Pesach Cake

The ever-elusive Pesach Cake recipe
This is a no-flour, no leavening cake that is traditional for Pesach/Passover.

Had no slivered almonds, so I used all sliced

Ingredients

• 6 (large) eggs, separated
• 250g caster sugar (or use berry sugar OR take regular white sugar and process in food processor until it is very fine)
• 1 pinch salt
• rind of 1/2 lemon
• 250g finely ground mixed nuts (eg. almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts) 

Topping

• 100g semi-sweet dark chocolate
• smooth apricot jam
• slivered and sliced almonds to decorate

Method

Making the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Line a springform pan with parchment paper on the bottom and grease well up sides and on the parchment
3. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks in one bowl and set aside
4. In another bowl, beat egg yolks until creamy. Beat in sugar, salt, and lemon rind.
5. To the yolk mixture, add the ground nuts and mix gently by hand
6. Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture, taking your time to reach an even consistency
7. Pour the cake batter into the pan. Bake 35-40 mins.
8. Allow the cake to cool slightly before opening the springform pan and flipping the cake onto a cooling rack. You may want to grease the cooling rack first, as the cake always sticks to it otherwise! Remove the pan bottom and parchment

Decorating

1. Once the cake has cooled, flip onto a serving platter (or first flip on an intermediate plate then flip upside-down again as the bottom surface may be smoother)
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double-boiler (if using a microwave, stir frequently and melt in short bursts to avoid lumps). 
3. Depending on your chocolate, you may want to carefully stir in 2-4tbs boiling hot water to make it a little runnier and easier to spread (we didn't have to do this).
4. Using a rubber spatula, spread a thin layer of apricot jam all over the top and sides of the cake.
5. Spread a thin layer of the melted chocolate over top of the jam on the top and sides of the cake
6. Use the slivered and sliced almonds to decorate (traditional for Pesach is a Magen David on top and some sliced almonds pressed into the sides)