Passover Desserts That Don't Taste Like Cardboard

Even though this one was made with matzah. Surprisingly, it's one of the desserts that I'll even eat.

Passover has many memories for me. Mostly of horrible mixes that had I eaten the box they came in I would have enjoyed more. Don't even get me started on the year my mother bought the kosher for Passover "bread" mix. I still have nightmares.

At any rate, if you want the skinny on the Passover story, rent a copy of "The Ten Commandments" and watch up to the crossing of the Red Sea. That's the story in a nutshell. A really long nutshell. Like 3 hours of Charlton Heston chewing on the pyramids. But Yul Brenner is all kinds of hot in the film so it's well worth the watch.

My mother-in-law gave me a fantastic cook book of Jewish cooking and stories from each of the contributers. "Cooking Jewish - 532 Great Recipes From The Rabinowitz Family" has a vast aray of tried and true recipes for a wide variety of holidays and just daily cooking. The following recipe is from this book but it was altered slightly by my mother-in-law. Her recipes have yet to steer me wrong.

First you gather your ingredients:

Lay your matzah boards on a cookie sheet. I used 4 as that is what fit on my cookie sheet. My mother-in-law was able to get 5 - 5 1/2 on her sheet. She also has a bigger oven than I do.

You bring to a boil 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter.

Stir frequently. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer until it's a thick syrup.

Once the toffee is done spread it on your matzah boards.

I could have gone a little thicker on the toffee. Live and learn, right?

Stick the tray into a 450 degree oven and bake for about 4 minutes or until the toffee is brown(er) and bubbly(er).

When the boards come out of the oven, spread a bag of chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet. My mother-in-law added a little dark chocolate to her's).

Stick the tray back in the oven for about a minute. Just to get the chips nice and melty. Take the tray out of the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes until the chips are melted enough to spread.

Schmere the chocolate around to coat each board. Resist the urge to stick your fingers in - it's still hot.

I melted some milk chocolate chips and drizzled it all over the boards. Mostly for decorative purposes. It did help the taste. Honestly, there is no such thing as too much chocolate.

And I added a little spring time flare. It seemed appropriate since the weather is gorgeous and I've been walking around in short sleeves. Plus I had extra daisy sprinkles. A quick sprinkle of the daisies and a generous pinch of Fleu De Sel (sea salt) and you're ready to let it cool and then munch!

So even though this particular dessert is made with something that tastes like cardboard when eaten on its own, dress it with toffee and chocolate and it's really pretty tasty.


Matzah Toffee (page 590 "Cooking Jewish" - adjustments by Mother-In-Law FatCat)

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup light or brown sugar
1 12oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
milk chocolate chips
fleur de sel
matzah


Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place matzah boards on a cookie sheet. Mix together in a sauce pan the butter and the brown sugar. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Once it boils, let it bubble another 3-4 minutes until thick and syrupy.

Spread over the matzah boards thickly. Place in the oven for 4 minutes or until the toffee is brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and spread the semi-sweet chips over the boards. Stick it back in the oven for another minute.

Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes until the chips are melty and spreadable. Evenly spread over the boards. Melt the milk chocolate chips and drizzle over the boards. Sprinkle on the fleur de sel and the decorations and let cool.

You can refrigerate to help harden more quickly.

Enjoy!!!!

Happy Passover,

FatCat