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PASSOVER DESSERTS THEY'LL ACTUALLY LIKE.

ANNABEL COHEN

Special to the Jewish News

hat's a holiday meal
without dessert? But
Pesach -desserts often get
a bad rap.
The most voiced complaint is about
texture. Dry. The second allegation?
Boring.
Praised is the baker who makes a
pesachdik (kosher for Passover) dessert
that wins second helpings. And covet-
ed are those dessert recipes.

Ilgr

Area cooks know this. They're will-
ing to share the wealth of dessert
knowledge with cooks around town.
The recipes go from homey and satis-
fying — strudel, brittle and cheesecake
— to light and fruity — Pecan Torte
with Three Berry Topping and
Vacherins.
It's a happy coincidence that
Passover falls in spring is this hemi-
sphere. That usually means lots of
fresh fruits coming to market. So
you'll see them in many of the recipes
shown here.

You'll also find recipes where eggs
are separated — yolks here, whites,
there. Eggwhites, in these recipes, are
often whipped to snowy peaks and
gently folded into batters. These
whites add the volume that regularly
comes from leaven that usually comes
from baking soda and baking powder,
though these are sometimes available
kosher for Passover (without the corn-
starch).
We didn't leave out the dark stuff. It
seems no Jewish meal is complete
without chocolate. We won't disap-
point here. And you'll get the highest
commendation of all when you hear,
"These don't even taste pesachdik."

FROZEN CHOCOLATE DESSERT
(Pareve)
"This is a great kosher for Passover
dessert that we always make for the
seders."
3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 t. cinnamon
4 large eggs, separated
1 T. wine, any kind
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) margarine, softened
Stir together cocoa and cinnamon in
a medium bowl and set aside. Stir in
the egg yolks and wine.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites
until foamy. Gradually beat in 1/4 c.
sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In another bowl and without wash-
ing beaters, cream margarine and
gradually beat in the remaining 1/2 c.
of sugar. Add the cocoa/cinnamon
mixture and stir well. Fold the egg-
whites into the mixture.
Transfer the mixture to 9-inch
square pan. Freeze the dessert at least
one hour or until hard enough to cut
into squares. Cut the dessert into
squares immediately before serving
alone or with sponge cake. This is like
an ice-cream mousse, so it melts
quickly. Serves 6-8.

_ 3/30
2001

92

PASSOVER STRUDEL
from Barbara Kalef, Louisville, Ky.
"You won't believe it's for Passover!
This recipe is very forgiving. It may
look like a mess before you bake, it
may crack when you bake it, but whe
you slice the strudel, it's great. I find
that two of the three rolls always seem
to come out better. This recipe always
freezes very well."

Dough:

4 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
4 T. (1/4 c.) orange juice
2 c. matzah cake meal
1 c. potato starch

Filling:

1 1/2 c. or more apricot or other
preserves, enough to cover dough
1 c. chopped pecans
2 t. matzah meal
1/2 c. sugar
2 large Granny Smith apples, peele
and chopped
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. raisins
Preheat oven to 350F.
Make dough: Mix dough ingredient
together in a large bowl until it just
comes together as a dough. Divide th e
dough into three pieces and allow the
dough to "rest," uncovered, for at leas
15 minutes before rolling.
Form one piece of the dough into a
log, about 9-inches long. Roll the log
of dough between two large sheets of
wax paper to a 1/8th-inch thickness
(approximately) into a rectangle. (If
the dough is too gooey, add more
potato starch until it can roll easily
and still peel away from the wax paper
when its time ro fill). Repeat with
remaining dough.
Place the rolled dough on a flat sur-
face. Peel away one sheet of the wax
paper from each of the dough rectan-
gles. Spread the preserves in a thin laye r
on each of the dough rectangles, leavin g

