Around the Passover Table (23 page)

PREHEAT
oven to 350°F.

LINE
an 11 by 7-inch rectangular or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment or grease it lightly.

IN
a large bowl, combine the white and brown sugars with the butter, oil, or margarine. Add the eggs and vanilla extract or liqueur and beat until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, stir together the cocoa, cake meal, coffee, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and blend until smooth.

SPOON
the batter into the prepared pan. Bake about 25 minutes. Brownies should be moist. They are done when the batter is just set, the top dry to the touch, but no crust has yet formed around the edges. A toothpick inserted halfway between the center and the edges of the pan should come out just about clean; a toothpick inserted in the center will still emerge with some moist batter clinging to it. The size and material of the pan will affect cooking time, so begin checking after 20 minutes.

TRANSFER
the pan to a rack and let stand until cool. Cut into squares.

Italian Carrot-Pecan Torta

yield:
8 to 10 servings

Only distantly related to the American-style dense, spicy loaf capped with a cream cheese frosting, this light, airy cake traces its roots to the delicate carrot-almond torta that Italian Jews enjoy on Passover. I've lightly caramelized the carrots with a little brown sugar to get their sweet juices going before adding them to the batter, and I've replaced the blanched, slightly drier almonds with buttery-tasting toasted pecans to produce a moister cake with richer flavor. In fact, this torte does not taste like Passover at all and is a welcome addition to fall holiday menus, too.

Perfect unadorned, the cake dresses up with a mantle of powdered sugar, accompanied, perhaps, by a scoop of mango, pineapple, or citrus sorbet. Well-wrapped and unrefrigerated, it stays delicious for several days.

To avoid disappointment, taste the pecans first to make sure they are fresh.

1
¹
⁄
₄
cups packed scraped and finely grated carrots, preferably organic (about
¹
⁄
₂
pound)

¹
⁄
₂
cup granulated light brown sugar

1
¹
⁄
₃
cups shelled pecans

4 large eggs, separated

Salt

¹
⁄
₂
cup granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons matzoh meal

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¹
⁄
₈
teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon kosher-for-Passover vanilla extract

1 teaspoon kosher-for-Passover almond extract

Confectioners' sugar, purchased or
prepared
(optional)

HAVE
all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

LINE
the bottom of a 10-inch round cake pan with 2-inch sides with parchment paper.

TO
prepare the carrots, gently dry-fry them with some of the brown sugar: warm a large, nonstick skillet over moderate heat. Add the carrots, spreading them out evenly in the pan. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, and cook, turning the carrots, until the sugar has melted and the carrots are glistening. Raise the heat to medium-high, and continue cooking for about 4 minutes, as the carrots begin to caramelize. Transfer the carrots to a bowl and set aside to cool.

TOAST
the nuts: spread them out in a single layer in a baking dish or on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven, shaking occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until they are very fragrant. Remove from the oven and let cool. Leave the oven on.

IN
a large bowl, use electric beaters to whip the egg yolks with
¹
⁄
₄
cup brown sugar until thickened, about 5 minutes. In another large bowl, using clean beaters, whip the egg whites with a generous pinch of salt on low speed until they are foamy. Increase the speed and slowly tip in the white sugar while continuing to whip the whites until they hold stiff, glossy peaks.

GRIND
the pecans in a food processor together with the remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar, the matzoh meal, cinnamon, and nutmeg, using the pulse motion. Stir the mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the carrots and combine well.

GRADUALLY
fold the whites into the carrot-pecan mixture, incorporating them gently but thoroughly so that no whites are visible. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

REMOVE
the pan from the oven and let cool on a rack. Unmold by running a thin-bladed knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan; invert onto a platter. Peel off the parchment paper. Serve the torta at room temperature, lightly dusted with Passover confectioners' sugar, if desired.

COOK'S NOTE
:
¹
⁄
₂
cup golden raisins are a nice addition.

Upside-Down Apricot Hazelnut Torte

yield:
8 to 10 servings

Flavorful fruit makes a winning, moist crown for nut-based Passover cakes prepared without butter or other dairy ingredients. But my upside-down tortes sometimes ended up with soggy crusts. Stumped, I turned to my dear friend, Maria Springer, owner of Maja's Viennese Kitchen, a cooking school just outside of Baltimore.

A chemist by training, Maria began by analyzing the ingredients, recommending skinned nuts less oil-rich than pecans or walnuts and adding a little potato starch to the macaroon batter. She also suggested room temperature egg whites (if necessary, warm the eggs in their shells in tepid water) for the most volume. And another secret: don't spread the batter all the way to the pan edges so some of the moisture in the crust will evaporate during the baking. The result is a crust with great texture and delicious old-country flavor.

The first cake is covered with sweet-tart dried apricots. Maria's easy fresh apple topping on an almond crust follows.

FOR THE CRUST

1
¹
⁄
₂
cups hazelnuts,
skinned

²
⁄
₃
cup unsweetened shredded coconut

²
⁄
₃
cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

¹
⁄
₃
cup potato starch

4 large egg whites

Salt

1 teaspoon kosher-for-Passover vanilla extract

FOR THE TOPPING

5 to 6 ounces dried apricots (about 1 heaping cup)

1
¹
⁄
₂
cups pure, unsweetened apple juice

1 tablespoon plus
¹
⁄
₃
cup packed brown sugar

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon kosher-for-Passover almond extract or 2 teaspoons kosher-for-Passover amaretto or Frangelico

Salt

Almond, walnut, or other kosher-for-Passover oil for greasing the skillet

Confectioners' sugar, purchased or prepared from
Hungarian Chocolate–Walnut Torte
recipe (optional)

HAVE
all the crust ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

ARRANGE
the apricots in a single layer in a pie pan or baking dish just large enough to accommodate them. In a small bowl, stir together the apple juice, 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar, the almond extract or liqueur, and a pinch of salt, and pour over the apricots. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour, or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the fruit is plump and juicy. Remove the foil and let cool slightly.

RAISE
the oven temperature to 375°F.

GENEROUSLY
grease the bottom and sides of a deep, ovenproof 9-inch enameled or regular cast-iron skillet. Sprinkle the remaining
¹
⁄
₃
cup brown sugar evenly over the bottom.

PREPARE
the crust: in a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts with the coconut and
¹
⁄
₃
cup of the white sugar until finely ground. Add the potato starch and process briefly to combine. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

IN
another large bowl, use an electric mixer on slow speed to beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until frothy. Increase the speed and whip until they hold soft peaks. Still beating, slowly tip in the remaining white sugar. Add the vanilla extract and continue beating until the whites are glossy and stiff, but not dry. Gently fold the whites into the hazelnut-coconut mixture.

ARRANGE
the apricots over the brown sugar in the skillet in concentric circles or other decorative fashion. Spoon the crust batter evenly over the apricots, but don't spread it all the way to the pan edges. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the crust is light golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the skillet cool on a rack for about 20 minutes.

RUN
a thin-bladed knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Holding a serving plate over the skillet, turn the skillet upside-down, inverting the cake onto the plate. If any apricots remain stuck to the skillet, remove them and arrange in place on the cake.

LET
the cake cool completely, then dust with confectioners' sugar, if you'd like. Serve the cake at room temperature or warm (reheat gently).