No grass growing under my feet

So it was Pesach. The holiday of freedom, that chains us first to our brooms, Fantastik spray, paper towels, and magic eraser sponges, and then to our ovens. But I always enjoy Pesach, if for no other reason than the nicest gift I ever received - my Pesach kitchen. It was something I always dreamed of having (some people dream of jewels, cars, vacations, but this was my aspiration), and now love so much. It makes preparation for Pesach so much less pressured, and less painful for the whole family. And since I agreed with my husband that there should be a break from selling cookies, this was my vacation from work as well.

But because I can never get away from my sweet tooth, I spent some time over the weeks developing a couple of new items. I also broke my promise not to work, taking just one birthday cake job as a favor.

This was a dark chocolate cake, filled and decorated with chocolate mousse buttercream, and covered with chocolate ganache glaze. Hard to believe it's Pesachdik - and gluten free.

Growing up in a non-gebrukts house, pretty much everything we ate on Pesach, with the exception of matzah, was gluten free. Over the last year, I have received a lot of interest in gluten free cookies, but never put the two and two together to realize that despite my instinct, I did know quite a bit about gluten-free baking. One new recipe I made this year, thanks to my blogging friend Laura, is these dark chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. They were so rich and delicious, that is is hard to believe they are Pesach cookies!

I also came to the realization that French macarons are the ideal Pesach dessert - not to mention decadent and luxurious for the whole year round. I made chocolate filled with ganache, chocolate filled with buttercream, almond filled with ganache, and lemon filled with lemon curd.I am planning to try making a coffee flavor this week as well, and am offering a free sample with this week's orders. Next week, they join the menu as a special order item. I hope they will get a good reception, as I love them, and hope others will too! The gluten free aspect is really a bonus, as I am happy to be able to offer gluten free products that are of the high quality and attractiveness I pride myself on.

All in all, it was a good Pesach. Because of Dani's allergies, we can't go out, so we do a good amount of preemptive enertaining. We had a really good time, enjoying our company, both friends and family. Nonetheless, I look forward to a quiet Shabbat. Hope you are having a sweet week!

Dvora

Climbing Everest

Everyone has his or her great white whale - a mountain to climb, a stream to ford (getting very Von Trapp-ish here, sorry!) - that challenge that must be surmounted. For me, it is the French macaron. Not to be confused with the Passover macaroon, a coneshaped explosion of oversweetened coconut, or the Oberlander macaroon, not even sure what it really is, the French macaron (pronounced Ma-ca-Rone), in its contemporary incarnation, is a delicate sandwich cookie. Two cookies, with a crisp meringue shell and soft inside, with some sort of filling gluing thw whole mess together. With a minimum of ingredients, skill and technique is what makes these special. Or so I am given to understand. I had only tasted them once or twice, but I was determined to make it happen. After about a year and a half of procrastinating, I finally went for it yesterday.

AND IT WORKED! (Pardon my shouting; I am just a little excited.)

I followed the directions of many a macaron maker, finding that it was slightly less terrifying than I had anticipated. Both batches baked up exactly as they were meant to: crisp dome, merigue foot - AWESOME! (oops, sorry, got loud again). I stuck to the basic flavor - almond - and filled them with chocolate ganache. I felt accomplished and virtuous and wondering if it was just beginner's luck all at the same time. I enjoyed the process so much that I am looking forward to trying again, and also to trying different flavors and fillings. You will have to tune in to find out what happens next!

Here's to all of us making molehills out of our mountains.

Dvora