Traverse City Record-Eagle

Food

April 5, 2012

Recipe of the Week: Passover Puffs

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Between April 6 and April 14, Jews will celebrate Passover, which commemorates liberation from the yoke of slavery under the pharaohs and the 40 years of wandering in the desert that followed.

An important part of that observance is the custom of eating unleavened bread (matzo), as a reminder that the Jews' departure from Egypt was so hurried that they didn't even have enough time for their bread to rise.

Passover Cream Puffs/Eclairs

½ c. vegetable oil

1 c. water

1 t. salt

1 c. plus 2 T. matzko cake meal

1 c. plus 2 T beaten egg (5 large)

About 20-30 minutes before bake time, preheat your oven to 425° with the baking surface in the upper third.

Combine the vegetable oil and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the salt and matzo flour and cook into a smooth paste, stirring constantly.

Transfer the cooked mixture into the bowl of a mixer and use the flat (paddle) beater to mix at low speed until cool, 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs in a thin stream, continuing to mix until the paste is smooth and well blended.

Line two sheet pans with baking parchment. Using a pastry bag with a large plain or star tip or a plastic storage bag with a corner cut off, pipe 1-inch diameter balls for cream puffs, or ½-inch-by-4-inch sticks of paste. Leave about 2 inches spacing to allow for expansion.

Bake until the shells have puffed and browned and are completely dry, 20-25 minutes, making sure not to remove them too soon (otherwise, they'll collapse). When cool, fill them with whipped cream or kosher for Passover vanilla pudding. Finish with kosher for Passover chocolate icing or dust with cornstarch-free powdered sugar.

Makes 2-3 dozen cream puffs or 1-1&½ dozen eclairs.

-- "Inside the Jewish Bakery: Recipes and Memories from the Golden Age of Jewish Baking" by by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg

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