Second day into Pesach and I’m not sick of matzo yet. That being said, I haven’t eaten that much so far, so I guess I shouldn’t speak too soon. I’ve been sticking to fruits and veggies as snacks and had a nice big salad for lunch yesterday. I’m going to try and make matzo ball soup later on this week for my roommates and am figuring out some good Pesach safe cake recipes for a birthday party this weekend.
For my seder last night at my uncle’s apartment uptown, I made a few things. I made chocolate caramel matzo, which I spoke of in the previous post and I also made a flour-less chocolate torte. The matzo I had made before, so it was pretty easy, but I was a little worried about the torte since I had never made anything like it and obviously because I never quite trust my oven. My fears were not needed because it came out just fine. The egg whites made is much more puffy then I anticipated and I almost thought it was going to go over the pan in the oven, but it didn’t and after I took it out of the oven, it sunk a good inch and a half. This will definitely be a go-to Pesach dessert treat from now on.
Per the original post, you can make raspberry sauce for the torte, but due to time constraints and the exorbandant cost of raspberries these days, I opted not to and stuck with a simple powder sugar dusting over the top. We also had fruit salad, and really delicious meringue/macaroon chocolate cookies. I think I might have eaten more dessert than dinner itself 🙂
PASSOVER CHOCOLATE TORTE
(adapted from epicurous.com)
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted kosher-for-Passover pareve (non-dairy) margarine
- 8 large egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 large egg whites
- Powder sugar for dusting
DIRECTIONS:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with parchment paper.
2) Stir chocolate and margarine in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool until lukewarm.
3) Using electric mixer, beat yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in large bowl until pale and very thick, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture in 2 additions and beat until well blended.
4) Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until foamy. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry.
5) Fold 1/3 of whites into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
6) Bake torte until crust forms on top and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist batter and some moist crumbs still attached, about 55 minutes (top may crack).
7) Run small sharp knife around torte to loosen. Cool in pan on rack (torte will fall and crack). Remove pan sides. Invert torte onto platter. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and store at room temperature.)
Baking and Caking! 