Passover Sponge Cake

Photo by Rachel Dedrickson

For the record, I am fully aware that Passover is long over. But I took some perfectly good pictures and this Passover sponge cake deserves its time to shine.

Sponge cake is usually the center piece dessert of our family Passover feasts. Gram was the queen of sponge cake, so she was always the the supplier of this airy treat as well as the the bowl of sugar-drenched strawberries and whipped cream that topped it all off.

Because I am inexplicably determined to uncover family recipes and food pearls, I naturally had an interest in recreating her sponge cake magic for this year's Seder.

Yellowed and coffee-stained notes were tucked gently between the pages of her cookbooks, but most of her scribbles were simply lists of ingredients with no instructions.

It seems as if Gram's sponge cake was a work in progress year after year. And I can understand because
my cake came out of the oven tasting like hers, but it didn't rise much or reach it's fully desired height.  I am thinking maybe the eggs I used were too cold. Perhaps, room temperature eggs next year?

It won't be long until tiny scraps of paper start getting tucked in to my cookbooks. Some recipes are just a continual work in progress. Next year, if my family gives me another opportunity, I swear I am going to get it right!

Tell me, which recipes are you still working to perfect?

Photo by Rachel Dedrickson

Gram's Passover Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
9 eggs (room temp)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup potato starch
3/4 cup cake meal
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Separate the egg whites and yolks in to two separate bowls.

First, gradually beat sugar into the egg white bowl until egg whites are light colored and thick (almost stiff, but not quite).

Next, sift the potato starch and cake meal together into the bowl of egg yolks.

Fold the egg whites and sugar into the egg yolks/dry ingredient bowl and gently fold together.

Pour the batter into an angel food cake pan (do not grease the pan!). Bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched in the center, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.

Immediately invert the pan onto its feet or the neck of a bottle and let cool completely. Run a thin-bladed knife around the outer sides of the pan and around the inside of the tube to loosen the cake. Invert the pan onto a cake plate and lift off the pan. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve with strawberries and whipped cream.

Lox, Bagels and Schmear – Oh My!

Sara and I go way back. We endured classic adolescent woes together – such things as Jewish summer camp, bedazzled hats, jelly sandals, one piece bathing suits, awkward hair, puff paint, Archie comics, jean overalls, bat mitzvahs, and Sunday school. We enjoyed cribbage games, embroidered friendship bracelets, and lanyard. I have no idea how we ever made it out of those years as seemingly normal adults, but if it’s alright with you, I’d like to think we did end up normal. Kapish?

This past weekend I met up with Sara at the most excellent Jewish deli in the suburbs of Seattle, Gilbert’s Main Street Bagel Deli. It’s located in Old Bellevue on Main Street, and it’s the perfect place to fill the Jew-Food square. The breakfast menu has all kinds of scrambles, French toast, and fruit, but we both went with the obvious: lox and bagels.

The plates were gigantic. We could have probably split half a bagel each, but it wasn’t such a bad thing to have leftovers for lunch. Our plates were neatly bordered in freshly sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, our bagels were warm and chewy, and the lox and schmear are history. Yum! (Yiddish translation: Geshmak!)

We sipped hot coffee and listened to the live jazz at the beautiful ten o’clock hour. Who cares if we were both running on five hours of sleep? It was the perfect place for two long lost girlfriends to reconnect over a peaceful morning breakfast.

If you are in the area, or plan on visiting Seattle, don’t be shy. Cross the bridge over Lake Washington and visit Gilbert’s for breakfast. And if you miss the breakfast boat, don’t fret. The matzo ball soup on the lunch menu is worth a trip too!