Passover Flourless Chocolate Cake Out Of The Box

By Daniela Apeloig, Co-founder of Apeloig Collection

This flourless chocolate cake comes right of a box—and we don’t mean a supermarket box. Not only is it out-of-the-box in a creative way, it also comes right out of our Mezuzah box!

Last Passover, my sisters-in-law and I had the opportunity to learn my husband’s favorite cake recipe, one that came directly from his grandmother, Surale, as the grandkids call her.  This particular flourless chocolate cake is so good, she makes it during Passover—and year-round.

She let me in on all her tricks to make sure I could pamper her grandson by making this cake precisely as she does. Isn’t that what tradition is all about? Her measurements are the old-fashioned kind, just like my grandmother’s (see in our previous post, Grandmother Honeycake Recipe). Instead of using numbers, she measures ingredients by using closed to slightly open fists. My sisters-in-law and I had to measure her “fists” in cups to bring you the recipe.

This Passover, I decided to make my grandmother-in-law’s famous cake for my husband and children, but I chose to add one minor twist: our Apeloig Collection #traditionmeetsdesign signature style.

To add a quick and easy element of design to the traditional Passover flourless chocolate cake, I used a cake dusting technique. To do this, you simply need a stencil, a sifter and some powdered sugar. The result: a homemade cake that looks like it came straight from the pastry shop.

You can use any stencil you’d like. We chose one with the exact triangle patchwork featured on our mezuzah packaging. Amazing right? Feel free to get creative. You don’t necessarily have to use a cake stencil; any arts & crafts stencil will do. You can find some great options here, but the possibilities are endless. Just use your imagination—and think outside the box of course!

 INGREDIENTS:

180-200 g walnuts
170 g bittersweet chocolate
1 ⅓ cups of water
1 cup of sugar
⅓ cup of vegetable oil
8 eggs
1 lemon or orange (juice and zest)
Drop of vanilla
⅓ cup matzo meal
1 pinch of salt
powdered sugar

* Make sure all the ingredients are Kosher for Passover
**Please do your due diligence and research the products’ kashrut certification, as everyone has different standards 

PREPARATION:

• In a pan, place chocolate, water and sugar at Med-Hi heat. Once everything is consistently melted, reduce the heat to Med. for approximately 20 mins.
• Constantly stir in a figure-eight motion with a wooden spoon until the mixture reaches a sticky consistency.
• Use a food processor to grind the walnuts.
• Add the ground walnuts to the thick chocolate mixture until it reaches a boil. This will ensure the walnuts aren’t bitter.
• Remove the pan from heat and let stand until it reaches room temperature.
• Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
• Once the mixture is at room temperature, add the 8 egg yolks and the oil.
• Add the matzo meal, a little lemon zest and the juice of 1 lemon.
• Add a drop of vanilla and a pinch of salt to the egg whites.
• In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they are stiff with a snowy texture.
• Add the stiff egg white mixture to the chocolate mixture and mix until homogeneous and lighter brown in color.
• Use a springform non-stick cake pan.
• Lightly grease the pan with oil and sprinkles of matzoh meal.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan
• Bake at 375°F for approximately 45 min. to 1 hr, until a crust forms on the top and a tester wooden stick comes out completely clean.
• Let sit to cool.
• Carefully remove cake from springform.

TRADITION MEETS DESIGN PRESENTATION:

• Place stencil atop the cake.  
• With a sifter or small strainer, sift powdered sugar over the stencil.
• Make sure you dust evenly over the entire pattern of the stencil.
• Once the entire surface is coated, gently remove the stencil to reveal the pattern.
• Voila! Serve and impress!

A Few Tips:

1. Don't dust the powder sugar until it is close to serving time because the sugar will eventually dissolve on the cake and disappear
2. You can also use this technique with cocoa powder or cinnamon, but make sure you do so on a lighter colored cake or with a cake that has frosting so you can see the stencil.

FROM APELOIG COLLECTION, WE WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY PASSOVER!