Matzo Cardamom Cake

I know this weekend is full of bunnies and eggs and chocolate for most of you, but I thought I'd look on the other side of things. Passover began Friday night and, though there is no giant marshmallow-pooping bunny, food is involved. Seriously, food is all you do for the first two nights - you can't go to work, drive, or even switch on electrical devices, but you can eat. Oh man can you ever eat.


There are a lot of rules to what you can and can't eat, though. It's a Jewish holiday, of course it has rules. The main one is refraining from eating chametz, or leavened grain. That means most common bread, cake, and cookies are verboden. Sounds lame, I know, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A tasty exception.

Matzo (or matzah) is a flat unleavened bread that is totally okay for your Passover seders. It's nothing fancy, just wheat and water. It's a little plain - I actually usually put a little jam or nut butter on mine when I snack on it - but it does it's job. Instead of munching down on regular matzo, I thought I might create a recipe to kick this seder up a notch.


Matzo Cardamom Cake
recipe adapted slightly from Gourmet Magazine

Makes two dozen cupcakes, eight mini cakes, or one 9" round cake

2 medium apples (best if slightly tart)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 passover matzo (makes about 1/2 cup of crumbs)
1 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons fresh ground cardamom
5 large eggs (divided)
1 cup sugar (divided)

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core, and grate your apples. Put in a small bowl and toss with the lemon juice. Set aside. Put your matzo in a food processor and processor until very fine crumbs. Add your almond flour, salt, and cardamom and pulse a few times to combine. Set aside.

2) Take your 5 egg whites and a 1/4 cup of the sugar (added slowly) and whip until you've reached stiff peaks. Set aside. In your mixer, whip up your 5 egg yolks and the rest of the sugar (3/4 cup - added slowly) until light and fluffy. Add your matzo mixture into your egg yolks and mix until you've got a thick batter. Add your apples and continue to mix. Next, take a quarter of the stiff egg whites and mix it into the matzo mixture in order to lighten it. Fold in the rest of the egg whites carefully, make sure it stays light and fluffy.

3) Spoon into your cupcake liners or well-greased cake pans. Bake about 15-17 minutes for cupcakes, 20-25 minutes for mini cakes, or 35-40 minutes for a large cake pan. Your cake will be ready when your cake tester comes out clean and your cakes are golden brown on top. Take them out of the oven and let them cool in the pan - they will sink, so don't be sad when they do!

Note: If you're not cooking this for Passover, go ahead and sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on top. If this cake is for seder, pulse a half cup of sugar with a half teaspoon of potato starch in your food processor. Sprinkle that mixture on top instead.