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Parmesan and Potato Muffins for Shavuot

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— by Margo Sugarman

Ahead of Shavuot, I tried out a recipe for potato muffins that my husband found in a local newspaper. Every now and again he shoves a recipe cutting at me to try out (he has a good eye for those). So with nothing on the menu for dinner last night, I decided to give these a go. As with all new recipes I try out, I am very critical and look to see how to improve on them. But as my family was devouring them rapidly, I realized that this recipe works very well as is, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t find too much to change (I have upped the original cheese quantity, though).

Full recipe after the jump.
I love the combination of fresh herbs that give these muffins a really aromatic flavor. You can add the herbs you like, and you can increase the quantities as well. I tried to maintain a balance, so the kids wouldn’t turn up their noses.

One day after baking the muffins, I had them cold, and as delicious as they are warm, I think they’re even better cold. You can serve them as a substitute for rolls in a dairy meal.

Potato and parmesan muffins (Makes 18-20 muffins).

  • 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes (about 1cm).
  • 1 large onion, finely diced.
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed.
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil.
  • About 1 tablespoon each of fresh chopped parsley and rosemary (you can increase these quantities to taste).
  • 3 large eggs ,beaten.
  • 200g/7 oz sour cream (about one container).
  • 100g/3 1/2 oz softened butter.
  • 150g (about 1 1/2 cups) grated Parmesan cheese.
  • 1 3/4 cups self raising flour.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.
  1. In a pot of salted water, boil the cubed potatoes just until they are soft. Drain the water and allow them to cool down.
  2. Saute the onions in the olive oil just until they are golden brown. Add the garlic, and saute for about another minute. Remove from the heat.
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
  4. In a medium size pan, combine the potatoes, onions, garlic and the rest of the ingredients.
  5. Fill your muffin cups to their 3/4. They will not even out in the oven, so you can smooth them out if you are concerned about appearances.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins start getting golden brown on top.
  7. Optional: Grate extra cheese, and sprinkle it over the muffins as soon as they come out of the oven.

Margo Sugarman is the creator of The Kosher Blogger, a website of keeping kosher and loving good food.

Hummus Chocolate Cake? Yes It Is, And Good For Passover

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— by Margo Sugarman

A few months ago, I read a recipe for a flourless chocolate cake on the wonderful Seattle Foodshed blog. I bookmarked it, and decided that Pesach was the perfect time to try it out, as for kitniot eaters, it’s completely Kosher For Passover and pareve to boot. And who would have thought that a cake that’s Kosher for Pesach and made from hummus would originate in the US? So with a few days left of Pesach, I have to share this with you.

Full recipe after the jump.
I just baked it, and it’s a hit. My kids piled into it, and were shocked when I revealed to them that it’s made with chickpeas instead of flour. My husband asked where the matbucha was… I will definitely make this cake again for Pesach. It turns out like a brownie cake, so you can also make it as bars, and serving it with ice cream would not be a tragedy. As I was writing this recipe, I realized I had forgotten to add the baking powder, but it came out fine! So if you can’t find Kosher For Passover baking powder, you can leave it out. Now I will have to bake this again to see what it turns out like with baking powder!

I will share this recipe with you here as well, but do visit the Seattle Foodshed blog, as there are also lots of good, healthy recipes there that are worth checking out, and the pictures are great.

Hummus Chocolate Cake for Passover (Kitniyot)
Adapted from Seattle Foodshed blog

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or 200g dark chocolate pieces
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

How to do it

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
  2. In a food processor, mix the chick peas and eggs until smooth. Add the vanilla, sugar and baking powder (if you can’t find baking powder that’s KFP, leave it out) and pulse till combined.
  3. Melt the chocolate over boiling water (double boiler). Add the melted chocolate to the cake mix and combine.
  4. Line a 22cm (9 inch) baking tin with baking paper and grease. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Margo Sugarman is the creator of The Kosher Blogger, a celebration of keeping kosher and loving good food.

The Kosher Table: The Cake that Tastes like Hel (and Not like Hell!)

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— by Margo Sugarman

The Hebrew word for cardamom is “hel” and is, which naturally lends itself to all sorts of silly wordplay. So when I found this wonderful recipe for a cardamom sour cream cake in Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home, mirth ensued.

Firstly, finding a cardamom flavored cake in a recipe book by a Irish chef, was amusing to me. Seeing as cardamom is so prevalent in Israel and the Middle East, and, for those of you who don’t know, provides that distinctive perfumed taste in the locally popular “Turkish coffee”, I have decided to adopt this recipe as an Israeli cake.

Full recipe after the jump.
So here’s one good reason to make this cake, besides its aromatic Middle Eastern flavor: It’s really quick and easy to make! I didn’t even take out my mixer as you shouldn’t over-beat the batter, and there’s no whipping or creaming or over-blending to be done. So within five minutes, you will have this cake in the oven.

The batter was quite heavy, so I was a little concerned. “I wonder how this will taste?” I pondered to my son. “It will probably taste like hell,” he answered without missing a beat. I walked straight into that one, didn’t I. Actually, the cake came out beautiful and moist, and the cardamom flavoring was far from overpowering. And the easy topping was the perfect complement.

In my experience, cakes that call for buttermilk or sour cream tend to be moist, and I am always glad to try them. This one’s no exception. So while it tastes like hel, it really doesn’t taste like hell at all.

Cardamom and Sour Cream Cake

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 egg
  • 200 ml (6.7 fl oz) sour cream (minus 1 tablespoon to be set aside for the topping)
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (hel)

Topping

  • 1 tablespoon sour cream (that you had set aside)
  • About 1 1/4 cup of powdered (icing sugar)

How to do it

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
  2. Line the bottom of a small 20-24 cm (8-9 inch) spring form pan with baking paper and spray the insides.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg. Add all but one tablespoon of the sour cream and whisk to combine.
  4. Add the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda and cardamom and carefully blend together by folding the dry ingredients into the wet. Don’t over-beat — the mixture should be a little lumpy.
  5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean (don’t over-bake). Remove from the oven and allow to cool down before removing from the pan.
  6. Mix together the topping ingredients and make sure it’s not too runny but will just ooze down the sides of the cake (add more powdered sugar if necessary.)

Margo Sugarman is the creator of The Kosher Blogger, a website of keeping kosher and loving good food.