It’s an age-old question:
How soon after Pesach may one resume baking chametz brownies?
Immediately? Not until after Lag BaOmer? Well into the summer? Rosh Hashanah?
After all, in many households – TRLEOOB* included – brownies are considered to be a Pesach staple. (B”N, I’ll try to post the Shiputzim family’s favorite Pesach brownie recipe in Nissan IY”H.)
Naturally, this means that by the end of Pesach, no one wants to even LOOK at another brownie.
<brief aside> Have you ever met anyone who did NOT insist that their Pesach brownies “taste even BETTER than chametz” [sic]? And yet for some reason, once that last Pesach dish is put away, no one bothers with their flourless dessert recipes anymore… :-) </aside>
My personal take is that Shavuot is an ideal time to bring brownies back into the baking fold.
But if that seems brazenly early for you, why not consider making brownies with a twist? Say, for instance, brownies with ganache?
Admittedly, healthy or dietetic, they aren’t – what with the evil pareve cream and all (see recipe below) - but hey, if it means that your family can start indulging in these classic chocolate treats sooner, one could easily make a case that calories and chemicals are a small price to pay. Don’t you agree?
Based on my friend E.’s brownie recipe and adapted from here.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup oil
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup cocoa
- 1½ cups flour
Ganache
- ½ container pareve cream
- 250 grams semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (we used a combination of the two)
Directions
Mix brownie ingredients together by hand and pour into a baking-paper-lined 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until done. Let cool in pan.
Melt parve whip and chocolate together in the microwave. Pour the ganache over the brownies in the pan and spread. Refrigerate.
!בתאבון
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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog
Oh, that's so funny, I thought it was just me! My mother only ever made brownies on Pesach, and so now even if I eat chametz brownies, they taste like Pesach to me. So we don't bother, naturally, and the tradition carries on :)
ReplyDeleteI tried to influence my son who likes brownies to make some on Pesach, but he said, na, they will taste like Pesach brownies. Maybe if he had your recipe...
ReplyDeleteActually, my niece who lives in Brooklyn says the problem is the cocoa on Pesach. She uses some brand called Shifra (I think?) that she says is great. Maybe you get good Pesach cocoa in Israel?
Toby - Our family's total consumption of brownies over Pesach is not too far off from our total consumption of matzah... :-)
ReplyDeleteLeora - Fortunately, the same excellent Elite cocoa that we use all year is available for Pesach. #AnotherReasonToMakeAliyah :-)
These brownies look so easy and so good.
ReplyDeleteAs for the health aspect, I have two observations. (1) I have had great success making ganache with coconut milk, which eliminates the need for using pareve whip. And (2) a recent study done in Australia found that eating lots of chocolate reduces your risk of a heart attack:
"A study of 2,013 Australians conducted at Melbourne's Monash University found that the consumption of 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of chocolate with a 70 percent or higher cocoa content every day was an effective measure to reduce risk.
Lead researcher Ella Zomer said the team found 70 fatal and 15 non-fatal cardiovascular events per 10,000 people could be prevented over 10 years if patients at risk of having a heart attack or stroke ate dark chocolate."
Laura - Yeah, they're as quick and easy as they sound. Thanks for the helpful information.
ReplyDeleteI actually printed this recipe and handed it to my 7-year-old to bake all by herself. This is a first; haven't tasted it yet, but it was simple enough to prepare... thanks! (I made a different frosting, though, using what we had in the house, which was coconut oil, cocoa, icing/confectioner's sugar, and a bit of chocolate almond milk)
ReplyDeleteShabbat Shalom (or Shavuah Tov, by the time you see this!)
p.s. My all-time FAVOURITE brownies are butter-based and for sure "better than Pesach-dik," but part of the secret is that you use VERY LITTLE flour (almost little enough to qualify them as Pesach brownies!). This makes them very gooey.
ReplyDeleteThe nice and also terrible thing is you can whip them up in under 1/2 an hour using pretty ordinary ingredients.
Jennifer in MamaLand - Kol hakavod to your 7-year-old! :-)
ReplyDelete