Chicago Tribune (MCT) - You've pulled together your favorite recipes for the many meals that fill the eight days of Passover, the holiday marking the Exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Your special charoset, that fruit-nut mix for the Seder plate. The garlic-perfumed roast chicken recipe from Aunt Ruth. Maybe the potato kugel you had at your cousin Edie's last Passover. Oh, yes, and you better do your "famous" brisket or there will be grousing from the children.
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Now about dessert. Of all the courses served at meals during Passover (which begins this year at sundown April 8), none may puzzle some cooks as much as dessert. No flour may be used, no corn (think cornmeal, cornstarch), no beans (so those gluten-free mixes _ make sure they don't use garbanzo or fava bean flour) and, for some, no rice.
"Generally when you take a year-round recipe and try to make it for Passover, you certainly do find challenges," said Shalva Meyers of the Chicago Rabbinical Council.
That hasn't stopped creative cooks from developing simple and impressive sweet finishes for meals.
In the absence of flour, finely ground nuts or p otato starch or matzo cake meal step in to add structure. With baking powder and yeast not allowed, stiffly beaten egg whites are incorporated into batters to leaven cakes.
We talked to bakers and dug through our recipes and came up with these tips for making the perfect holiday cake. And, from a n old favorite cookbook, we found a simple-to-make sponge roll that's as versatile as the imagination of the baker.
FITTING FINALES
Long before Passover begins, savvy cooks will be prepping for the meals and gatherings of family and friends that mark the eight-day holiday.
And that means stirring up a few desserts. Coconut macaroons, bite-size meringues and cakes made with matzo cake meal regularly show up as a meal's sweet finale.
But for something different, consider these: A spongecake that uses finely ground almonds to give it structure and a delicate creation based on dacquoise. (Dacquoise? It's layers of baked nut-flavored meringue stacked with whipped cream or other fillings. It's French, so call it dah-KWAHZ.)
One example is the dacquoise from chef Rafael Ornelas at Sarah's Pastries & Candies (at two locations in Chicago). It includes circles of hazelnut dacquoise layered with chocolate mousse and topped with buttercream frosting. And at a special Passover seder April 8 at Maxwell's at the Club in Chicago, an open-to-the-public restaurant in the East Bank Club, chef Rich Hall is using lemon cream and fresh strawberries along with baked meringues to build his dacquoise.
For you chocolate lovers, turn to Maida Heatter, the legendary dessert maven and cookbook author. Her chocolate almond sponge torte has few ingredients but is full of deep chocolate flavor.
The best part? These two desserts have prepare-ahead components. The meringues can be made a day or two ahead, says Ornelas, then stored covered with plastic or in a plastic container. And as Heatter notes, her sponge torte can "be made a few hours before serving or the day before (or it may be frozen with the icing and then thawed before serving)."
Such prepare-ahead options are a blessing for cooks such as Chicagoan Yitty Friedman, who is busy readying family favorites for Passover meals.
"For the seder itself we make really simple and elegant food," Friedman said. "The focus (of the meal) is the recounting of events that led up to the Exodus. It's a very family-oriented event."
But there will be desserts, maybe strawberry shortcake made with spongecake or perhaps a chocolate trifle, a layering of chocolate cake or brownie pieces with chocolate mousse and whipped topping.
Of course, in keeping with the holiday's restrictions, Friedman uses only ingredients that are certified "kosher for Passover," whether that means a non-dairy whipped topping or margarine.
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TIPS FOR PERFECT HOLIDAY CAKES
Have _ eggs at room temperature for best volume.
Separate _ eggs carefully; the slightest bit of yolk in the whites will reduce the beaten volume.
Use _ a bowl that's completely free of grease; fat can deflate the eggs.
Have _ all ingredients ready to go before beating egg whites so whites don't have time to deflate, advises Sarah Levy, of Sarah's Pastries & Candies in Chicago.
Watch _ carefully while beating egg whites so they are beaten stiff, but not dry.
Stiff, not dry _ "When you (lift) the beater, the peak (of the egg white-batter) will stand straight up; if it bends back down you need to beat it more," said Levy. "If it breaks, it's gone."
Pulse _ nuts in a food processor in spurts; overprocess them, and you'll have nut butter.
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WALNUT CAKE ROLL
Prep: 45 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Makes: 10 servings
This cake roll is adapted from a recipe found in the 1966 edition of "The New Portal to Good Cooking," from the Women's American ORT in Chicago. It can be filled with a fruit preserve of your choice (we used raspberry).
6 eggs, separated
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
Confectioners' sugar or superfine sugar
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-by-15-inch jellyroll pan; line with ...
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