Passover Baking

Last week I made a bunch of desserts for my family's passover seder.  Passover is not a fun holiday for a baker because you can't use flour.  The replacements include matzah cake meal and potato starch.  Let's just say, although they may have looked appetizing, they weren't that fantastic.  Flour is flour and you can't really replace it!


I made:
1. chocolate macarons with a salted caramel filling.  I took a macaron class at ICE last year and tried a method that we didn't use in the class.  I wanted to make these because they don't have flour in them so I didn't have to change the recipe at all.  I did an italian meringue base with a sugar syrup and that was definitely an interesting experience using a ghetto sugar thermometer (I forgot mine at my apartment).  A friend of mine was also over, and we were having a great time catching up, so I was a touch distracted!  They didn't develop the classic macaron feet and they didn't get all glossy and pretty.  While they weren't aesthetically pleasing, the guests loved them! 


2. blueberry linzer tart.  It was beautiful.  Was it beautiful and delicious?.. hmm, probably not because of the stupid matzah cake meal.

3. brownies. 


4. crumb cake.


5. chocolate chip cookie sandwiches with a chocolate ganache filling.

Moral of the story:  Will I be baking this much next year for passover; probably not!  My mom's mandelbread is delicious and will suffice for dessert!  If I have to bake, I'll stick with the cookies, those were tolerable!