Passover Tiramisu

THE COMPLETE RECIPE CAN BE FOUND IN THE DOWNLOADABLE COLLECTION,

AMAZING PASSOVER DESSERTS 

Download now for $5.00, or to see the ingredients and instructions, read on.

Typically, tiramisu is a layered dessert, combining soaked cake with a cheesy, custardy filling. It’s usually made in a large pan and then cut into serving pieces, but it can also be served in shot glasses, custard cups or champagne flutes, as you see in the picture above.  The spongecake batter is easily adapted for Passover, but it can be challenging for the beginner chef, because the eggs need to be separated and the egg whites whipped to firm, but not dry, peaks.  For this Passover, I'll be giving you the directions for both sheetpan and ladyfinger method, but as we get close to Passover, I'm going to try making it with packaged chocolate chip mandel bread.  I think it should work, because the dried ladyfingers taste a lot like the packaged cookies, but I won't be sure until I make it.  I'll report back after Passover, so you'll know if it will be good for next year.    The filling is also easy to adapt for Passover, by using cream cheese and butter in place of the mascarpone, and coffee instead of the brandy or Marsala that is used in traditional tiramisu.  If you can find kosher for Passover coffee or chocolate liqueur (Sabra?), or Passover brandy, that would also be delicious in this recipe.  I was unable to find either where I live, so I'll have to stick with either pure coffee, or I might add a little cocoa to it to give it a more mocha flavor.  The other experiment that I will do this year will be to see how the recipe needs changing if whipped cream cheese is used.  Some of you will only be able to find that kind of cream cheese for Passover.  Again, this recipe will use regular brick cream cheese, but you'll know for next year.  I was so thrilled to see REAL vanilla extract in the Passover section this year!  Passover is all about being flexible, because it's hard to know from year to year what one will be able to find that is kosher for Passover (maybe you lucky New Yorkers or Chicagoans have it easier!).  After Passover, I'll post a recipe for regular tiramisu.

Passover Tiramisu

Serves 12-15

Dairy

MUST BE MADE 1 DAY AHEAD

Spongecake
matzo cake meal
potato starch

 large eggs, room temperature and separated  (DO NOT USE PASTEURIZED EGGS)
sugar + 1/3 cup, divided
 Passover vanilla extract or Passover vanilla sugar (purchased or homemade)

Filling
pasteurized or regular egg yolks (see below for variation)

sugar
brewed coffee, or kosher for Passover coffee or chocolate liqueur, brandy or Marsala

 cream cheese, room temperature (preferably brick, but whipped works too)
unsalted butter, room temperature

whipping cream

Soaking Syrup
warm brewed coffee
sugar (or less, to taste)
Passover Marsala, liqueur or brandy, optional (if not using this, decrease the amount of sugar)

Garnish
grated Passover semisweet chocolate, cocoa, or a combination of the two

For the spongecake:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. with racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven (if you have a convection oven set the temperature to 375 degrees F.).  Decide ahead of time if you are going to eyeball the shape and pipe the ladyfingers, in which case you want to line two cookie sheets with parchment.  If you have trouble visualizing size, draw the size of the ladyfinger on the curled side of a piece of parchment. 3-1/2-inches long by 1-1/4 inches wide is a good size (to simplify, make the width the same width as your ruler so you don’t actually have to measure).

Turn the parchment over, so that when you start piping you will not be piping onto the side you have drawn on. Set the parchment on greased baking sheets (the grease keeps the parchment anchored so it doesn't go flying when you move the sheet).  Another alternative is to spoon the batter into two jelly roll pans and then spread it into a sheet.  For this method you'll want to spray a dab of oil onto the bottom of two jelly roll pans and then cut parchment to fit the pans.

For the spongecake batter:

In a small bowl, sift together the matzo cake meal and potato starch.  Set aside.

Place the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed, adding ½ cup of sugar gradually. If you like sweeter cake,  beat in another 1/4 cup of sugar (3/4 cup total).  When all of the sugar has been added, increase the speed to high, and beat until the egg yolks are thick, fluffy and pale in color, about 5 minutes.  Beat in the vanilla, if using. Sift the flour mixture into the egg yolks, but do not mix together.

Transfer the eggs whites to a large, clean, grease-free mixing bowl. Using clean, grease-free beaters, beat the eggs whites until very foamy throughout.

Gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, and beat the whites just until they form stiff peaks. Do not overbeat or they will be hard to blend into the batter.

STIR 1/3 of the whites into the batter to lighten the texture. Fold in the remaining egg whites.

Spoon the batter into a pastry bag with a ¾-inch round tip. Using the template you have drawn on the parchment paper, pipe ladyfingers leaving ½-inch between each ladyfinger (your batter will be lighter and fluffier than what is pictured here, which are actually eclairs - shown just so you can see the angle of the pastry bag).

Below, is actually the dough you will be using.  I've piped these by eye (you can see they aren't all exactly the same length), and the fatter ones are the ones I spooned on.

An alternative method is to spoon the batter into two prepared jelly-roll pans

and then spread the batter as evenly as possible, without deflating it too much.  It's okay if the batter is a bit lumpy and uneven - much better than deflating it.

Place the pans in the oven, and bake 5 minutes. Switch the pans so the bottom one is now on the top, and bake another 5 minutes until the ladyfingers or cakes are golden brown (you won't need to switch sheets if using a convection oven) and springy to the touch.

Remove the sheets from the oven.  For the ladyfingers, slide the parchment paper onto cooling racks. Remove the ladyfingers from the parchment paper before they cool completely.  For the cakes, let them cool in the pan and then cut around the edges and slide the cakes onto a cutting board.  When cool, cut the cakes into fingers. Because it's too hard to get the cake perfectly spread in the pan, some pieces will be thinner than others.  You have about 10 more than you ned, so you may discard any that are overly thin or thick.

If using the ladyfingers within a day or two, reheat the oven to 400 degrees (350 if you have lots of very thin fingers), place the ladyfingers on a cookie sheet, flat side up, and place them back in the oven.  Turn the oven off, and let them toast for about an hour, checking after 30 minutes to make sure they aren't too brown.  They should be toasted and firm. Set aside to cool. For longer storage, freeze the untoasted ladyfingers for up to 3 months. Defrost before using them, and then toast them as above.

For the filling:
For pasteurized eggs, place them (in the shell) into a bowl of hot water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes. Crack the eggs, save or discard the whites and transfer the yolks to a large mixer bowl. Beat for a minute to blend, and then beat in the sugar. Continue to beat until the eggs are pale and thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in the coffee. 

If using regular eggs, whisk in the sugar and the coffee, and then beat them on medium speed, over boiling water. for 3 minutes.  Keep the beater moving to prevent the egg from overcooking. Increase the beater speed to high and beat for 4 more minutes.  Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to beat for 7 minutes to cool the eggs down.

To continue, beat the cream cheese with butter until well mixed.  Stir in 1 cup of the egg mixture and then fold in the remainder (if using the whipped cream cheese you might need to use less of the egg mixture.  You don't want it to be too soupy, but it will thicken back up after you add in the whipped cream).

Place the whipping cream in a small bowl.  Beat on high speed until the mixture forms firm peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

For the syrup:

Combine the warm coffee, sugar and alcohol, if using,  in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. 

Assembly:
To assemble the tiramisu, dip one ladyfinger at a time into the syrup, turning it in the syrup for about 10 seconds, just until it softens, but isn’t soft throughout. Place each, flat side up, in an 9x12-inch decorative pan, until the whole bottom is covered.

Spoon on half of the filling. Dip the remaining ladyfingers, as above, placing them on top of the filling. Spoon on the remaining filling. Cover the pan with foil. Refrigerate overnight. Before serving, sprinkle the top with grated chocolate, cocoa or a combination (adding in some ground coffee might be nice, too). The Tiramisu will be firm enough to cut into pieces, although the first piece will be hard to remove. Use a small square spatula to get the pieces out of the pan.

If you want to make the tiramisu in a glass cup, you'll want to either pipe rounds, or use the jelly-roll method and cut out rounds from the single sheet. 

Remember that if the glass flares out, the rounds need to be graduated from small on the bottom, to larger at the top.  Adding grated chocolate between the layers, as well as on top, looks really pretty when you can see the dessert through the glass.

DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE COLLECTION,
AMAZING PASSOVER DESSERTS
$5.00

Key Lime Pie

Key lime pie is one of those quirky desserts that people either love or hate. The color is always a topic of lively conversation because it’s naturally an off-yellow color, but is often colored green from added food coloring. True Key limes are generally expensive, time consuming to prepare (you need about 48 for this recipe – 12 times the cost of regular limes). They’re also not readily available. Fortunately, regular limes make fine pie and are preferable to bottled Key lime juice.
If you’d like a tarter pie, add more zest. I recently made 5 key lime pies, and I was surprised at the difference in tartness among them. The only ingredient that changed was the amount of zest, which I didn’t measure, but only eyeballed. If you really, really, care, the best way to come out with a pie that tastes the same time after time, is to weigh the amount of zest you add. Even measuring it in a tablespoon will be variable, because zest can get packed down.

You can also change the texture of the pie depending on how you handle the ingredients.  I like a firmer pie, so I beat the ingredients on a lower speed and for less time.  The directions for a fluffier variation follow, as does the recipe for a lower fat version.

Makes 10 servings

Graham Cracker Crust
5 ounces of graham crackers (about 10-12 crackers or 1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers)
3 - 4 tablespoons sugar, to taste
5 - 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Lime Filling
3 large egg yolks + 1 egg white or an additional yolk
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Green food coloring, optional

Garnish
3/4 cup whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks with powdered sugar to taste (1-3 tablespoons is common -1/4 teaspoon of vanilla is optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate.

For the crust:
Grind the cookies and sugar in a food processor until finely ground, or place the cookies in a large plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin. Place the cookie crumbs in a bowl and stir in the sugar, if it isn’t already mixed in. Add  5 tablespoons butter to the crumbs, stirring with a fork to moisten them. Add more butter, as necessary to just hold the crumbs together when pressed with your fingers (the exact amount will depend on the cookies used and how you grind them).\

Pour the crumbs into the pie plate. Press the crumbs into the pie plate, forming the sides by pressing up with the back of the hand and then thinning and packing it down with the thumb and forefinger.  This will also tell you how thick the crust is, and will allow you to even it out.  To finish, press down very firmly on the bottom crust, either with th back of your fist or a flat-bottomed glass.

Bake the graham cracker crust for about 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a medium mixer bowl, place the yolks, egg white and zest. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until well blended. On medium-low, beat in the condensed milk.  Beat in the lime juice a little at a time (it will start to thicken as you add the juice). If you are unhappy with the color, add a tiny drop of green food coloring.

Pour the lime filling into the crust. Bake until the center is set, 15- 20 minutes. Let the pie cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Garnish the pie with the whipped cream, either spreading it over the entire pie, piping it into a design, or spooning cream onto each serving.

To make a richer, creamier pie, follow the above directions, but beat the egg yolks (no white) until fluffy (2-3 minutes), beat in the condensed milk for 3-4 minutes and then beat in the lime juice, a little at a time,  on low. Bake at 325 degrees F. until set.

To make lower fat key lime pie, use non-fat sweetened condensed milk and only ¼ cup of whipped cream, piped thinly over the pie.

Valentine's Day Layer Cake

A nice way to tell someone that you care about them is to make a heart shaped cake.  Heart shaped cakes come in many different sizes to suit the occasion and number of people to be served.  Having some amount of red on the cake is tradition for Valentine's so I like to use a reddish jam in both the filling and on top of the cake.  In this cake, I used mixed berry preserves because it has less seeds than raspberry jam so I didn't need to strain it. 

Yellow Cake Layers
2-1/8 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour, measured by fluffing, scooping and leveling
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

13-1/2 tablespoons (6.5 ounces) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
1-1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 large eggs, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature

2 tablespoons oil

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature.

Cassis Buttercream
4-1/2 sticks (25 ounces) unsalted butter
1-1/2 pounds Marshmallow Fluff®
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup cassis liqueur
3 tablespoons corn syrup, or to taste

1 (10-ounce) jar mixed berry jam or preserves*

*I like to use mixed berry preserves because it has less seeds in it than raspberry, and does not need to be strained. Straining jam causes it to thin out quite a bit, so unstrained goes on in a thicker layer without dripping. Try to find jam that has fruit as the first ingredient and does not contain corn syrup. This will give you the freshest tasting jam or preserves.

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. with a rack in the middle of the oven. Spray-grease a 10-inch heart-shaped cake pan. Line the bottoms of the pan with parchment paper, spray-grease, and then flour the pan.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Place the butter and sugar into a large mixer bowl, and beat for a full 5-7 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and then beat for a minute to blend everything. Beat in the oil.

By hand, stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture into the batter. Stir in 1/2 of the milk. Repeat until all of the flour and milk has been added (if you want the cake to be a little more sturdy and less crumbly, you can do this in the mixer, but it’s harder to get all of the milk in without the batter curdling).  The batter will be thick.

Spoon all but ½ cup of the batter into the pan and spread it evenly in the pan (use a toothpick to check the thickness at various places). Discard the extra batter.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until a tester inserted into the middle of a cake comes out absolutely clean. The cake should be nicely browned and will deflate slightly when it is completely cooked.

Cool the pan on a rack and then run a knife around the perimeter to loosen the cake. Place a piece of waxed paper over the cake and then a rigid board, cardboard or pan. Holding everything together, flip the cake over. Rap the whole assembly sharply on the counter to loosen the cake, and then remove the pan.

Remove the parchment. Place a cakeboard onto the cake, and re-invert so that the cake is now right-side up and on its cakeboard . Let the cake cool completely. Using a cake saw or a serrated knife, cut off just a little of the top of the cake to make it level, and then slice the cake in half, horizontally to create two layers.

Slide a baking sheet or an extra large spatula under the top layer and remove it from the bottom. Place it in the freezer.

For the buttercream:
It’s ultra important that the butter be at the right temperature for this recipe to work. Cut the butter into tablespoons and let it stand on a cutting board until barely soft. Using your thumb, push down on each pat to flatten it into the board (it will still be very firm, and will split when you press down on it). In 3-5 minutes the butter should be ready. If you press down on it with your thumb, it should yield readily, but should not be soft and melty. If the butter is a little firm, it can always be beaten a little bit more, but if too soft, you’ll have to refrigerate it, and start over. I always aim for a little bit harder, rather than too soft.

Now that the butter is at the proper temperature, scrape the butter into a mixing bowl and beat it until creamy (1 or 2 minutes.) Scrape down the bowl. Beat in the powdered sugar until fluffy. Add half of the Fluff, and beat on medium high until blended. Add the remaining Fluff, and continue to beat, on medium-high, for 2-5 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy and light and no longer marshmallowy.

This is what it should look like.
If the buttercream, does not form after beating for 5 minutes, place it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, and then try and beat it again. After the buttercream forms, beat in the vanilla. Beat in the cassis 1 tablespoon at a time. If the buttercream is not sweet enough, beat in the corn syrup, to taste. Remember that the cake will be layered with jam, which is quite sweet. You might want to take some of the cake that you cut off, of the cake,  layer it with jam and buttercream and taste it, before adding any of the corn syrup.

Assembling the cake:
Spread half of the preserves over the bottom layer, leaving about 1/4 –inch around the perimeter of the cake without jam. Pipe a rim of buttercream to hold in the jam.  (Here you can see that I didn't leave an edge and pipe a border, and the jam leaked out and onto the sides).

Spoon on a  globs of  buttercream and then spread  these to form a solid layer, 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch, to taste. Be careful not to get the jam mixed up into the frosting.

Set the top layer on the cake.  Spread frosting on the sides. If any jam has gotten into the frosting or if there are a lot of crumbs, you might want to put just a very thin layer of frosting on the cake and then refrigerate it for an hour to set the crumb coat of frosting.
 

Spread the remaining preserves onto the top of the cake, again leaving the perimeter clean. Pipe a border of your choosing around the perimeter.


If you do not need to write anything on the cake, it looks prettiest if the top jam shows through, so a nice diagonal design, as you see in the opening photo, looks great. If you need to write on the top of the cake, again spoon on some frosting and then spread it to cover the top.  Write on the cake, and then do the final top border. To finish the cake, set it on the serving platter and pipe the bottom border (if you have a cake board that is bigger than the can, you can pipe the bottom border directly onto it.  Refrigerate until ready to about 3 hours before serving and then let it stand at room temperature.

Store the cake in a cake container, in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

Napoleons

I've been absent from blogging for quite awhile finishing up my new book on CD-rom,  and it's finally off to the printer!  It'll be ready for sale in about a month and I look forward to sharing it with everyone.  I'm headed  to Orlando on Sunday, but thought I'd post one of my favorite pastries before I leave.
Napoleons take a LOT of time to make, even if you start with pre-packaged puff pastry. BUT, they are fantastic to eat and to look at. When you make them at home, you decide how thick and creamy you’d like the filling, how sweet you like the topping and how many layers of pastry there are. You can eat them fresh, rather than having ones that have been sitting in a display case for 8 hours. They’re worth every minute you spend on them. The traditional napoleon has 3 layers of pastry and two layers of cream. The only problem with a napoleon that tall is that the filling tends to squish out when you try and put a fork into it. We prefer the two layer version that you see on the left of the picture. We also prefer to cut them into smaller sizes, as they are very rich and filling.

If you have enough refrigerator space, for the same amount of work, you can double the recipe and use the whole package of puff pastry.  It's hard to say how many this serves, because it depends on if you do a double or triple layer of pastry and how large you cut them (more details follow).

Vanilla Custard (Crème Pâtissière)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 cups half and half
3-inch piece of vanilla bean, split lengthwise with one end still attached
1-2 tablespoons softened, unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream, optional

1/2 (17 ounce) package frozen puff pastry

Vanilla Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon boiling water
2 tablespoons corn syrup

Chocolate Cream Piping
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

For the custard:
Place the cornstarch and sugar in a medium saucepan. In a small bowl, briskly whisk together the egg yolks and the half and half. A little at a time, stir the egg mixture into the cornstarch mixture. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the pot and then add the vanilla bean into the pot.

Vanilla beans are supposed to be soft, allowing you to cut them in half and scrape out the seeds. If your vanilla bean is old and hard, soak it in a little bit of hot water until it softens, and then scrape out the seeds.  You can use the water for flavoring, as well.

Over medium heat, cook the egg mixture about 7 minutes, stirring constantly, in a figure eight pattern, to make sure that the eggs don’t overcook. Cook until the custard thickens and comes to a boil. Stir vigorously to get the custard mixed and smooth. Strain the custard, through a medium-mesh strainer, into a storage container. Immediately stir in the softened butter, piece by piece. Press a piece of waxed paper directly onto the surface of the custard.

Let the custard stand at room temperature until it cools slightly and then cover it and refrigerate until ready to use. If you like a lighter custard, just before serving, beat the heavy cream to medium-firm peaks. Fold the cream into the custard.

For the pastry:
The pastry needs to defrost at room temperature for 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. with a rack in the middle of the oven. If the dough has not thawed enough to open the dough up, let it defrost awhile longer. Unfold the pastry onto a lightly floured surface.

Cut the dough into 3 strips, using the fold marks as a guide. Transfer the strips to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Using a fork, prick the dough all over to help it rise evenly.

Cover the dough with another piece of parchment, and then top this with  a baking sheet of the same size.

Set the pan in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the baking sheet and parchment covering the pastry. Bake for another 5 minutes, until the pastries are golden brown. Turn off the oven, leaving the door ajar, and let the pastries dry out for 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven and transfer to cooling racks to cool completely. They can be made up to 24 hours in advance if stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

For the vanilla icing:
Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add the vanilla and enough boiling water to make a spreadable glaze (about 3 tablespoons). Cover with plastic wrap.

For the chocolate piping:
Heat the cream in a microwave-safe bowl until starting to bubble, about 20 seconds. Stir in the chocolate. Let the mixture stand for awhile, and then stir until completely melted and mixed. Transfer the mixture to a small plastic-bag pastry bag  but don’t snip the tip yet. Tie the top with a rubber band or tie, and set it in a cup.

Assembly:
You can only make 1 decorative pastry top at a time, as the white icing must be wet when the chocolate icing is piped. Have a skewer and the chocolate icing handy.

Spread 1 pastry strip with the vanilla icing.

Immediately, while the vanilla icing is wet, pipe chocolate lines across the pastry (the distance apart is a matter of taste, but approximately 1/2-inch is about right).

Turn the pastry so the lines are horizontal.





Immediately, start at the top right or left of the pastry, 1/4-inch from the edge. Draw a shallow vertical line with the skewer, through the piped lines of chocolate.

For the next line start at the bottom, 1/2-inch from the 1st pass and draw the skewer tip upward to the top.

Continue alternating directions until the whole pastry has a herringbone pattern.

If making the triple layer napoleons, you will only need the one top. If making the dual layered pastry, cut one pastry strip in half and decorate one half.  Set the pastry aside.

If making the three layer napoleons, split one strip of pastry in half, horizontally.

Set a  whole piece of pastry on a tray that will fit in your refrigerator. Spoon on a thick layer of pastry cream (1/4-1/2-inch). Set one of the split pastries on top and spoon on another layer of cream.

Place the top pastry on the tray and refrigerate everything for 1hour.



If making the two layer pastry, omit the split layer and second layer of cream.

After the pastry has been refrigerated for 1 hour, cut the top pastry to the serving size you desire. Set these pieces on top of the stack, and then slice through the stack with a serrated knife, to make the individual napoleons.

Refrigerate until ready to serve, but serve within 8 hours.

* Note: I always double the recipe, because it doesn’t take much more effort to do a whole pound as a half, however, it does take a lot of refrigerator space.

Napoleons can also be filled with whipped cream or Cream Cheese Filling.