Let's start with the Sesame Chicken Couscous Salad. What I have to say about that is simple: It is WAAAAAY better the next day. It was so delicious, it was like I was having a gourmet treat for lunch rather than leftovers. The flavors blended together beautifully, it was much less liquidy and everything about it was perfect. I will still be experimenting with the flavors of it, and trying to find some more ingredients that make it a bit more exciting, but for now, I will know to always make it one day before I want to eat it. It makes a huge difference!
Okay, and now for the Honey Sponge Cake:
First, I am going to let you look at the final product...here are some pictures:
How does it look to you? Beautiful? delicious? spongy? Yes, yes, and yes! All of the above. This cake is amazing. I was shocked that it tasted like something other than cardboard (if you have any previous experience with Passover cakes you will know what I mean) I was very nervous to serve it because I usually never serve anything to people that I have not tried myself. After our Seder was complete, I walked over to Tim, who had just taken his first bite, and meekly asked, "how is it?" He said "It's good" so as I breathed a sigh of relief I walked over and cut myself a piece. I was still a bit nervous, and hesitantly took a bite. It was wonderful! It was so moist, the consistency was perfect. The honey flavor was distinct but not overwhelming. It was not messy and gooey like I had imagined. Everything was better than I expected. I love it when that happens!
I decided to top the cake with strawberries, because it looked too plain and lonely by itself. The strawberries ended up being a perfect accent to the cake. They tasted great with the honey, and were refreshing as a pairing with the dense cake. I loved this cake so much, that I am going to make another one tonight. I need something to get me through this week without bread, and cookies, and all that other good stuff! I think I will get some strawberries to go along with it too!
I am no longer scared of baking cakes for Passover. I have a feeling that this one will be requested again next year, and I will also feel more comfortable experimenting with more Passover dessert recipes now that I have overcome this first flour-less obstacle. Yay!
OK, I must admit that when this first came out of the oven I wasn't completely thrilled. It had to sit in the pan and cool for a long time, whereas normally I enjoy eating burn-your-mouth-hot cookies and other baked goods right out of the oven. Having been raised a "gentile," I also am not well acquainted with unleavened desserts and I must admit I had a slight predisposition against the idea.
ReplyDeleteAfter actually trying this cake, I was pleasantly surprised. The cake emitted a sweet aroma of honey. I cut myself a small piece and bit in. The cake was not as fluffy or light as one would expect from a typical sponge cake due to the lack of leaven, but it was still very soft and not at all too dense. I suppose the easiest way to describe the consistency of the cake would be to compare it to a loaf of bread. I would say it has roughly the same density as a typical bread loaf, except that the cake was very moist and of course much more delicious.
The honey made the cake a little bit sticky, but not messy. It had just the right amount of sweetness and it tasted very good. I would give the base recipe 4 1/2 stars out of 5. I would actually eat this when it is not Passover, which is saying something.
I think this recipe also has a lot of potential if you experiment with different ways to dress the cake. For the Passover Seder, Shawna dressed the cake with strawberries. These were a perfect complement to the sweet flavor of the cake. Strawberries are probably the perfect fruit pair for this cake because I can't think of anything that would make a better match. Shawna dusted the second cake with powdered sugar which I actually enjoyed even more, although I think the cake would have been even better by adding both the strawberries and powdered sugar. Other toppings I would try are icing or fruit preserves.
My evaluation of the first cake with strawberries might be slightly biased because I was completely stuffed at the time, having just eaten an enormous dinner at the Passover Seder, and I felt a bout of nausea setting in around the time we started breaking out the desserts. I think if I tried the cake again with just strawberries, I would probably enjoy it more than I did the first time.