KEY LIME PIE WITH CHOCOLATE MACAROON CRUST for Passover

Passover starts Saturday night and continues for 8 days. Plenty of time to make this Key Lime Pie with Chocolate Macaroon Crust. You can either buy a Manischewitz chocolate macaroon pie shell or make your own. Easy recipe follows. Looking for the meringue? Cream of tartar which would be used in the meringue is not Kosher for Passover, so I've skipped it. If I'm wrong, let me know. It's about the rising thing. Of course this Key Lime Pie is great any time!

KEY LIME PIE WITH CHOCOLATE MACAROON CRUST

Ingredients
Chocolate Macaroon Pie Shell
1/2 cup crumbled chocolate macaroons
1/4 stick unsalted butter, softened

Key Lime Filling
3/4 cup fresh Key Lime Juice
6 egg yolks
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (see directions below for Kosher for Passover condensed milk to make yourself)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

For Pie Shell:
Crush macaroons in food processor. Remove to medium size bowl. Add softened butter (or margarine) and mix well.
Press mixture into bottom and up sides of 9 inch tart or pie pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes until set.
Cool on rack.

For Filling:
In stainless steel bowl, whisk egg yolks with condensed milk and add in lime juice a few teaspoons at a time stirring constantly.
Pour mixture into pre-baked pie shell and bake in 325 oven for 10 minutes.**
Chill for one hour.

Looking for the meringue? Cream of tartar which would be used in the meringue is not Kosher for Passover, so I've skipped it. If I'm wrong, let me know. It's about the rising thing.

**NOTE** some people think you have to cook key lime pie because of the raw eggs. That's why I went back and added a 10 minute bake; however, if you're not worried about the egg thing, there's no need to bake this custard.

If you want to ensure that this is Kosher, here's a recipe for Kosher for Passover Condensed Milk:  
1 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk =1 cup instant nonfat dry milk, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup boiling water and 3 tablespoons margarine. Blend all the ingredients until smooth. To thicken, let set in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

CHOCOLATE CHIFFON CAKE FOR PASSOVER

I love a good Chocolate Chiffon Cake, and since Passover will soon be upon us and lasts for 8 days, these two recipes are very timely! The first recipe is adapted from Manischewitz. The second recipe appeared in Jewish Boston in 2011. I like to toast slices of this cake for breakfast! Great when buttered. You can also top the cake with whipped cream and strawberries to make it more festive!

Chocolate Chiffon Cake #1

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Manischewitz® Cake Meal
2 Tbsp Manischewitz® Potato Starch
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
6 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 tsp Madagascar vanilla
9 inch two piece tube pan

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In bowl add sugar, Manischewitz Cake Meal, Manischewitz Potato Starch, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. With electric mixer or hand mixer, mix until well blended. Make a well in chocolate chiffon mixture and add oil, egg yolks, water, and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed.
In separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Fold egg whites into batter gently.
Pour batter into ungreased 9 inch tube pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Remove cake from oven and invert pan on a heat resistant bottle until cool.
Remove from pan after cake has cooled.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake #2

This recipe is from David Levy and appeared in 2011 in JewishBoston. It will remind you slightly, but only slightly of charoset. So it's perfect for Passover.

Ingredients
8 eggs separated (bring eggs to room temperature first)
3/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup matzo cake meal
   sift potato starch and cake meal together
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 rounded tsp cocoa
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sweet red wine
10 walnuts coarsely chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg whites until stiff; gradually add half of sugar. Beat yolks with remaining sugar and salt; when yolks are thick and light in color add oil, a little at a time. Then add wine and cocoa, beating at low level. Gently fold cake meal/starch mixture into whites, then fold in yolk mixture, mixing nuts in at same time.
Bake in ungreased tube pan for 50 minutes. Turn over and hang from two-liter bottle until cooled.

PEEPS EASTER GARDEN CAKE: Peeps Day!

Today is PEEPS Day. Yes, a holiday devoted to the sweets of my childhood, especially at Easter. So, I thought I'd post this darling (and easy) PEEPS Garden Cake. Recipe is from the PEEPS recipe site. The recipe calls for a Betty Crocker cake mix (since it's originally a Betty Crocker/General Mills Recipe), but you can use your favorite cake mix or your favorite chocolate cake recipe and frosting recipe from scratch.

PEEPS EASTER GARDEN CAKE

Ingredients
1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist Devil's Food cake mix
Water, oil, and eggs called for on cake mix box
1 container Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy chocolate frosting
1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs  (I use Famous Chocolate Wafers)
1 can (6.4 oz) Betty Crocker green decorating cake icing
8 to 12 PEEPS® marshmallow bunnies (different colored bunny peeps are fun!)
1 can (6.4 oz) Betty Crocker orange decorating cake icing

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray.
Make cake as directed on box for 13 x 9-inch pan. Cool in pan on cooling rack until completely cooled, about 30 minutes.
Spread chocolate frosting on top of cake; sprinkle with chocolate cookie crumbs.
Use green icing to make garden rows, using photo as guide.
Insert toothpick halfway into base of each PEEPS® marshmallow bunny. Insert bunnies, toothpick side down, into cake.
Use orange and green icings to make carrots on cake, using photo as a guide.
Cut into 4 rows by 3 rows to serve.

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CHOCOLATE PEEPS FOR EASTER

"Are You My Mother?"

Of all my childhood Spring Confection memories, PEEPS stand out. My sister and I still buy each other PEEPS around Easter, although we rarely eat the sugary marshmallow-y creatures any more. She buys me purple rabbits; I buy her classic yellow chicks -- the original PEEPS. You see where this is going? I'm a purist, but since this is a Chocolate Blog, I've made room in my Easter PEEPS inventory for Chocolate PEEPS.

So, PEEPS: You love them or hate them. People do all sorts of things with PEEPS, only some of which involve giving them to kids at Easter or eating them straight from the box. For me, it's the elastic quality of the "old" PEEPS that's fun for me--pulling them apart.

Chocolate PEEPS Bunnies off to work in the fields

Chocolate: The ultimate in the ever improving PEEPS. Chocolate-Covered PEEPS are available from the original company in both Dark and Milk chocolate. These are not the small peeps packed together in rows. No, these Chocolate Peeps come in individually wrapped packages, as well as in a three pack. Sadly, in the big ones, the cool sparkly coating of sugar is missing, and I think it would have been a nice buffer between the chocolate and marshmallow to make it stand out from the rest of the chocolate marshmallow candy.

However, the Chocolate Dipped PEEPS do have the sugar. I love the three pack of PEEPS Chocolate Dipped Chicks (both dark and milk chocolate), as well as the Dark and Milk Chocolate PEEPS Chocolate Dipped Mousse Flavored Marshmallow Chicks!

I'm a fan of Chocolate Eggs, and PEEPS has a very fun individually boxed hollow milk chocolate egg with a PEEP chick inside. Maybe it's been around for awhile, but I missed it.

And, just as an aside, Jacques Torres makes fabulous chocolate, and they sell Chocolate-Covered PEEPS. Their name: Chirp'N'Dales. They are adorable. Also, Asher's Chocolates makes Milk and Dark Chocolate Dipped PEEPS.

Other great uses for PEEPS:

1. Make PEEPS S'Mores, especially with the chocolate covered ones.
2. Plop a Chocolate Covered PEEPS down in your Hot Chocolate or Coffee.
3. Decorate cakes or cupcakes with PEEPS.
4. Create Your Own PEEPS Diorama.
5. Bake PEEPS in your brownies!

Want to make your own Chocolate Covered PEEPS using the original PEEPS?

1. Melt some good dark chocolate or milk chocolate (about 16 oz/depending on how many you plan to make)

2. Remove PEEPS from package. I would use Chicks since they're the original, but the other shapes (rabbits, etc) work well.
3. Insert a lollipop stick into the Peep. If you're using the chicks, put stick in the widest part (maybe this is why they're sideways standing up in the packaged ones--and why bunnies work better). 
4. Dip the Peep into the melted chocolate. Two choices: Either cover the entire Peep or just dip one end as you would chocolate covered strawberries. Be sure and let any excess drip off.
5. Put on wax paper covered plate or cookie sheet and freeze or refrigerate for 20 minutes. 

Question? When is a PEEP, not a PEEP? When it's Chocolate-Covered.

Chocolate Dipped Peeps complete the flock!