Matzoh Popovers!

Every year these popovers are a family favorite and a revelation to anyone who has never had them before. They're fantastic as dinner "rolls" to go with your Passover meal, but where they really shine is for sandwiches the next day. Our favorite fillings are leftover lamb (with arugula and a little horseradish mayo) or toasted with sharp cheddar cheese and a slice of tomato.

Make sure you make extra, because they go fast!

Passover Popovers
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups matzoh meal
¼ cup sugar
8 eggs

Preheat oven to 375. Grease two cookie sheets. Bring vegetable oil, water, and salt to a boil. Add matzoh meal and stir with a wooden spoon. When mixture is sticky, let cool. Transfer to stand mixer or have a line of strong helpers handy. Mix in sugar on low or with a wooden spoon. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Rinse your hands in cold water and make dough balls about the size of a plum, placing onto cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes until puffy, then turn down the oven to 325 and bake until golden, about 30 minutes.

Matzoh Cracker Fudge

This Passover dessert recipe has pretty much everything going for it: it's easy, delicious, good-looking, easily portable, made with regular pantry ingredients, and has infinite variations to suit your particular tastes.

After spreading out the chocolate, you can top your fudge with all kinds of things like toasted almonds, shredded coconut, cinnamon sprinkles, mini M&M's or sea salt. You can even swap some of the chocolate chips for peanut butter or white chocolate chips. (It is still plenty delicious, even without any toppings.)

Once it's been chilled and broken into pieces, it can easily be carried as a gift for a family hosting a Seder or to work or school for a snack. And if it's not Passover, you can swap the matzoh for saltine crackers.

Please let us know if you have any favorite variations!

Matzoh Cracker Fudge
Matzoh
2 sticks butter or parve margarine
1 cup brown sugar
12 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
Any desired toppings (see some suggestions above)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put aluminum foil on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Lay matzoh across cookie sheet in a single layer, leaving as few gaps as possible. In a small pot on the stove, simmer butter or parve margarine and brown sugar for about five minutes. Spoon evenly on top of matzoh. Bake for seven minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Wait 5 minutes. Spread out the chocolate with a butter knife. Evenly sprinkle desired toppings over chocolate. Chill in refrigerator. Break into pieces and serve.

Challah Baking Class

Mama and I were invited to teach a challah baking class to members of the New Shul Synagogue.  A wonderful member opened her home to us and 10 other New Shul members. 

We had a wonderful time braiding and shaping challah and sharing all of our challah baking secrets.  And at the end of the day, everyone had their own fresh loaf of challah!

"The wonderful aroma of fresh baked Challah lingered in my home, along with the memories of an afternoon of fun and friendship."

Check out the write up in the New Shul blog: http://newshulblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/challah-balloo.html

And if you're interested in hosting a challah baking class, Contact Us!

Mama's Cinnamon Challah French Toast

How could we make challah french toast easier and tastier?  We make a special challah in a loaf pan instead of braided so that every piece is the same size and shape.  And we put in a cinnamon swirl for you . . .

 

Slice your cinnamon challah loaf evenly and not too thin (or it will fall apart in the egg batter).  In a large flat-bottomed mixing bowl, break eight eggs, add one tablespoon pure vanilla extract, and one cup of milk/cream in any combination you like (depending on how decadent you're feeling--1% milk works fine but heavy cream is the best).  Beat thoroughly.  Heat salted butter in a large pan or on a griddle at medium heat but don't let it burn.

One at a time, place the slices of cinnamon (or plain) challah in the egg batter, turning gently twice and then lifting above the bowl for a moment to let the batter drip.  I recommend doing this with your fingers as a fork will often tear the battered bread.  Place as many slices in the pan as fit easily.  Allow to brown to your liking and then flip the challah slices over.  

The second side tends to cook more quickly so don't neglect your special French toast.  Between batches, carefully wipe out the pan with paper towels or sponge clean so that the brown butter is gone.  Rebutter, rebatter, rebrown, reflip.

Serve with warmed maple syrup, your favorite jam, or fresh fruit, or yoghurt.  Even a drizzle of chocolate sauce is delicious with this recipe.

Overnight Cinnamon French Toast

Everyone knows that challah makes the very best French Toast.  And since tradition dictates that you have 2 loaves of challah on Friday night, why not use that leftover loaf to make some! Check out this recipe from Smitten Kitchen that let's you prep your baked french toast the night before for an extra easy breakfast on Saturday morning.  

Overnight Cinnamon French Toast

Cinnamon Toast French Toast
From The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (Knopf, October 2012)

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
16 slices (from a 1-pound or 450 gram loaf) MamaBakes Challah!
1 stick (4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (710 ml) whole milk
6 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Whisk the cinnamon and sugar together in a small dish. Line two large baking sheets with foil. Place the bread slices on the baking sheets in one layer. Spread each slice of bread with 1 teaspoon of butter, then sprinkle each slice with one teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Toast the trays of bread in the oven until the bread is golden, and until the cinnamon-sugar makes a caramelized crunch on top, for about 7 to 10 minutes. Let the toast cool slightly.

Generously butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. (You might have a little butter leftover but I wanted to build in some leeway in case, understandably, you weren’t buttering your bread with precise teaspoon measurements!) Cut two slices of the cinnamon toast in half horizontally. Arrange the cinnamon toast down in two rows along the width of the pan. Begin with the bottom half of one slice of toast, then fan 7 more slices in a row, finishing with the top half of the slice. This ensures that those served the end pieces of the baked French toast are not stiffed with thin slices! Repeat with another 7 full slices and 1 halved slice of cinnamon toast in the second row. Whisk the milk, eggs, salt and vanilla in a medium bowl and pour evenly over cinnamon toast in baking dish. Let sit overnight in the fridge, so that the custard is absorbed. if you’ve got any extra cinnamon-sugar (you’ll likely have a tablespoon or two), sprinkle it over the French toast.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, until puffed and golden and until no liquid seeps out of the toasts when they are nudged about in the pan. Cut into squares and serve plain, or with a dollop of plain yogurt and fresh berries, or maple syrup.

Recipe and Photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen