"Flourless" Chocolate Almond Cake with Dried Cherry-Almond Caramel Glaze

This isn't a flourless cake, hence the quotes around flourless in the title. It does include flour, but it's flour turned into a form acceptable for Passover. There are a whole lot of rules for baking at Passover. As I am not at all observant, I make a cake because it tastes good. I would never recommend a cake just because it is Kosher for Passover.

Passover may be halfway over now but if you are like me, that can of matzoh cake meal is still mostly full, because how many cakes are you going to bake and eat in a week? Here is a cake that tastes great AND helps you use up that can of matzoh cake meal. In fact, it's so good, I would make this when it's not Passover. If you don't have matzoh cake meal, I'll bet it will work just fine with cake flour instead.

It's a variation on a classic chocolate-almond torte. Lots of butter, lots of chocolate, lots of eggs - separated so that the whites provide the leavening. Instead of the small amount of flour in such a torte, it contains matzoh cake meal. Which is flour made into matzoh turned back into flour. Yeah, it's one of the imponderables of religion.

"Flourless" Chocolate-Almond Torte with Dried Cherry-Almond Glaze
(serves 16)

For the cake:
butter or margarine for greasing the pan
2 sticks(½ pound) butter or margarine, at room temperature
8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
¾ cup slivered almonds, toasted (see Note)
1 cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
6 eggs, at room temperature, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup matzoh cake meal

For the glaze:
½ cup dried sour cherries
¼ cup Kirschwasser (cherry brandy)
1 cup sugar
½ cup slivered almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Grease the bottom of a 9" x 3" springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment. Grease the parchment and the sides of the pan. Set aside.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Melt the chocolate in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of hot, barely simmering water. Remove the chocolate from the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, process the almonds in a food processor until finely ground and set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with an electric hand mixer), beat the butter with ¾ cup of the sugar and the salt on medium speed until soft and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix on medium-low speed until smooth. Gently fold in the chocolate, ground almonds, and matzo cake meal.

In another large bowl, using the whisk attachment or clean beaters, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. Add the remaining ¼ cup sugar and beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks,. 

In three batches, use a rubber spatula to gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly, and bake until the top starts to brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just some moist crumbs attached, 40-45 minutes.

While the cake is baking, soak the cherries in the liqueur in a small bowl. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake from the pan. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze:

In a heavy-based medium saucepan, stir the sugar and ½ cup water together over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to medium high and cook, swirling occasionally and brushing down the sides of a pan with a wet pastry brush to wash down any sugar crystals, until the caramel turns a deep, amber brown. Carefully add ¼ cup water (it will bubble a lot; be careful as it is VERY hot), and whisk together until the mixture acquires an even, syrupy consistency. Drain the cherries and then stir them into the caramel, along with the chopped almonds.

Remove the sides of the springform pan. Using a second rack, flip the cake over and remove the bottom of the pan. Peel off the parchment paper. Place a 12" cake plate over the cake and flip to get the cake on the plate. Pour the caramel mixture evenly over the cake, distributing the cherries evenly over the top. The glaze will spill over the sides. Let the cake cool completely to room temperature before serving.

Note: To toast the almonds, place them in a small baking pan in a 325°F oven for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally so they toast evenly. Watch carefully once they start to brown because they can burn quickly.

Altitude Adjustment (5400 ft.):

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• When beating egg whites, beat to very soft peaks before adding the sugar. Once the sugar is added, only beat to soft peaks.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F when you place the cake in the oven.

Adapted from a recipe at Epicurious.com

Pickled Salmon

This is a tried and true Passover recipe in my house but its popularity goes way beyond the Seder. This delicious salmon is so much better than the traditional gefilte fish. I know there are people who adore the yearly gefilte fish but I am not one of them.

The recipe makes quite a bit of pickled salmon so I suggest you make it for a dinner party or even a brunch. It will keep in the brine for about 4 days past when it is pickled (takes 3 days for the initial pickling) but I wouldn't push it much further than that.

I pulled this recipe out of the New York Times years ago. It's by Joyce Goldstein, one of the finest chefs out there. I wholeheartedly recommend her book Kitchen Conversations.

Joyce Goldstein's Pickled Salmon
(serves 12 as an appetizer)

2 cups white vinegar
1 ½ cups water
6 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
2 pounds salmon fillets, skin removed
2 Tablespoons pickling spices
6 bay leaves
2 white or yellow onions, sliced ¼" thick

Bring vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Cut salmon into 1" x 2" chunks. In a non-metallic bowl or crock, make a layer of  ⅓ of the salmon. Sprinkle on some of the pickling spice, a couple of bay leaves, and ⅓ of the onions. Build 2 more layers. Pour on the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 3 days. Serve cold with matzoh, crackers or a hearty dark or rye bread.

Passover is Almost Here

I know the vast majority of you out there are not Jewish and therefore don't care about Passover as a holiday. But, believe me, there is some really good food served on Passover. I'm going to try to get recipes out for a number of my all-time favorite Passover recipes real soon. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with my menu and a link to my Southwestern Matzoh Ball Soup which I posted a couple of Passover's ago.

Passover Dinner 2013

• Spinach-Matzoh Pie, a recipe from my mother-in-law. It's a Sephardic dish.
• Southwestern Matzoh Ball Soup, recipe originally from rec.food.cooking.
• Barry Wine's Stringed Beef Brisket served with a Spicy Roasted Tomato Sauce, from Joan Nathan's The Jewish Holiday Kitchen)
• Matzah "Salad,"  The Jewish Holiday Kitchen
• Moroccan Coconut-Sabra Torte, The Jewish Holiday Kitchen served with a spiced blood orange sorbet from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein

That's what I'm making. Some of my guests are bringing side dishes. I still have to pick out a charoset recipe. I've made a few and I'm still searching for the perfect one.

Southwestern Matzoh Ball Soup

Southwestern matzoh balls, jazzed up with some fresh chiles and julienned carrots

It's nearly Passover, friends. Now, being the unobservant Jew that I am, I have not cleaned out every speck of chometz (that would be bread-like products that aren't Kosher for Passover, and believe me, that definition is extremely broad). I did wash the floor today, which is pretty good in my house. I do believe in the restorative power of matzoh ball soup however. And after washing the floors, I need something restorative.

This is quite an old internet recipe, at least in terms of the age of the internet (it is not, however, the oldest one I have, which dates from 1982). This recipe came from rec.food.cooking which was the grand-daddy of internet recipe sites. It was a mishmash of people, with some definite likes and dislikes. Which led to some pretty interesting flaming but also a lot of interesting food.

This recipe is from Susan Hattie Steinsapir who was a frequent contributor to the group. I believe she lived in Southern California and she passed away at some point during the heyday of rec.food.cooking. But, she is not forgotten as I think about this lady I never met every Passover when I pull out her unorthodox version of matzoh ball soup.

Southwestern Matzoh Ball Chicken Soup
(serves 4)

A classic recipe from the days of rec.food.cooking with some enhancements from me. I added the black pepper and cumin. If the jalapeno is not very spicy, I like to add a teaspoon of very finely minced serrano chile or a pinch of ground dried chipotle chiles to spice things up a little. I also use tequila rather than vodka sometimes, for a little Nuevo American twist.

2 tablespoon Oil
2 large Egg
½ cup Matzoh Meal
1 teaspoon Salt
⅛ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
⅛ teaspoon Ground Cumin
2 tablespoon Finely Minced Onion
1 teaspoon Finely Minced Jalapeno
1 tablespoon Minced Red Pepper
2 tablespoon Tequila or Vodka
6 cups Chicken Broth
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, dill or parsley

Beat oil and eggs together. Add matzoh meal, salt, onion, jalapenos, red pepper and vodka. Stir to blend thoroughly. Refrigerate covered for 15 minutes.

Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Reduce heat so that water is boiling gently. Drop 1" size matzoh balls (they will swell as they cook) into the water. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove and drain. At this point, you can chill the matzoh balls and reheat them in the chicken broth when you want to serve them.

Add the matzoh balls to chicken soup and simmer for 5 minutes (20 minutes, if chilled) before serving.

This recipe can be doubled but only use 3 eggs.

notes: This dish will serve 6 as part of a big Passover meal. By doubling the recipe and thereby decreasing the percentage of eggs, you end up with slightly denser matzoh balls. A single recipe results in very light and fluffy matzoh balls while a double recipe results in somewhat denser matzoh balls. This is based on personal observation making a double and single batch in the same day.

Link to PDF of Southwestern Matzoh Ball Chicken Soup