onto a cooling rack and allow to cool before eating
This recipe will make about two dozen cookies
enjoy!


Passover Brownies

so fudgey, you won't even know its KFP

4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup potato starch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 bag of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Combine the eggs, oil, and vanilla in a bowl
Once the wet ingredients are combined, add in the sugar, potato starch, and cocoa powder
Finally, mix in the the chocolate chips
Pour batter into a lightly greased 9x9 inch pan
Bake for about 45 minutes or until you test the center with a knife and it comes out clean (you'll want to let them under cook just a little!)
Let cool in the pan and enjoy!


Flourless Chocolate Cake

the picture barely does it justice- this is simply divine.

10 oz bittersweet (or semisweet would work here too) chocolate
7 oz unsalted butter
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Chop the chocolate and cube the butter
Place the chocolate and the butter into a double boiler (a glass or metal bowl over a pot with an inch or two of simmering water) and allow to melt, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate mixture is smooth
In a large bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar. Once combined, mix in the chocolate mixture until the batter is smooth
Butter a springform pan and dust it lightly with cocoa powder. A good trick here is to sprinkle the cocoa into the dish and then turn it around tapping the sides lightly so that the cocoa powder spreads out evenly
Pour the batter into the pan, and cover the top of the pan tightly with a sheet of tin foil

Bake the cake for 75 minutes before removing from the large pan with water, taking off the tin foil, and allowing to cool completely on a rack
enjoy with a fresh dollop of whipped cream, or some berries!


Almond Pound Cake

golden, nutty, beautiful.

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill brand here)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sliced almonds, toasted

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Mix the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until well mixed and smooth
Add the 4 eggs, one at a time, beating after each additional egg
Add in the vanilla extract and mix well
In a separate bowl, mix together the almond flour, salt, baking powder, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet while continuing to mix as you add
Once combined, pour the batter into a 9x5 inch loaf pan that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray
Sprinkle the top of the cake with the sliced almonds
Bake the cake for 50 minutes, checking to be sure that the center is done before taking it out of the oven
Allow to cool and enjoy!!


Apple Crisp

8 granny smith apples (any tart apple would work here)
3/4 cup almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill here)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
8 tsp butter, cold

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
Peel and core your apples. Cut the apples in half and then into 1 inch slices
Place the apples in the bottom of a baking dish (9x9 is what I used)
In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
Cube the butter into small 1/2 inch cubes and add the butter to the dry ingredients. Mix until the butter has broken up and mixed with the dry ingredients forming small little balls
Pour the topping evenly over the batter
Cover the pan and bake for 1 hour. The top of the crisp should begin to brown, and the apples should be tender
enjoy fresh out of the oven!!
*This one came out of the oven and was gone so quickly, that pictures were not taken- I promise to make it again in the future, i know recipes without pictures are no fun!