Passover Pareve Desserts

[Jason Perlow]

So assuming most of us are having meat meals on Passover, and some of us are choosing to be observant to the letter -- but want to prepare a nice dessert. I'm guessing that some of you have already come up with some good ideas for dairy-free, chometz-free creations.

No? Yeah, I had a hard time coming up with some as well.

But I had a stroke of genius. Well, not exactly genius, since I ripped the idea off from Uncle Louie G's Italian Ices -- a New York metro-area Italian Ice chain that has Kosher supervision. They have a particular flavor of Italian Ice that can be best described as a synthesis of Fudgesicle and Joyva Jelly Ring. Really, I assure you its much better than it sounds. And its a pretty easy dessert to make --

You Need:

Fox's U-Bet, Kosher For Passover Edition, or other KFP chocolate syrup

Raspberry or Orange Flavored Kosher for Passover Joyva chocolate-coated Jelly Rings or Jelly Bars (yes, like the ones Bubbe used to have)

Cold Water, preferably purified

Optional: Non-dairy pareve creamer, such as a soymilk (optional -- note that Coffee Mate and some other products are technically OU-D, not pareve so if you want to be actually kosher you can't use them)

Okay, here goes. First, you want to make a very strong "chocolate water" of the U-bet, and dissolve it pretty good in the water, and mix it up good. Add in some of the non-dairy creamer or soymilk, if you want to give it more of a creamier consistency -- otherwise this will be more like a granita as opposed to a cream ice. Chop up the Joyva Chocolate Jelly Rings, then throw the whole shebang into your ice cream maker or gelato machine. When it starts to stiffen up, remove it from the ice cream maker and put it into a container to put into the freezer to serve later, or let it go a little bit longer and serve it immediately.

This is great to eat by itself, or alongside some matzoh-meal cake thing.

Note from Rachel: Add some unsweetened cocoa powder to the chocolate water, if you use all U-Bet, it'll be too sweet.

Edited March 24, 2005 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Ah, yes, I remember this so well ... from last Pesach ...

[bloviatrix]

Ummmm, Jason -- for those chosing to be "observant to the letter" soy milk and it's substitutes aren't kosher for passover at least for those us who are of Ashkenaz stock. Soy is a legume.

In that case, what about making chocolate sorbet? Or using coconut milk for richness?

[Pam R]

Rich's makes passover creamer...or kineret

[rooftop1000]

Ummmm, Jason -- for those chosing to be "observant to the letter" soy milk and it's substitutes aren't kosher for passover at least for those us who are of Ashkenaz stock.  Soy is a legume. 

In that case, what about making chocolate sorbet?  Or using coconut milk for richness?

←

The mention of coconut milk just popped a light on for me...and reminded me of an icecream recipe I heard a while back something about using frozen bananas so I did a search and found something very "cool"

here

http://www.justfruitrecipes.com/fru-0070309.html

...non dairy, rich and creamy, nothing fake, well may have to use rum extract I dont know ...not Jewish

tracey

[Jason Perlow]

Ummmm, Jason -- for those chosing to be "observant to the letter" soy milk and it's substitutes aren't kosher for passover at least for those us who are of Ashkenaz stock.  Soy is a legume. 

In that case, what about making chocolate sorbet?  Or using coconut milk for richness?

←

Soybeans aren't kosher pareve? Is there -any- non dairy creamer that is kosher pareve?

EDIT: Rich's, yeah, you can try that.

Coconut milk? I dunno...

As I said earlier, you dont -HAVE- to use any kind of creamer, its fine as a sorbet/ice.

[bloviatrix]

Jason, soybeans are kosher-parve. But not kosher l'pesach for ashkenazim.

As for kosher l'Pesach Rich's -- considering how nasty the ingredients are for the regular stuff, I'd be terrified to try the passover version.

BTW, the April issue of Gourmet has some interesting dessert recipes.

[bloviatrix]

Here are some thoughts for Passover desserts that are parve and don't use margerine:

Meringue baskets filled with fruit compote or sorbet

Strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar with sugar and a vanilla bean

Hazelnut macaroons (adapted from the Gefilte Variations)

12 oz. ground hazelnuts (you can buy them ground or buy whole ones, toast to remove skins and grind in a food processor with some of the sugar)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspon almond extract or hazelnut flavored liqueur

3 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 325F

In food processor combine pulse ground hazelnuts and sugar to make sure nuts are well ground. While machine is running add the extract and the egg whites - one at a time. Process until mixture is a smooth paste and transfer to a bowl. Cover and chill for 15 - 20 minutes.

On parchment paper lined cookie sheet, drop rounded balls of batter approximately 1 tablespoon each about 2 inches apart. Smooth and flatten the balls with either your hand or a spoon.

Bake for about 15 minutes. The macaroons will be dry, puffed and beginning to get some color. slide parchment on a rack allow macaroons to cool. Store in airtight container.

For something a little more elaborate, dip them in chocolate.

[Pam R]

Meringue baskets filled with fruit compote or sorbet

←

I was going to suggest a Pavlova as well - I know I know I know not everybody loves the non-dairy topping - but mix some with some lemon or orange curd and top with fresh fruit. Perfect Passover dessert.

Have I mentioned that I'm all in favour of non-dairy subs? You just need to add other flavourings to them.

[cakewalk]

And if you're keeping kosher to the letter, let's not forget you'd need to have a separate, kosher for Passover ice cream maker.

I like my flourless pareve chocolate brownies (given to me by my neighbor when I was living in Jerusalem):

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

4 oz (1/2 c.) pareve margerine (unsalted)

2 oz (1/4 c.) potato flour

4 oz (1/2 c.) sugar (if possible, superfine sugar, or process it for a couple of seconds)

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F, grease an 8 inch square pan and line w/parchment.

Melt the butter by stirring over a pan of very hot water. Add chocolate and stir until it has melted completely.

Remove from heat source, stir in the sugar, the yolks, vanilla, baking powder and sifted potato flour.

Beat egg whites w/pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks.

Fold into chocolate mixture.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake about 45 minutes.

They rise alot and then deflate after they're cooled. But they're so rich and chewey and chocolatey. I haven't made them since I got back to the States (I always go out somewhere), but maybe I'll try them this year.

[JFLinLA]

Various meringue cookies -- mint-chip, chocolate, etc. Piped like kisses.

Brown sugar-pecan meringues.

Almond macaroons.

J. Torres' Bite-Sized Chocolate Almond Brownies -- Substitute margarine for the butter, be sure to get KFP almond paste and you're good to go. The recipe is on Food TV site. Jacques uses flexipan molds. I use mini-muffin pans with pretty liners.

Oh, yeah -- brittle . . . all kinds but peanut. We do a pecan matzah brittle.

Edited March 24, 2005 by JFLinLA (log)

[Jason Perlow]

And if you're keeping kosher to the letter, let's not forget you'd need to have a separate, kosher for Passover ice cream maker

For real? Just cleaning it just like you clean your ovens and everything else isn't enough?

But why even bother with the ice cream machine or the creamer then. You could do it as a true Italian granita -- freeze it in a shallow pan in your freezer, and then scrape it up with a big spoon, and toss it up to fluff it up a bit. Would still taste good.

[Gifted Gourmet]

For real!

this is why Bloviatrix is so happy to be going to a kosher l'Pesach hotel!

It is not practical to kasher the following items since they require libun gamur (an intense form of kashering usually requiring a blowtorch).

Barbeque and barbeque accessories

Frying pan

Sandwich maker

Spatula

Toaster

Toaster oven

Waffle iron

George Foreman Grill

so, one can have a second set of these kept only for Pesach .. or, simply not use them for the eight days .. some of us don't even use our regular dishwashers ...

[Jason Perlow]

In theory, you CAN kasher an ice cream maker, at least the one I have. The freezing tub on mine, a Simac Il Gelatio, is made completely of metal. So all you need to do is pour boiling hot water in it. Right? Or am I missing something here?

EDIT: I am missing something, the mixer paddle, while removable, is made of plastic, which is "unkasherable"

Oh heck, I'm going to make the sorbet anyway. Nobody in my family is that observant!

[Gifted Gourmet]

See why I have separate Passover ice cream makers and food processors and ... lots of items used for only those eight days .. but so worthwhile!

[Rachel Perlow]

I added a note to Jason's first post. We found that when you make the chocolate water with all U-Bet it is too sweet, so add some unsweetened cocoa powder to the mix.

[aliénor]

i have a wonderful chocalate nut cake for passover. it is pareve and yummy. it came from my local food coop demo and was taken from " the passover table". i don't have the book just the recipe and if anyone is interrested i will post it. ingredients are eggs, sugar, walnuts, grated chocolate, apples and of course matzo meal! let me know if i should post it in its entirety

aliénor

[Pam R]

EDIT: I am missing something, the mixer paddle, while removable, is made of plastic, which is "unkasherable"

We occasionally go into an orthodox synagogue to cater - we're not under hechsher so all cooking must be done there - anyway, the orthodox Rabbi there DOES kasher plastic. Though I was always told that you couldn't. He places it in a pot of boiling water for however long and if it doesn't melt, it's kashered.

Yet... he won't allow that a microwave can be kashered and the synagogue had to get rid of both of theirs when he came to town.... oy.

[Gifted Gourmet]

As to kashering your microwave for Passover: clean the inside thoroughly and do not use the microwave for 24 complete hours. Then, fill a large container with water and bring to a boil. The glass tray cannot be kashered, is the way my rabbi told me to prepare for the holiday .. so I do, yearly. Walls do not absorb heat in the microwave since the heat is in the food itself, unlike a regular oven ... or so I am told ...

Plastic is yet another debatable issue .. surfaces are permeable, so I have always been told, and not to try to kasher plastic .. so I buy new plastic stuff and keep it locked away in a cabinet until Passover ...

[Rachel Perlow]

Wait, isn't glass something that is easily kashered?

[jaynesb]

I hadn't told my husband I was considering an ice-cream maker for Passover. He laughed at me last year when I bought a kitchen-aid and a candy/deep fry thermometer (but then he stopped laughing when he started eating.) So I'm so happy to hear you all discussing them.

I've had a lot of success adapting recipes from Alice Medrich's

"Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Baking" for Passover.

There is a chocolate walnut torte and a fallen chocolate souffle cake that look very elegant and only called for small amounts of flour in the first place. Since they also didn't call for fats, I don't have to deal with the margarine taste/non-taste. They've gone over really well despite not being created as Passover recipes.

So when I found that "A Year in Chocolate" contains recipes specifically intended for Passover, I was ready to give them a try. We did a taste test of the Chocolate Nut Sponge Torte last week. Big success. Flavor comes from almonds, chocolate, instant coffee, and orange zest. (amazon.com happens to have the book and it has the search inside the book enabled for anybody curious about the recipe.) The other recipes are a gateau and brownies.

I'm also planning on making candied orange and grapefruit peels. They were very popular last year on the cookie tray.

jayne

[cakewalk]

Glass is easily kashered (in truth, since it is non-porous, I'm not sure it even needs to be kashered at all; I know it is interchangeable between meat and milk, for example); but the glass in a microwave is not really glass. It's like pyrex, which has different rules, according to halacha (Jewish law). It's all extremely complex, and largely depends on which authority you happen to ask. Different authorities may well have different opinion about what can or can't be kashered and how to do it.

Of course, there's the old joke about that computer they have at Bar Ilan University: if you have a halachic question, you feed the anwer you want to receive into the computer -- and it tells you which rabbi to go to to ask the question!

Have a happy!

[Swisskaese]

There are lots of options. I haven't decided yet.

Chocolate Moose Pie

Chestnut Cakes with Rum Sauce

Chocolate, Orange and Honey Cake

Carrot Torte

CARAMEL-ALMOND TORTE WITH SPICED MANGO COMPOTE

WARM CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ALMOND BRITTLE

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND TORTE

or

My grandmother's Matzah Shalet with Lemon Custard Sauce

[Pam R]

All of the baking we do at Passover is Parve. This year we are offering a few different chiffon cakes (people don't like baking their own chiffons...) chocolate chip, lemon and orange. Then we take the lemon chiffon and make strawberry shortcake (with the erzatz stuff - sorry!), and a lemon filled chiffon with lemon curd. I also use fluted flan pans, bake chiffon in them and use them for a fresh fruit flan filled with lemon curd. Then there's a chocolate mousse torte that we do, all of our 'complete dinners' are coming with some kind of individual meringue basket filled with something (not sure what yet) ... plum kuchen, brownies.. and nothings, komish, biscotti and meringue cookies. I'm having nightmares about all this baking already! But it's all parve.

[nyokie6]

alienor

yes, I'd like your recipe for choc nut cake. Thanks.

No time to let the bread rise. Now we worry about ice cream makers and George formans for Passover ::