perfect pastry for passover

while saturday at sundown marks the beginning of passover, what it doesn't have to mean is seders with food that's well, NOT tasty (and sometimes downright weird) and where the wine is manishewitz.

until last year, the most problematic part of our seders had always been what the heck to make for dessert. pretty much every recipe i had looked over and even tried was just a sad attempt at working around the fact that flour is verboten. that is, until i got my grubby little paws (as aaron h. likes to refer to my hands) on a copy of elisabeth prueitt and chad robertson's Tartine cookbook. there, i stumbled on a chocolate cake recipe that was perfect for passover.

i tried it out last year, and it was a huge hit. gentiles ate it not realizing i had made it for passover. jewish peeps who *were* observing passover didn't believe me that it was, well, er, kosher for passover. (it's always a great feeling when you're hit on both sides with accusations of being a liar. *sniffles* *honnnnnnnk*) i brought in the leftovers to work and it disappeared in about 10 minutes. but then again, that's what happens to most desserts at the office, so don't worry, i didn't let it puff me up TOO much. (note the use of "too." a-HEM.)

this is a cake that can be served two different ways: at room temp, which makes it more like a chocolate mousse cake; or, serve it chilled, in which case the cake is much more like a flourless chocolate cake. either way, trust me when i say it's tastylicious. the key is to use the finest chocolate you can, well, get YOUR grubby little paws on. (just make sure to wash said grubby paws before you start baking.) recipe below.

matzoh tov!


Tartine Bakery Chocolate Soufflé Cake

Cake
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter
14 oz finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
7 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Ganache Topping (optional)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

Cake
Preheat oven to 325 deg. Line bottom of 10" springform pan with 3" sides with parchment paper cut to fit exactly.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and add chocolate. Stir occasionally until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, place the yolks and half the sugar and beat on high speed until light, fluffy, and volume triples, about 4-5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks until mostly combined.

In another bowl, and with clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add the other half of the sugar and the salt, and beat until whites form medium-stiff, glossy peaks. Blend one third of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites just until no white streaks are visible. Turn the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until the top of the cake is no longer shiny, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours, up to overnight.

Ganache topping
Remove cake from refrigerator, uncover it, and let sit at room temp for about 15 minutes before pouring ganache.

Heat cream in small saucepan and bring to just under a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let sit for about 2 minutes without stirring until the chocolate melts. Then, stir gently until smooth (incorporate as little air as possible). Pour ganache over cake and tilt and turn pan to cover top evenly. After about 20 minutes, the chocolate will have set. Run a thin knife around the inside edge of the pan to loose the sides. Release and lift off the pan sides and transfer cake to serving platter.

Serve the cake cold or at room temp. Slice cake while still cold with a warm knife, cleaning blade after each cut (even if you prefer to serve at room temp, otherwise it'll be hard to make clean slices). Cake keeps in refrigerator, covered well, up to 1 week.

Serves 12-16. Or, if you've got friends like mine, 10-12. ;)