Being an Italian Catholic, Passover was not a holiday I celebrated and the Jewish holidays were foreign to me (click here if you would like to learn more about the Passover holiday). When I was married to a Jewish man, over the past 20 years, I learned all about the the traditions and celebrations of Judaism and hosted many holidays at our house and together we created our own traditions one thing that was very important to me was to always incorporate a little Italian in all my food.
Several years ago I decided I wanted to make an amazing dessert for the Passover and found this old recipe for chocolate almond cake, it worked perfect for the celebration as there was nothing in the dessert to make it rise, it doesn’t have flour and it has chocolate (not a requirement but always welcomed for Passover). I made this dessert and it was a home run…everyone loved it!
This is not a beginner recipe, there are many steps to it and I would challenge even an entry level baker to try, if you have any issues with it, email me at Patty@MmGood.com and I would be happy to assist you for next time. I happen to love orange in my cakes or with chocolate, if you do not like orange, then you can omit it from your recipe and it will be just as tasty.
Prepare the baking pan by lining it with parchment paper, I sprayed the bottom first with oil and then I layed the parchment on top
put the almonds and 1/4 cup of sugar in a food processor
process until fine, place the processed almonds in a bowl and set aside
do the same for your chocolate chips and place in a bowl
using a mixer, beat your yolks with the remainder of the sugar and orange zest
do this until the yolks are pale
add the ground chocolate chips and almonds your mix will be very thick
whip the whites of the eggs with a pinch of salt until firm peaks (about 6 minutes)
add the whipped egg whites to the almond/yolk mixture, do this by folding the egg whites into the mixture as you are not wanting to deflate the whites
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake is cook through
make your chocolate topping by melting the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals until it’s completely melted. When the cake is cooled off, add the chocolate to the topping
I forgot that I liked chopped nuts on my cake so here is an old photo of the cake (I gave this cake to a friend for passover and forgot to top it prior to giving it away, silly me but don’t skip this process.
This is a great recipe for anytime of the year, especially around Passover or Easter. For beginners I know it’s a lot of steps involved but go slow, try not to over mix the egg whites with the almond mixture and make sure to beat the whites until firm. I’d welcome any photos anyone wants to send me at Patty@MmGood.com. Enjoy!!!
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Thank you again ~ Patty Limatola-Tanenbaum
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Almonds, whole, not toasted
- ¼ cup Sugar
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 5 large eggs, separated
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 cup Chocolate chips, divided
- 1 tablespoon Milk, whole
- Pinch of Salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare an 8" springform baking pan by spraying it with oil and laying parchment paper on the bottom.
- Grind the almonds in a food processor with 1/4 cup of sugar until fine and powdery, set aside. Process 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in the same processor and process until fine.
- Meanwhile, beat the yolks with 3/4 cup sugar and orange zest until thick and pale.
- Fold the ground up chocolate and almonds into the egg yolk mixture and mix until it is all incorporated.
- In a new bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form, 4-6 minutes.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the egg/almond mixture making sure not to over mix or you will deflate the batter.
- Bake 30-35 minutes, until cooked through the middle. Cool on a rack.
- Melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave with 1 tablespoon milk in 30 second intervals until it is melted and smooth, stir in between intervals, you are looking for the chocolate to reach a smooth consistency. Spread the chocolate onto the cake, decorate with a few chopped almonds and serve.