Category: Desserts

Wedding Fit for a Baroness

Cakes Hungarian Italian Tarts Baroness Tapuzina

I was married for the first time this past December. Originally the wedding was planned in the spring in Israel. It was going to be a beautiful garden affair in an old Arab villa, called the Green Villa, overlooking Tel Aviv. But, unfortunately we had to cancel this wedding and two long years later, we finally had an unexpected dream wedding.

Wedding planning can be quite stressful on a couple and we were certainly not devoid of this stress. After much deliberation, we decided that it was more important to have my family at the wedding and so we embarked on planning a wedding in my hometown in the US. It was a difficult decision because my husband wanted his friends at his wedding, but he had already been married once and he knew that since it was my first wedding, my family was more important.

My dress was made in Israel two years ago. I co-designed it with the dress designer I hired. It was made of gold duponi silk, with an embroidered ribbon on the bottom of the dress and topped off with a gold veil. The train was made of a slightly darker gold duponi silk with tiny embroidered flowers in the same color thread. It was two pieces cut like the sash of a Kimono and joined together with a small bow.

My parents asked the Rabbi that married them in 1963 to officiate the wedding. He is the current Rabbi at my hometown synagogue and he had met my husband twice before. Being married by the same Rabbi that married my parents 43 years before was a real added bonus to the special event.

Everyone in my family had been married under the huppah my great grandfather built for the synagogue, but unfortunately it finally fell apart several years ago and the synagogue had not purchased anything to replace it. I am from a small town, so you can’t just call up the local huppah company and rent something. I had to think of something creative. At first, I thought I could make my own huppah cover. I would buy a piece of silk and paint it, but that was going to be a lot of trouble and what if I messed it up? So, I started looking on the internet for ideas, but a ready made one cost a minimum of 400USD. Then, my husband suggested that since we couldn’t get married in Israel, how about getting married under the Israeli flag. So, I started looking for a huppah-size one and they cost a minimum of 300USD. It was way over our budget. Then, something drew me to checking on eBay. I had never bought anything on eBay before, but I searched for “Huppah” and ‘lo and behold…. there was my huppah cover up for bid. It had never been used and was simply beautiful. I bid immediately and on the final day was in a bidding war with another person. They contacted me by email and asked when I was getting married. I told him and he said if I won, would I sell it to him for the same price I bought it because he was getting married two weeks after me. I said sure. I won the bid and he received the huppah a few days after my wedding.

The week before the wedding we still had to get flowers and get the poles and decoration for the huppah. Because I got married between Christmas and New Years, there were no flower deliveries, so there were no flowers to be had. No problem, we went to Home Depot, bought tropical plants and the four poles for the huppah. My husband drilled holes in the poles and attached hooks to the poles to hold up the huppah cover. We bought ribbon at the fabric store and a cousin and my sister painstakingly decorated the poles.

My sister decorated the synagogue with the plants we bought and I had a spa day at the salon/spa that my cousin works at. She is a wonderful massage therapist and she gave me the spa day as a gift.

We rented a CD player and played a medley of classical baroque music for the wedding ceremony. It began with Jewish Baroque music, Monteverdi and Rameau pieces, then my grandmothers walked to Tres Morillas (Spanish Baroque music performed by El Cancionero de Palacio), then the huppah holders, the Groom, Rabbi and Cantor walked down the aisle to to La Bomba (Spanish Baroque music performed by Ensalada; not the Mexican song). I walked down the aisle with my parents to Monteverdi’s Orfeo Toccata and we closed the ceremony with Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen.

The reception was at a event hall/restaurant called Classic on Noble that is owned by friends of my family.

The menu was simple, but elegant:

Blood Orange Caipirinha

Antipasti (seasonal grilled vegetables)

Spanikopita triangles

Salad with dried fruit, nuts and pears

Salmon with goat cheese grits and roasted baby vegetables

We decided to forgo the traditional wedding cake and decided to have a dessert table:

In honor of David’s Hungarian heritage and our love for chestnuts, I made two Gesztenyetorte (Chestnut Torte). This cake is three slices of walnut sponge cake with a delicate chestnut cream filling. Melts in your mouth.

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Gesztenyetorte
(Chestnut Torte) Recipe from George Lang's Cuisine of Hungary by George Lang
Ingredients
For the sponge cake:
  • Salt
  • 10 egg whites
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup flour
  • ½ cup finely ground walnuts
  • Butter and flour for pan
  • Chestnut filling below
  • Chocolate grated or shaved
For the chestnut filling:
  • 1 kg chestnuts in shells or 450g canned Swiss or French chestnut puree
  • 3 oz semi sweet chocolate
  • 225 g + 2 Tbs sweet butter
  • ¾ cup vanilla sugar
  • 1 whole egg
  • ¼ cup light rum
Instructions
For the sponge cake:
  1. Preheat oven to 190. Add 1 tsp cold water and a pinch of salt to the egg whites. Whip egg whites until soft peak stage. Continue to beat and add the sugar, spoon by spoon until egg whites are very stiff. (A spoon should be able to stand up in the meringue if it is beaten stiffly enough.)
  2. Gently add the flour, walnuts and another pinch of salt. Fold in, making sure you do no break the egg white foam.
  3. Line a baking sheet 17 x 12 inches with wax paper. Butter paper lightly, sprinkle with flour and shake off excess.
  4. Spread batter evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 min, until firm and golden brown on top.
  5. Cool completely with wax paper over top to keep cake from getting crusty; then cut lengthwise into 3 pieces.
For the filling:
  1. Cook the chestnuts, shell and skin them and puree while still warm. You should have about 1 lb of puree.
  2. Soften the chocolate in the top part of a double boiler over hot water. Beat together the butter, vanilla sugar, egg and rum until the mixture is very light and foamy.
  3. Add the softened chocolate and the chestnut puree, and beat until thoroughly mixed.
  4. Fill cake layers with chestnut filling and cover sides and top with more of it. Decorate with grated or shaved chocolate. Chill in refrigerator for several hours before serving. Serve thin slices, this is a very rich cake.
Note:
  1. This cake can be round, square or oblong. It is an easy cake to make and yet quite different from the run-of-the-mill torte. The layers have the texture of a moist sponge cake. Make smaller layers and have a torte with more than 3 layers if you prefer. If you bake the dough a little longer, you will get crisper layers.

And, I gave the restaurant the recipes for two other desserts:

Anacapri Tart – An orange mascarpone tart with a rosemary crust. A slice of heaven. This tart is an Italian confection and represents our love of anything Italian.

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Anacapri Tart
Ingredients
For the pastry:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 2 tsp minced rosemary leaves
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • 12 tbsp sweet butter cubed
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp cointreau or grand marnier
For the filling:
  • 1 1/4 cups orange juice
  • grated zest of 1 large orange
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup mascarpone or similar sweet cheese
  • 7 large eggs
  • 3 tbsp cointreau or grand marnier
  • Confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
For the pastry:
  1. Place the flour, salt, sugar, rosemary, and the orange zest in a medium bowl and rub the cold butter into it with fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles very coarse crumbs. Combine the egg, the egg yolk and the liqueur and, with a fork, stir it all into the bowl with the flour mixture, forming a rough paste.
  2. Turn it out onto a lightly flowered work space and, with a few short strokes, form the mixture into a dough. flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes. press the rested, chilled dough over the surfaces of a buttered 12- to 14-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. cover the pastry-lined tin in plastic wrap and chill it again, for twenty minutes, in the freezer.
  3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  4. With a fork, prick the chilled pastry over its surface and bake it for 10 minutes. lower the temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking the pastry for an additional 5 or 6 minutes or until it is firm and barely beginning to take on some color. Cool the pastry thoroughly on a rack. Proceed with the orange cream.
For the filling:
  1. If the oven is not already hot, preheat it to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, beat together the orange juice, the zest, the sugar, and the mascarpone, amalgamating the ingredients as well. add the eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously, incorporating each before adding the next. add the liqueur and beat thoroughly.
  2. Pour the orange cream into the prepared pastry and bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cream is just firmed and has taken on patches of burnished skin and the crust is deeply golden.
  3. Cool the tart on a rack for 15 minutes before removing its ring and permitting it to cool thoroughly. Thickly dust the tart with confectioner’s sugar. Serve the tart on the day it was baked; do not refrigerate.

Gâteau Surprise Chocolat Pistache (from the Chocolat & Zucchini blog) – A rich pistachio cake with a dark chocolate ganache. To remind us of our Mediterranean home. And, we both adore pistachios.

All in all the wedding was simple, elegant and beautiful as the title of this entry says, A Wedding Fit for a Baroness. I want to thank all of my family, especially my parents, my sister and my cousins Gil, Dionne, Allen and Heather, for making my special day very special. It was my dream wedding and more.

And especially to the love of my life, my beautiful husband David who works so hard to make our dreams come true. I love you baby!

Helish Ice Cream

Ice Creams/Sorbets Baroness Tapuzina

The Hebrew word for Cardamom is הל or hel. I love the flavor of cardamom and sprinkle it on apricot or peach tarts before I put them in the oven. It adds a nice spicy touch to the fruit.

It was suppose to be 40C (now they say 36C) tomorrow, so I decided that this is a good time to pull out the ice cream machine and make some cardamom ice cream. I have never made it before.

The best version I have ever had is at the best fish restaurant in Israel, called Uri Buri in Acco (Acre). They make all of their own ice creams and they are creamy, flavorful and lovely. In fact, all of their dishes are amazing. I promise I will blog about the restaurant.

This recipe has an incredible creamy luscious texture, a subtle taste of cardamom that explodes onto the palate after you get it into your mouth and it is totally sinful. This is a very rich ice cream, so a little goes a long way.

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Cardamom Ice Cream
Ingredients
  • 20 green cardamom pods
  • 425 ml approx. 1 pint double double (heavy) cream
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 6 tablespoons caster granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup mascarpone
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
Instructions
  1. Crush the cardamom pods, tip them into a saucepan and mix in the cream. Set over a low heat, bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Cover and leave to infuse for one hour. Meanwhile, find two large bowls, one of which will sit comfortably inside the other. Fill the larger bowl with ice and rest the smaller one on it. Set aside.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until they become pale and fluffy, then slowly stir in the cardamom cream. Return to a clean pan and place over a low heat. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the mix forms a thick custard. This will take between 10 and 20 minutes. Do not let the custard boil or leave it unattended at this stage, as it can easily split.
  3. As soon as it forms the thick custard, remove from the heat and tip into the bowl sitting on the ice. Keep stirring until it is tepid, then strain into a clean container, cover and chill.
  4. Once cold, process the custard in an ice-cream maker, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Shavuot Tradition – Cheesecake!

Cakes Shavuot Baroness Tapuzina

Before I begin, I must tell you that I am happy that this is the last holiday for a while. I am really over preparing all the holiday food.

As I explained in my first entry about Shavuot, traditionally we serve dairy dishes because the Torah which we received on this day is white, pure, and sweet like milk.

Among the most famous Shavuot dishes are blintzes, cheesecakes, cheese kreplach, cheese platters, sambousak and more.

Most Ashkenazis have a meat meal on the night of Shavuot and a dairy meal on the day of Shavuot. The dairy meal consists of a fish dish, salads and most likely cheesecake for dessert.

During Shavuot it is customary for some Sephardic Jews to eat leftover Passover matzo softened with milk and sweetened with honey. Other dishes such as Sutlatch (Turkish rice pudding), Atayef (Syrian), Kahi (Iraqi), Malabi (Middle Eastern), cheese-filled phyllo dough pockets, coriander cheese balls and artichokes stuffed with breadcrumbs and cheese are also common.

Sephardic women from Tunisia, Morocco and Libya take pride in baking a seven-layer cake for Shavuot called Siete Cielos or Seven Heavens. The cake is created in seven circular rising tiers, one smaller than the other with the smallest on top. Frequently it is decorated with various symbols made from dough. I have never seen one of these cakes, nor have I been able to find a recipe for it, but it sounds interesting. I have a feeling that it is more like bread, than a cake.

Kurdistan Jews eat a wheat cereal with labane and cheese-filled fritters, while many Afghani Jews cook rice and serve it with butter and yogurt.

Libyan, Greek, Turkish and Balkan woman bake wafers or bread in symbolic shapes. Among the symbolic shapes is a ladder which stands for Moses’ rise up Mount Sinai. Another shape is that of a hand, denoting hands openly receiving the Torah. Frequently there are two tablets representing the ten commandments.

I usually make cheesecake, but one that is not as rich as is made in the States. I do not use cream cheese. I use Israeli white cheese, which is similar to a thick greek-style yogurt. It is much lower in fat than cream cheese. I prefer to have a more tart cheesecake, so I make my personal favourite, which is lemon cheesecake.

Chag Shavuot Sameach everyone!

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Lemon Cheesecake with Lemon Confit
This is a recipe that I adapted from several different recipes. I use an Israeli white cheese, which is similar in texture to a Greek-style yogurt. You can use cream cheese, if you prefer.
Ingredients
  • <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/baronesstapuzina/504910594/" title="Cheesecake Ingredients by BaronessTapuzina on Flickr">Cheesecake Ingredients
For the lemon confit:
  • 2 large juicy lemons unwaxed if possible
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
For the shortbread crust:
  • 60 g 1/2 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 cups finely ground petit beurre or shortbread i.e. Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
For the cheesecake filling:
  • 3 500g/16oz containers of Israeli 5% white cheese or Greek-style yogurt
  • 250 g 8oz container mascarpone cheese
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 tablespoons lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
For the topping:
  • 500 g 16oz sour cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the lemon confit:
  1. Start by making the confit as this needs to be prepared ahead of time – the day before you want to serve it, if possible.
  2. Sliced Lemons
  3. Take one and a half of the lemons and slice them into thin rings about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, discarding the end pieces and pips. Place these in a saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to a simmer for 3 minutes, then drain through a sieve and discard the water, Pour 12 fl oz (425 ml) water into the same pan, add the sugar, stir over a low heat until all the sugar dissolves, then add the lemon slices. Cook for 45 minutes, until the skin is tender.
  4. Lemon Confit
  5. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon. Reduce the liquid to 5 fl oz (150ml). Squeeze the juice from the remaining half lemon, add to the syrup and pour over the lemon slices. Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature.
Make the crust:
  1. Petit Beurre Biscuit
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes. Add flour and ground petit beurre biscuits or shortbread to the mixture and blend for 3-4 seconds until fully incorporated. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 22cm (11-inch) spring-form pan.
  3. Cheesecake base
  4. Bake the crust at 180° for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the crust to cool completely.
Make the cheesecake filling:
  1. Israeli White Cheese
  2. Beat the white cheese until light and smooth. Add the mascarpone cheese and sugar and continue to beat on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the lemon zest and juice. Pour mixture into the cooled crust.
  3. Wrap aluminium foil around the outside of the spring-form. Place the cheesecake pan into a roasting pan, and add enough water to the roasting pan to reach halfway up sides of the cheesecake pan. Place in a 180° oven for approximately one hour or until the cake is set and the top is light brown.
Make topping while cheesecake is baking:
  1. Let sour cream stand at room temperature 30 minutes. In a bowl whisk together sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Spread over entire top of cake, smoothing evenly. Bake cheesecake in middle of oven 10 minutes.
  2. Remove the cake from the roasting pan and place on a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool slightly, and then place it in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.
  3. Before serving, decorate the top of the cake with lemon confit or plate and place on top of a slice of cheesecake.

Fish on Friday

Fish Tarts Baroness Tapuzina

No we are not Catholics, but we love fish and usually eat it two or three times a week. Did you know that batter-fried fish, as in “Fish & Chips” was a Portuguese Jewish invention and was introduced to England by Portuguese Jewish immigrants? One trip to London to visit my mother-in-law I had a hankering for fish and chips, so my lovely husband took me to a very nice and well known fish and chips restaurant, called The Nautilus (27-29 Fortune Green Road London NW6 1DU), in West Hampstead. Instead of using the heavy batter that some places use, they used a nice light coating of matzah meal! It was the best fish and chips I have ever had. I had plaice and David had halibut. I tried doing this at home and have never looked back.

Tomorrow night is Lag B’Omer and we decided to have fish for Shabbat dinner tonight and have meat tomorrow evening for the holiday. We didn’t get to have a BBQ for Israel’s Independence Day because I was abroad. So, we are making up for it tomorrow night.


I am marinating the meat above overnight. More about this and Lag B’Omer tomorrow.

This evening I fried red mullet fillets which I first dredged in an egg wash and then matzah meal that I mixed with fresh thyme and fresh chives, herb salt and black pepper. I served it with fresh corn on the cob and green beans.

We had this with a 10-year-old South African chardonnay that amazingly survived well. I thought it was going to taste like vinegar.

For dessert, I thawed out a cheat’s version of mincemeat filling that I had made for hamentaschen and made a mincemeat pie. The dough is a ready-made parve pastry that I bought at the supermarket.

Shabbat Shalom!

The House that Escoffier Built

France Ice Creams/Sorbets Travel Baroness Tapuzina

I tend to do a lot of research when planning a trip. I always buy a guidebook and look for interesting places to visit on the internet. I spent weeks collecting information for our trip to Provence, including printing out maps on the Michelin website. It was quite helpful and we used those maps for our various day trips that we made.

One of those places that I insisted on visiting was the village of Villeneuve-Loubet, because it is the childhood home of Auguste Escoffier and his birth home contains the Musee de l’Art Culinaire, or Museum of Culinary Art.

This museum is dedicated to Auguste Escoffier, “King of Chefs and Chef to Kings”, the creator of the famous Peach Melba, strawberries Romanoff and who, according to his obituary in a British newspaper, “put frogs’ legs on the West End menu.”

The museum has eight rooms that display souvenirs, objects, sugar sculptures and utensils from his time, a collection of menus and a number of photographs and articles.

One of the museum’s eight exhibit rooms features the fireplace and spit used by the Escoffier family.

A photograph of the Australian opera star Nellie Melba is signed “A Monsieur Escoffier avec mes remerciements pour la creation Peche Melba,” (To Monsieur Escoffier with my thanks for the creation of Peach Melba) and dated 1914.

The museum has menus from his days at the Carlton and at London’s Savoy Hotel, as well as menus for the coronation dinner honoring King George V.

I recommend stopping and seeing this interesting museum and walking around the beautiful village.

I know I should show you a picture of the Peach Melba or Strawberries Romanoff I made, but I haven’t made either one. However, in keeping with the ice cream that you serve with the peach melba, I thought I would give you a recipe for a luscious coffee ice cream with a warm ganache sauce.

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Coffee Ice Cream with Warm Chocolate Ganache
Adapted recipe from Cat Cora's Kitchen: Favorite Meals for Family and Friends by Cat Cora
Ingredients
For the ganache:
  • 1 cup finely chopped premium bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
For the ice cream:
  • 1 cup whole Italian-roast coffee beans
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 8 large egg yolks
For the assembly:
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts roughly chopped
Instructions
Ganache
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Whisk the mixture until the chocolate has completely melted and forms into a thick sauce. Use immediately or keep warm over a hot water bath on very low heat until ready to use.
Ice cream
  1. Crush the beans into coarse pieces by placing them in a ziploc bag and smashing them with a rolling pin. Add the crushed beans, the milk, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 cup cream into a saucepan . Place the saucepan over medium heat and slowly bring the milk mixture to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat as soon as bubbles break the surface. Steep the coffee beans in the milk mixture for at least 1 hour. Strain the mixture and set aside. Discard the coffee beans.
  2. Have ready a large bowl filled with ice water. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 3/4 cup sugar until the mixture becomes pale yellow and forms a ribbon.
  3. Reheat the coffee-flavored milk mixture, bringing it to a simmer. Immediately remove it from the heat, and with the mixer on low speed, slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the beaten eggs and sugar. While mixing, add the remaining hot milk mixture in a slow, steady stream until incorporated. Scrape the mixture from the sides and the bottom of the bowl mix well, and pour through a sieve into another bowl. Add the remaining 1 cup cold cream and stir well to combine.
  4. Place in the ice bath. Stir until the mixture has completely cooled. Transfer the mixture to a covered container and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until ready to churn.
  5. Churn the ice cream and place in the freezer for about 1 hour.
Assembly:
  1. Place two scoops of ice cream in a bowl and pour the hot ganache over the ice cream, top with whip cream and the chopped hazelnuts.

Passover Desserts

Cakes Pesach Baroness Tapuzina

As Pesach is fast approaching, I have decided on what desserts I am going to make to make this year: Chocolate-Pistachio Cake and the Orange-Ginger Cake (See Passover Preparations).

This pistachio cake is based on a recipe from Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Italian Easy: Recipes from the River Cafe. It is a very easy cake to make. I would prefer to make it with butter, but I must make a parve cake for Passover.

Normally, I do not like Passover cakes made with matza meal, but this cake only calls for 1/2 cup and you really don’t notice it. Substitute with flour when it is not Passover.

Since the Passover hostess is a chocoholic, I am covering the cake with a bittersweet chocolate glaze, but the original recipe is served plain with a lemon glaze.

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Chocolate Pistachio Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 250 g 2-1/4 sticks unsalted butter or margarine
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 vanilla bean or equivalent of vanilla paste
  • 150 g 2/3 cup blanched almonds
  • 170 g 3/4 cup pistachios
  • 1-1/4 cups superfine sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup matza cake flour
For the lemon topping:
  • 1 lemon
  • 113 g 1/2 cup pistachios
  • 1/4 cup superfine sugar
For the chocolate glaze:
  • 85 g 3 oz fine-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 85 g 3/4 stick margarine or butter, cut into pieces
  • 57 g 1/4 cup ground pistachios
Instructions
Make the cake
  1. Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Grease a 9-inch (22cm) springform pan with 4 teaspoons of the butter and line with baking parchment.
  2. Soften the remaining margarine or butter. Finely grate the lemon peel. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Finely grind the almonds and pistachios together.
  3. Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon peel and vanilla seeds, then fold in the nuts and sift in the flour.
  4. Spoon the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out.
Make the lemon topping
  1. Grate the lemon peel and squeeze the juice. Halve the pistachios.
  2. Mix the lemon juice with the sugar, boil until reduced to a syrup, then add the peel. Stir in the pistachios and pour over the cake.
Make the chocolate glaze
  1. Melt chocolate with 1 tablespoon butter in a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring. Remove from heat and add remaining 5 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until smooth.
  2. Transfer the glaze to a bowl and chill, covered, until slightly thickened and spreadable, about 30 minutes.
  3. Spread the glaze over cake with a small metal spatula. Sprinkle pistachios on the top and sides of the cake.

The other cake I considered making this year is another favourite of mine. It is a spice cake with a chocolate glaze. Simple and delicious. I do not remember where I got this recipe.

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Chocolate Almond Torte
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 1/2 cup sugar plus additional for dusting
  • 400 g 1-3/4 cups finely ground almonds
  • 85 g 3 oz fine-quality bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely grated
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the chocolate icing:
  • 85 g 3 oz fine-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 85 g 3/4 stick margarine or butter, cut into pieces
  • 75 g 1/3 cup sliced almonds
  • 22 cm 9-inch cake pan or springform pan ( I use a springform)
Instructions
For the cake:
  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350°F). Butter pan and dust with sugar, knocking out excess.
  2. Stir together ground almonds, chocolate, and spices in a bowl. Beat yolks with 1/4 cup sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, then beat in zest.
  3. Beat whites with salt with cleaned beaters in a large bowl until they just hold soft peaks. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
  4. Stir one third of whites into yolk mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites in 2 more batches. Fold in ground almond mixture.
  5. Pour batter into mold and bake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in mold on a rack 10 minutes, then invert onto rack and cool completely.
For the chocolate icing:
  1. Melt chocolate with 1 tablespoon margarine in a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring. Remove from heat and add remaining 5 tablespoons margarine, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until smooth. Transfer icing to a bowl and chill, covered, until slightly thickened and spreadable, about 30 minutes.
  2. Spread icing over cake with a small metal spatula. Sprinkle almonds on the top and sides of the cake. Chill cake until icing is set, at least 1 hour. Transfer cake to a platter and bring to room temperature before serving.

Passover Preparations

Biscuits or Cookies Cakes Pesach Baroness Tapuzina

We are going to my cousin’s in Jerusalem as we do every year and we always bring the charoset, chicken soup with matza balls and dessert. I always try to bring a different dessert.

I am still trying decide what to bring this year. Maybe one of these:

  • Torta di Carote from the Veneto region
  • Persian Rice Cookies
  • Super Moist Banana & Almond Cake
  • Chocolate Almond Torte with cinnamon, allspice, cloves and a dark chocolate glaze

Last year I made Gâteau à l’Orange et au Gingembre from one of my favourite blogs, Chocolate & Zucchini. It is a moist cake that has an intense orange and ginger flavour. I might be tempted to make it again this year. It was a huge hit. And, it is very easy to make.

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Gâteau à l'Orange et au Gingembre
Orange and Ginger Cake From Chocolate and Zucchini
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 3 small oranges or 2 large oranges preferably organic
  • 6 eggs
  • 250 g 1-1/3 cups sugar
  • 250 g 1-1/3 cups almond flour or almond meal
  • Thumb-sized knob of fresh ginger
  • 1/4 C candied ginger
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the glaze:
  • Zest and juice of a lemon
  • 60 g 1/3 cup thick sugar crystals, the type used as a topping for chouquettes or brioches
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Grease a 24 cm (8-inch) springform cake pan.
  2. Clean and scrub the oranges well. Put them in a medium saucepan, and cover with water. Put the saucepan over medium heat, and simmer for two hours, adding a little hot water when the level gets too low (note : you may, like me, find the smell of whole oranges boiling very unpleasant, but it has nothing to do with the smell or taste of the finished product). Drain, and let cool. Cut in quarters and puree in the food processor.
  3. Peel and chop the fresh ginger. Cut the candied ginger in small dice. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Whisk in the orange puree, the sugar, the almonds, the baking powder, the fresh ginger, until well blended. Fold in the bits of candied ginger.
  4. Pour the batter in the cake pan, and bake for about an hour, until puffy and golden. Let cool for a few minutes on a rack, while you prepare the frosting. Run a knife around the cake to loosen it, and remove the sides of the pan.
  5. Put the sugar crystals in a small bowl with the lemon juice and zest. Spoon this mixture evenly onto the top of the cake. Let cool completely before serving. It can be made a day ahead, wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator.

The second dessert I made were chocolate-covered Weesper Moppen, which are Dutch almond cookies. They are chewy cookies with a wonderful almond flavour which can be made plain and rolled in coarse sugar or covered in dark chocolate. I like them because they are not very sweet.

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Chocolate- Covered Weesper Moppen
Ingredients
  • 250 g 8oz + 2 tablespoons coarse almond paste or grind 125g//1/2 cup of blanched almonds and 125g (1/2 cup) of fine sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 small egg
  • 200 g 8oz 80% dark chocolate (Valrhona or some other premium brand), melted
Instructions
  1. Mix everything except the chocolate together until you have a soft paste.
  2. Wet your hands with cold water, and roll the paste into log. It will still be very sticky and a bit hard to manage. You could roll them in a little kosher for Pesach icing sugar or put the dough in plastic wrap and roll it into a log and place into the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up a little.
  3. With a sharp knife (wipe it between cuts) cut the dough into 20 rounds about 1/2 inch or 1cm thick. Place them cut side down on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment or a silpat liner.
  4. Let them dry out for about 2 hours. I put them in a cold oven, with the fan on, for one hour, which worked excellently!
  5. Then, preheat the oven to 200 C / 375 F. When the oven is hot, bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Check that they don't brown too much. Remove them from the sheet, let them cool.
  6. After they have cooled, dip them in the melted chocolate. You can either cover the entire cookie or just one side.
  7. They will dry out a bit more as they cool, but they should still be slightly chewy. They are best served the same day or the following day.

Exotic Fruits

Georgian Indian Side Dish Tarts Tu'Bishvat Baroness Tapuzina

Israelis love travelling to India. It is a rite of passage for most young adults after they finish their army service, although Thailand, Vietnam and Nepal are also high on the list.

I would love to travel to India. My dream is to go on the Palace on Wheels. This is where my royal highnessness 🙂 comes shining through. For me, the Palace on Wheels is the epitome of romance. Rajasthan is supposed to be an amazing place, full of bright colors; rich red and orange raw silk fabric. My wedding dress fabric was a gold duponi silk from India. I adore Indian textiles and sari fabric.

The surprising thing is that Indian food is not more popular in Israel. There are only a few Indian restaurants here. There is a chain called Tandoori: the food is good, but they are rather expensive.

I really enjoy getting Indian takeout in London. I love all the choices of curries, side dishes, samosas, stuffed naan, etc. I also like making it myself. All of the wonderful smells from the cardamon, cinnamon, whole peppercorns and other spices. It fills the whole house with a wonderful spicy, oriental aroma.

For Tu’Bishvat I decided to make an Indian meal, well at least most of it was Indian dishes.

All of the Indian dishes I made for this meal came from Madhur Jafrey’s A Taste of India. I have two of her cookbooks and both of them have delicious recipes, but this cookbook is also a work of art. The photography and the stories she tells take you to India. You can taste the food and smell the smells.

The main dish I made was Chicken with Apricots and Potato Straws (Sali Jardaloo Murgi). This dish is from the state of Gujarat, which is on the Northwest coast of India and borders Rajastan. It has some amazing Temples, one of which is the Temple of Krishna. The dish is spicy and fruity, seasoned with hot chilies, cinnamon, cumin, cardamon, cloves, fresh ginger and garlic.

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Chicken with Apricots and Potato Straws
(Sali Jardaloo Murgi) Recipe from A Taste of India by Madhur Jaffrey
Ingredients
  • 1.4 kg 3lbs whole chicken or chicken pieces, skinned
  • 4 whole dried hot red chillies
  • 5 cm 2-inch cinnamon stick, broken up
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
  • 7 cardamom pods
  • 10 whole cloves
  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon finely crushed garlic
  • 100 g 4oz dried sour apricots
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 225 g 1/2lb medium-sized onions, cut into very fine half rings
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste mixed with 1 cup of water
  • 1-1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
For the potato straws:
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 200 g 7oz large potato, peeled
  • Vegetable oil for deep frying
Instructions
To make the chicken:
  1. If using a whole chicken, cut it into small pieces. For example, divide the chicken legs into 2 and the whole breasts into 4 pieces and place in a big bowl.
  2. Place the red chillies, cinnamon, cumin, cardamon and cloves in a coffee grinder and grind as finely as possible.
  3. Rub in 1 teaspoon of the ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic and half of the spice mixture on to the chicken, making sure the chicken pieces are coated with the mixture. Set aside for 1 hour.
  4. Place the apricots in a small pan with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, until the apricots are tender, but not mushy. Set them aside to cool.
  5. Heat 1/2 cup of oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and fry until they are a reddish-brown in colour. Turn the heat down and add the remaining ginger, garlic and spice mixture. Stir well and add the chicken, browning lightly for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste liquid and the salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  6. Stir in the vinegar and sugar, cover again and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove as much fat from the pan as you can.
  7. Place the apricot gently in between the chicken pieces and let them soak in the sauce for at least 30 minutes.
To make the potato straws:
  1. Fill a large bowl with about 8 cups of water. Mix in the salt.
  2. Grate the potato on the coarsest grating blade and place in the bowl of water, stirring them around in the water. Remove one handful of the the potato straws at a time, squeezing out as much liquid as you can. Spread them out on a tea towel and pat as much moisture off as possible.
  3. Put vegetable oil into a wok or frying pan until it is 5cm (2-inches) in depth in the pan. Heat slowly over a medium-low heat. When the oil is hot, this may take 10 minutes, put a small handful of potato straws in the oil. Stir them until they are crisp and golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
  4. When ready to serve, heat the chicken on medium-low heat and garnish top with the potato straws.

The next dish was Aubergines with Apple (Tsoont Vaangan). This dish is from Kashmir. I know this combination sounds strange, but it is delicious.

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Aubergines with Apples
(Tsoont Vaangan) Recipe from A Taste of India by Madhur Jaffrey
Ingredients
  • 550 g 1-1/4lb aubergines, cut crosswise into thick slices
  • 1-2 large hard, tart apples such as a Granny Smith, cut into sixths, unpeeled
  • 1/4 tsp ground fennel seeds
  • 1/2- 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp tumeric
  • 1/4 tsp red chilli powder cayenne pepper
  • 6 tbsp mustard or vegetable oil
  • 1/8 tsp ground asafetida
Instructions
  1. Put the fennel, salt, tumeric and chili powder in a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of water and mix into a paste.
  2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the asafetida and then the apple wedges. Saute, until the apples are golden brown. Remove the apples and set aside.
  3. Place one layer of aubergine in the pan. You may need to add a little more oil. Brown them on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat this until all of the aubergine has been cooked.
  4. Put the apples and aubergine back in the pan, add the paste and stir gently. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve.

For dessert, I moved to a country whose dishes I have never made before, Georgia.

This is a Walnut Raisin Torte (Nigvzis Torti). It is not too sweet and is a perfect dessert for Tu’Bishvat. Full of nuts and raisins. It is also not very hard to make. I made a half a recipe, which serves about six people.