Recipe: Passover Torte, 5770
(Hey, look who got out of rehearsal a few minutes early tonight??)
... While Passover is long over by now, I keep meaning to post the recipe for the cake I tried making this year. I sort of think the one I made a few years back (for which I couldn't locate the recipe this year) was better, or at least bore more resemblance to my grandmother's torte (which on reflection I think was actually walnut, not almond; much more Old World and less Mediterranean). But on the whole it was pretty good. I doubled it to take to dinner on both Saturday and Sunday nights, and it was eminently respectable even among the goyim. :-}
Passover Banana Citrus Almond Torte
adapted from: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Banana-Citrus-Almond-Torte-137697
"A lovely dessert for Passover or any other time. From Gourmet Magazine. Recipe works best if your eggs are at room temperature. Serves 8-10."
Ingredients:
7 eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
1 teaspoon orange rind, freshly grated
4 bananas, very ripe, mashed [note: though I was doubling the recipe, I only happened to have 4 overripe bananas on hand in the freezer, so it was a little less banana-ey than it might have been; I never quite decided whether that was a good thing]
1 cup matzo meal
1 cup almonds, blanched, coarsely ground
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 325°F.
2 In a large bowl, beat yolks till thick and pale.
3 Gradually add in sugar, beating till mixture is very thick.
4 Beat in lemon juice and orange rind.
5 Add in bananas, meal, almonds and salt and beat until mixture is well combined.
6 In a separate bowl, beat egg whites till they just hold stiff peaks.
7 Fold the whites into the batter gently but thoroughly.
8 Pour batter into an ungreased, 9" tube pan, 3-1/2" deep with a removable bottom. [I used a flat springform pan -- actually two, since it was doubled -- and it came out fine except that I should perhaps have baked it at a slightly lower temp for longer.]
9 Bake in the middle of the oven for 55-60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Note that I also glazed it with an improvised chocolate-cachaça glaze, which definitely bought it some style points.
... While Passover is long over by now, I keep meaning to post the recipe for the cake I tried making this year. I sort of think the one I made a few years back (for which I couldn't locate the recipe this year) was better, or at least bore more resemblance to my grandmother's torte (which on reflection I think was actually walnut, not almond; much more Old World and less Mediterranean). But on the whole it was pretty good. I doubled it to take to dinner on both Saturday and Sunday nights, and it was eminently respectable even among the goyim. :-}
Passover Banana Citrus Almond Torte
adapted from: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Banana-Citrus-Almond-Torte-137697
"A lovely dessert for Passover or any other time. From Gourmet Magazine. Recipe works best if your eggs are at room temperature. Serves 8-10."
Ingredients:
7 eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
1 teaspoon orange rind, freshly grated
4 bananas, very ripe, mashed [note: though I was doubling the recipe, I only happened to have 4 overripe bananas on hand in the freezer, so it was a little less banana-ey than it might have been; I never quite decided whether that was a good thing]
1 cup matzo meal
1 cup almonds, blanched, coarsely ground
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 325°F.
2 In a large bowl, beat yolks till thick and pale.
3 Gradually add in sugar, beating till mixture is very thick.
4 Beat in lemon juice and orange rind.
5 Add in bananas, meal, almonds and salt and beat until mixture is well combined.
6 In a separate bowl, beat egg whites till they just hold stiff peaks.
7 Fold the whites into the batter gently but thoroughly.
8 Pour batter into an ungreased, 9" tube pan, 3-1/2" deep with a removable bottom. [I used a flat springform pan -- actually two, since it was doubled -- and it came out fine except that I should perhaps have baked it at a slightly lower temp for longer.]
9 Bake in the middle of the oven for 55-60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Note that I also glazed it with an improvised chocolate-cachaça glaze, which definitely bought it some style points.