Tricks of the Trade

This Passover, many families will join famous chefs who host Seder dinners at their restaurants.

Joyce Goldstein has a Sephardic Seder every year at Square One in San Francisco, and Michel Richard holds a “third night” Seder at Citrus, preparing a traditional Passover menu with a French accent. Wolfgang Puck’s Spago restaurant has been featuring a Passover Seder for many years, and Michael Frank and Robert Bell offer a unique Passover menu at Chez Melange in Redondo Beach.

Desserts are a special attraction at these events, and they are a challenge, because they must be prepared with only Passover-approved ingredients. No flour or leavening agents are permitted, and in some homes even matzo meal is not used.

Mary Bergin, the pastry chef at Spago in Las Vegas, shares her recipe for a fabulous Passover nut cake, layered with a creamy chocolate filling and wrapped with a wide ribbon of glossy chocolate. Highlight your Passover desserts with this festive cake.

Other chefs who have created Passover desserts include Celestino Drago, chef-owner of Il Pastaio and Drago restaurants, who often takes Italian macaroons to friends’ Seder dinners. In Italy, these cookies are referred to as Brutti ma Buoni (“ugly but good”).

Michael McCarty, of Michael’s in Santa Monica, combines a melange of seasonal berries and custard into a creamy gratin. His secret to obtaining the utmost flavor in this gratin is using berries at their peak of ripeness.

Richard’s Giant Marshmallow dessert is an easy way to transform a Passover sponge cake into something special. Richard says this dish reminds him of the French dessert i^les flottantes (floating islands), but to me it’s more like a king-size version of the marshmallow cookies my children love.

Families often depend on dessert recipes handed down from grandmothers, but this year you can add a gourmet touch to your Passover meals with these chef-inspired surprises. I plan on serving several at each of our two Seders, along with my traditional home-baked sponge cakes and assorted cookies. Our dessert table will also include an assortment of strawberries, dried fruits and nuts dipped in chocolate.

MARY BERGIN’S CHOCOLATE-WRAPPED HAZELNUT CAKE

CAKE

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted

1 cup walnuts, toasted

1 cup sugar

6 eggs, separated

CHOCOLATE FILLING

1/4 pound Passover semisweet chocolate, broken in pieces

1/2 pound butter or pareve margarine

2 tablespoons coffee

2 egg yolks

GARNISH

3/4 pound Passover semisweet chocolate, melted

1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts or almonds

CAKE

Finely grind cocoa, hazelnuts, walnuts and 1/4 cup sugar in bowl or food processor fitted with steel blade.

Beat egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar until thick and pale yellow. Clean mixer bowl and beat egg whites until soft peaks form. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff but not dry.

Stir ground nut mixture into egg yolk mixture in 2 additions. Fold in 1/3 of beaten egg whites to lighten yolk mixture. Fold in remaining egg whites. Spoon mixture into 3 (9-inch) cake pans that have been buttered and dusted with cocoa powder.

Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cakes shrink away from sides of pans, 40 to 45 minutes. Invert onto racks; do not remove pans until cool.

Turn Cake pans right side up, remove pans and spread each layer with Chocolate Filling. Stack layers and lightly ice outside edges. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.

CHOCOLATE FILLING

Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over hot water over moderate heat, stirring until smooth.

Using electric mixer, cream butter. Mix in coffee and melted chocolate. Then add yolks, 1 at time, beating well after each addition. Beat at high speed until mixture is light caramel in color and very smooth and light, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside. Makes about 2 cups.

ASSEMBLY AND GARNISH

Place 1 sheet wax paper on work area. Measure height and circumference of cake and cut band of wax paper to same size. Spread melted chocolate on band 1/8-inch thick. Let set until chocolate is no longer shiny but still pliable, about 5 minutes.

Using wax paper band, pick up chocolate and carefully wrap around cake. Pinch ends together and cut off excess “tail” with sharp scissors. Refrigerate cake until chocolate band is set, about 30 minutes.

Carefully remove wax paper, peeling from one end to other. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

690 calories; 233 mg sodium; 232 mg cholesterol; 50 grams fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 1.15 grams fiber.

CELESTINO’S ITALIAN MACAROONS

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon Passover potato starch

4 egg whites

1 cup coarsely ground toasted hazelnuts

Blend sugar and potato starch in food processor until powdery. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir in sugar mixture, little at a time, then stir in hazelnuts.

Cook mixture over low heat, mixing with wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from sides of pan. Remove pan from heat and cool 10 minutes.

Drop hazelnut mixture in 1-tablespoon mounds onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, 20 minutes.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Each serving contains about:

30 calories; 4 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.07 gram fiber.

MICHEL RICHARD’S GIANT CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOWS PASSOVER SPONGE CAKE

7 eggs, separated

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1/2 cup matzo cake meal

1/2 cup potato starch

1 cup ground toasted walnuts

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup Passover raspberry preserves

MARSHMALLOWS

6 egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 cups melted Passover semisweet chocolate, cooled

PASSOVER SPONGE CAKE

In large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in orange juice, lemon juice and lemon and orange peels; blend well. Gradually blend in matzo meal, potato starch and walnuts.

In separate bowl, beat egg whites and salt until peaks form. Gently fold whites into yolk mixture.

Pour batter into ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees until cake springs back to touch and toothpick inserted in cake comes out dry, 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove cake from oven and immediately invert pan. When cake is cool, loosen sides and center with sharp knife and unmold onto cake plate.

Slice cake into 2-inch slices. Using 2 1/2- to 3-inch diameter cookie cutter, cut each slice into a round. Slice each round in half crosswise and spread raspberry preserves on 1 half. Top with remaining half, making round sandwich. Set aside.

MARSHMALLOWS

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using cookie cutter, mark parchment paper with 3-inch circles, 12 in all.

In large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Slowly add 1/3 cup sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Add remaining 2/3 cup sugar, beating until stiff. Fill pastry bag with egg white mixture and pipe 12 mounds filling circles on prepared baking sheets. Bake at 300 degrees until golden, 5 to 10 minutes. Cool in refrigerator.

To assemble, place large rack over sheet of wax paper. Place prepared Sponge Cake rounds on rack. Using spatula, place 1 cooled Marshmallow over each cake round. Pour melted chocolate over the top, allowing excess chocolate to drip onto wax paper. Cool before serving.

Makes 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

532 calories; 119 mg sodium; 124 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 74 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 0.96 gram fiber.

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Muse dinner plate, napkin ring and fork from Tesoro in West Hollywood; Asiaphile runner from Geary’s in Beverly Hills.