Archive | Baking RSS feed for this section

Must be Passover: Recipes for Charoset and Meringue Cookies

13 Apr

Passover is a bit of a strange holiday. I’ve always felt a bit unsettled that it’s a holiday with the retelling of a story that includes dead babies as part of the festive meal, but hey, we have Passover at the same time as Easter, a holiday that is the original Walking Dead story celebrated with a giant bunny who hides eggs… so I guess we all have our quirky religious dogma.

As with most Jewish holidays, Passover is a holiday that is defined by food. While most Jewish holidays involve some specific food to celebrate an event (apples and honey for a sweet new year for Rosh Hashanah, fried foods for the oil that lasted 8 days for Chanukah, triangular shaped Hamantaschen for the triangular hat that the bad guy in the Purim story wore… yup… religion is weird), Passover is a holiday that has many specific foods that celebrate many specific parts of the story.  And boy are most of them depressing!  We eat bitter herbs dipped in salt water to remind us of the bitter life that the Jews had under slavery and the tears they cried.  We display a shank bone to represent an animal sacrifice.  Matzo, the most constipating food on earth, to remember the fact that the Jews had to flee so quickly when they were liberated that their bread didn’t have time to rise (nor did they have the time to poop… I assume).

Then there are some foods that actually taste good, like Charoset, which despite its still depressing meaning (it represents the morter and bricks that the Jewish slaves used to build the Pharaoh’s buildings), is pretty rad.

The classic recipe consists of chopped up apples (peels on or off is a hot debate), walnuts, cinnamon, sugar and sweet red wine (usually Manischewitz, which if you have never tried, you aren’t missing much except a very bad headache in the morning… unless you ask Mike, in which case it’s the best wine on earth and nothing will ever compare so stop laughing right now and let’s just accept it).

The recipe is really kind of by eye… you chop up apples and walnuts, combine with wine, sugar, and cinnamon until it tastes right.

 

image_1

 

This year, we were asked to contribute this dish, which I was more than happy to do, except I also had a make a version that was a bit different. Mike affectionately called it “weird,” but I will call it “creative” or perhaps “nontraditional.”  And after all, I’m not sure how you can beat Maple Bourbon Charoset with apples, pears, dates, and chestnuts.  Mmm mmm mmm.

image

And I can’t have a holiday pass without making SOME sort of dessert. Each year I make my Grandma Litty’s classic meringue kisses, because they are not only one of the most popular cookies I make, but also because they are flour free, so they are a perfect Passover treat.

image_2

Our family seders are super nontraditional, and we usually make it just a few minutes into reading the Hagadah (tells the story of Passover and most people go around the table with each person reading a section to make sure we never forget… which we shouldn’t… but Jews never forget… we’re like elephants).

Last year, we had an accidental light saber fight in the middle of seder before rushing to the “eat the meal” portion.

We also usually celebrate a night with the very gracious family of our more conservative friends most years.  They do the full pre-dinner seder and after-dinner seder (confession… until I was in my late 20s, I didn’t even know there was supposed to be an after-dinner portion). It is kind of nice to be able to do something much more traditional in comparison to my crazy family, even if I don’t entirely believe in all that the holiday has to say word for word.  I am proudly Jewish in culture, after all, and traditions are nice to keep going.

Are you cooking for Passover or Easter? What are you making? Do you have traditional celebrations or is it typically more mayhem like my family?

Meringue Kisses

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours, 20 minutes

Yield: ~40-50 small cookies

One of my favorite cookies of all time, and great for passover

Ingredients

  • 2 egg whites (room temperature)
  • pinch of cream of tarter
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 oz. chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Beat egg whites until frothy
  3. Add pinch of cream of tarter and salt and beat until stiff
  4. Add sugar 1 tsp at a time
  5. Slowly add vanilla
  6. Fold in chocolate chips
  7. Drop cookies onto silpat or parchment paper
  8. Place cookie sheets in oven and turn the oven off immediately
  9. Leave off over night and do not open the oven

Notes

These do not truly bake for 4 hours, but must stay in an oven that was heated and then turned off for at least 4 hours to "set."

http://nycnomnom.com/2014/04/13/must-passover/

 

A Photo Tour of Thanksgiving 2013

22 Jan

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, as mentioned a few times before.  This post is a collection of my favorite pictures from Thanksgiving 2013.

This year I paid special attention to the pies, with a new crust, which I didn’t like the taste/flake enough to recommend, though it sure rolled out well and made for a great lattice top.

IMG_4398

 

IMG_4401

 

And since Thanksgiving fell on Chanukah this year, we did a special themed pie. (and boy do I love the color the apples turn after soaking in red wine).

IMG_4397

I had leftover dough and made some mini pecan pies.

IMG_4399  IMG_4408

One part of the adventure for us is that we have to get from our apartment in midtown west to Grand Central Station in midtown east… which means crossing through the parade route at the very time that the parade is wrapping up.

It is always a harrowing trip, but this year I got creative and used my cupcake transporter as a double-decker pie transporter. Worked like a charm (though I did tape the entire thing together out of fear that it would break open).

IMG_4416

Upon arrival, we were greeted by more appetizers than anyone could ever imagine (amazing what happens when you feed 40 people every year as a family).

My dad makes these guacamole shrimp toasts which I always enjoy.

IMG_4449

And our hosts make some delicious figs with blue cheese and almonds.

IMG_4450

These mini meatballs are always a star of the day, served in the same copper pot every year since I can remember (and maybe even since my father can remember).

IMG_4508

 

The table settings are always beautiful.

IMG_4420

And we always know where to sit.

IMG_4507

 

Our hosts’ double oven sure comes in handy when we are reheating 8 different dishes at once.

IMG_4509

And this year, they made the turkeys themselves! (We usually have them made for us)

IMG_4427

Two big, beautiful birds.

IMG_4431

With two odd birds assigned to carving each year (that’s my cousin Eric and aunt Linda).

IMG_4447

Drum sticks (I dove in last year and they weren’t great… so I chose not to this year and heard they were fantastic… damn)

IMG_4443

A beautiful carcass.

IMG_4452

And once everything is carved, the full spread comes out.  This year we had new brussels sprouts, macaroni and cheese, and a bourbon pecan kugel to celebrate Thanksgivukkah.

IMG_4454

IMG_4462

And my zany father… showing off the spread.

IMG_4463

 

Our incredible hosts, Uncle Mark and Aunt Wanda.

 

IMG_4457

Plates of joy.

IMG_4467

IMG_4469

And then it was time for dessert.

Out came the pies.

IMG_4472

And all the other wonderful sweet things (including a pavlova for the first time… awesome)

IMG_4485

Some more contribution from the Nom Nom house: meringues and brownies.

IMG_4490

And then the next day, we hosted the annual leftovers party… and managed to balance a whole lot of groceries on the self-check out scale.

IMG_4511

’til next year!

 

Cake Tasting at Pomme Palais

4 Jan

A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend a Holiday Cake tasting at Pomme Palais, a new French gourmet cafe from Chef Michel Richard.  Pomme Palais is in The Palace Hotel at 30 East 51st Street (between Madison and Park Avenues).

DSCF2833

 

The patisserie itself is brightly lit and spotlights the big, modern cases of various yummy treats.

DSCF2835

DSCF2848

 

The have some packaged goodies ready to go along with the individual items in the case.  (We actually went back and grabbed some candy bars when we were in the area a few days later)

DSCF2847

I was only able to attend for a bit, but we were treated to some amazing pastries in the time I was there.

The patisserie was described as “whimsical” in the overview and that is a great way to explain it.

The Macaron Cake was an “almond vanilla sponge cake layered with chocolate mousse, coated with dark chocolate, and decorated with macarons for playful color and texture”

DSCF2829

 

It was a beautiful and playful cake and was quite delicious.

DSCF2827

 

Though it didn’t sing the way some of the others did.

DSCF2836

 

The Opera Cake was “layered cake of coffee, chocolate, and almond flavors.”DSCF2828

I was a big fan of this one. I am not a huge cake fan, so I liked that this was layers of different textures without much traditional cake cake.

DSCF2855

We also tried the Charlotte Cake “with fruit, apricot, raspberry, passion yogurt mousse and lady fingers.  This cake can have a mousse filling with any fruit the customer prefers.”  This was good but not on the top of my list.

DSCF2831

 

The Orange Creme Brulee Cheesecake was something special.  It was described as “a creative twist on the classic cheesecake and flan.”  True to description, this was a perfect balance of cheesecake’s creamy denseness (but not too dense) with a flan like top.  And the orange added a nice flavor essence.

DSCF2839

The Lemon Eggceptional Cake was a beauty.  It was described as “layers of sponge cake, lemon curd, French meringue, topped with white chocolate lemon eggceptionals.”

DSCF2843

This was very nice and a light and fluffy cake, though lemon isn’t my favorite.

DSCF2853

 

My second favorite cake of the day was the Tart au Pomme which was “puff pastry with thin slices of apple, pastry cream, topped with sugar.”

DSCF2826

The apples on this just popped with flavor. A perfect texture and the perfect balance of tartness and sweet.

DSCF2834

But my number one favorite of the tasting was the Chocolate Fleur d’Automne: “Chocolate flower on top of cake with almond meringue and chocolate mousse.”

 

DSCF2822

 

What can I say? I’m a chocolate girl!  This was an exceptional balance of textures and richness with sweetness and a hint of crisp from the hard thin chocolate on top.  I absolutely loved this cake and even though my tummy was quite full by this time, I ate every last bite of this one.

DSCF2851

 

Though, alas, I couldn’t finish the rest.  I felt awful wasting so much great dessert.

DSCF2849

I had to leave just before the cut into the most adorable of the treats: Michel’s Snowman: “White meringue Snowman wrapped up with a sugar scarf and marzipan-chocolate hat… he carries a rosemary stalk ‘tree’ and includes raspberry sauce.”

You prepare this by rimming the plate with whipped cream and filling the hollow base of the snowman with ice cream.  Sounds like my kind of dessert! I absolutely love hard meringue. I was bummed I didn’t get a chance to try this one, and when we went back a few days later to get some candy, they were all sold out. I’ll just have to go back!

But seriously… how adorable is this guy?

DSCF2825

 

 

Near the end of the tasting, a very jovial Chef Michel Richard came out to say hello.  He is quintessentially French, and while almost a little too friendly with the ladies, he was very happy to ham it up for the camera.  He was incredibly happy and seemed genuinely excited to be sharing his creations with us.

DSCF2850

We were sent home with a lovely box of candy.

 

DSCF2857

 

And each bite was better than the last.  I am very picky about my candies, and these were exceptional.

DSCF2856

I have been to many patisseries in NYC (and around the world), baking is my first love, and I am a dessert person to the extreme.  I wasn’t expecting to like this place as much as I did, and the desserts were really fantastic and original.  The only other place I’ve had desserts as noteworthy is at Dominique Ansel. (Though Chef Ansel will always have my heart)

I would never have known to stop by Pomme Palais had I not been invited to try these cakes, so this was one perk in which I was more than happy to participate.  I was very thankful for the opportunity and can’t wait to go back (and try that snowman)!

Cakes range from $20 (for the snowman) to $42 (for most of the full cakes).  Quite expensive, but worth it to impress at a party. And the individual pastries are probably reasonably priced for a nice snack near Rockefeller Center or before a Radio City performance. (They also have some non-dessert foods that looked quite good). And the candy bars we got a few days later… awesome.

Highly recommend a stop!

 

Note: While I was privileged enough to do this tasting for free, all opinions expressed are my own.