Matzo and Coconut Cream Napoleon

Another great dessert solution for passover! Also taken from Janna Gur's The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey this is a fresh twist on our favorite classic napoleon cake. Instead of puff pastry we use matzahs dipped in caramel, our cream is coconut based, and we add some strawberries to liven up the taste! It might look complicated, but it's really quite a simple dish and can make for a very good impression! Just make sure you prepare the different parts ahead of time to allow the cream and matzahs time to cool before assembly.

INGREDIENTS

Coconut cream:

800ml coconut milk (2 cans)

5 tbsp corn starch

8 egg yolks

150g sugar (3/4cup+1/2tbsp)

3 tsp rose water 

Caramel matzot:

10-15 matzos

oil

250g sugar (1¼ cup)

1 cup coconut milk

Plating:

strawberries

confectioners’ sugar

METHOD

1.     Coconut cream: dissolve the corn starch in ½ cup coconut milk, add the egg yolks and most of the sugar, and beat well.

2.     Bring the remaining coconut milk and the remaining sugar to a boil and gradually add to the egg mixture.

3.     Transfer the mixture back to the pan and heat slowly, stirring constantly, until it thickens to a cream. Remove from heat, add rose water, let it cool and then place in a piping bag.

4.     Caramel matzos: wet each matzo with water and wrap in kitchen towel for 30 minutes. Then cut into circles or squares by using a cookie cutter. Fry each piece in oil on both sides until golden. Remove and dry on paper towel.

5.     Dissolve the sugar in a saucepan with a few tbsps of water over medium heat until it caramelizes. Bring coconut milk to a boil and gradually pour into the caramel, stirring constantly. Cook for a few minutes until smooth and creamy.

6.     Dip the fried matzos in the caramel for 2 minutes, remove and cool.

To serve: place a matzo disk, pipe some cream on top, put a few pieces of strawberries, put another matzo, more cream and fruit, and another matzo. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve!

Pistachio and Chocolate Flourless Cake

To continue on with the passover edition, here's a solution to dessert with no flour! I got this out of my favorite source which I have mentioned to you before, The Book of New Israeli Cooking by Janna Gur - a must have in my opinion! This cake is extremely simple and quick and made solely out of nuts. If you don't have pistachios you may replace them with hazelnuts. Happy baking!

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

2 separated eggs

½ cup+1tbsp sugar

1½  cups pistachios

1 tbsp cocoa powder

¾ cup almonds

¾ cup chocolate chips

1½ tbsp melted butter

METHOD

1.     Chop the pistachios coarsely (I like to put them in a ziplock bag and crush with a hammer).

2.     Grind the almonds finely.

3.     Beat 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks with 80g (¼cup+2tbsp+2tsp) sugar using a mixer until a thick, fluffy cream forms.

4.     Add the pistachios, almonds, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips and mix to a smooth batter.

5.     Beat the 2 egg whites with the remaining sugar (2.5tbsp) to soft peaks and fold into the batter.

6.     Melt the butter, stir it into the batter.

7.   Pour the batter into a well greased pan and bake for 40 minutes in 310^oF (160^oC).

Persian Saffron Ice Cream

Most likely the tastiest ice cream you'll ever have, period! Persian ice cream is simply vanilla ice cream flavored with saffron and rose water to give it it's unique taste and accompanied by crunchy pistachios for the final touch. You may find rose water in Persian or middle eastern stores, and if you can, try to find the real Persian Saffron and not the Spanish kind. Prep time is literally 5-10 minutes and the result is simply heavenly! If you don't have these ingredients handy but are dying to try this ice cream, hop over to your nearest Persian restaurant for a taste :)

INGREDIENTS

1 quart Vanilla ice cream

1/2 - 1 small container heavy cream

½ tsp saffron

2 tbsp rose water

¾ cup pistachios

METHOD

1.     Place heavy cream in a ziplock bag or flat container and place in freezer over night.

2.     Place the ice cream container in the fridge to soften to room temperature.

3.     Dissolve ½ tsp saffron in 2 tbsp boiling water and let cool.

4.     Place pistachios in a ziplock back and use a hammer to crush them.

5.    When heavy cream has frozen solid crush it into small pieces (about 5mm). They don't need to be even, simply small enough chunks to blend into the ice cream.

6.     When the ice cream is soft, mix in the saffron water, the rose water, the pistachio chunks, and the cream chunks.

7.     Mix well and place the mixture in the freezer for a few hours.

8.    Serve garnished with pistachios and other nuts on top if desired.

Ebelskivers

Ebelskivers are a classic Danish favorite that can be served as a breakfast treat, appetizer, or dessert - the choices are endless! This extremely versatile dish consists of small fluffy pancakes filled with your choice of filling, making it a great choice to serve as any part of a meal!

The trick to ebelskivers is the need for special equipment, specifically, the infamous pan that can be seen in the picture. Once you have that, it is one of the easiest things you'll ever make! Knowing my passion for trying out new recipes from around the world, my wonderful brother managed to find me the perfect gift this past holiday season by giving me this specialized pan along with a book full of ebelskivers recipes. Of course I jumped on the opportunity and started trying out the various recipes in this book.

The recipe in this post is the basic batter. You can take it and add anything you want in the middle, salty or sweet, and make your own creation. However, as I try more recipes from the book I will be posting my favorite combinations for delicious ebelskivers.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all purpose flour

1.5 tsp sugar

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2 large eggs, separated

1 cup whole milk

2 tbsp unsalted butter

METHOD

1.     Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2.     Separately, whisk egg yolks, whisk in milk, and melted but cooled butter.

3.     Add yolk mixture to flour mixture, stir with a wooden spoon until well blended. Don’t over stir, batter will be lumpy.

4.     Separately, using an electric mixer on high speed beat the egg whites until still peaks form. Using a silicone spatula, fold about 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold the rest until no white streaks remain. Use batter right away.

5.     Brush the wells of the pan with some melted butter and place over medium heat. When butter starts to bubble add 1 tbsp batter to each well, then 1 tsp of selected filling, and top off with 1 tbsp batter. Cook until bottoms are lightly browned, turn them over, and cook until other side is lightly browned.

6.    Remove and keep warm in a 200F oven

Fruit Cake

Whenever I go visit my grandma it is hard leave without tasting "something sweet" of course.. This cake is very simple to make and somehow no matter how large the meal that precedes it, there is just a little more room for this cake and some hot tea!

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs

3 tbsp mayonnaise

3 tbsp sour cream

200g kefir

1 bag baking powder

1 bag vanilla sugar

2-3 tbsp all purpose flour

Fruit:  apples, apricots, fruit of choice

METHOD

1.       Add a pinch of salt to the eggs and beat them.

2.       Beat in remaining ingredients to consistency of thick sour cream that doesn’t flow.

3.       Pour more than half the batter into a baking dish, place fruit such as apples or apricots, add cinnamon, and cover with remainder of batter.

4.     Bake at 350F for 30mins.

Éclairs

Deliiiiicious and quite a simple dessert to make! It takes multiple steps, read them all carefully ahead of time, but once you get to the job it's really very easy to make and can usually be made when you don't have anything else at home since it uses only very basic ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

100g margarine

1 cup water

1 cup flour

¼ tsp salt

4 eggs

Filler:

2 containers whipping cream or heavy cream

3 tbsp sugar powder

METHOD

1.       Boil water with salt and margarine. Remove from fire and add cup of flour.

2.       Mix well and return to fire while mixing until it separates from sides.

3.       Remove from fire and add an egg, mix in well, then add the remaining eggs and mix until smooth.

4.       Put in a bag and form shapes.

5.       Bake for 30min in 200C (392F)

6.     Filler: whisk 2 containers of heavy cream (שמנת מתוקה) with 3 tbsp sugar powder.

Crêpes

One of the most famous foods in the whole world, French Crêpes are a common street food in many countries. It's fillings can be sweet or salty, light or heavy, and the way it is folded varies just as much. The ways to make crêpes at home also vary and are simply based on your preference. You can purchase crêpe pans of various sizes on which you pour the batter and with a motion of your wrist spread the batter to a thin layer. You can also purchase a crêpe maker onto which you pour the batter and spread with a special crêpe spreader that is usually sold together, and that is the way most street vendors make it. But none of this is essential, if you're just starting out - just use your regular pan! 

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs

3.5 tbsp butter (50g)

2 tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

2 cups flour

2 cups milk

METHOD

1.   Mix dry and liquid ingredients separately, then combine.

2.   Let stand for 30min.

3.  Fry on medium heat and turn when the amount of steam lessens and edges start to set.

4. Serving suggestion: Spread nutella on half the crepe, top it with slices bananas, fold it in half, then fold one third to the middle and the other third over it, creating a pie shaped folded crepe.