Charoset
Charoset is one of my favorite Passover foods. During the Seder, this sweet, fruity dish holds a special, symbolic place, reminding us of the mortar which the Jews used to bond bricks while enslaved in Egypt.
European Jews (Ashkenazi) traditionally use nuts, apples, cinnamon and sweet wine for this dish. Jews of Middle Eastern descent (Sephardic) commonly use raisins, figs dates and sesame seeds. In general, Middle Eastern Jews have a far richer culinary tradition than European Jewry and charoset is no exception to this rule. In her Book of Jewish Food
Of course, my version of charoset is a blend of the two traditions --and as always, lower in sugar than the standard fare.
2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
2 cups walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¾ cups currants
- In food processor, combine apples, walnuts, cinnamon, orange juice, lemon juice and currants
- Pulse briefly until desired texture is achieved
- Serve
Servings: 6
It seems that everyone has their own favorite family recipe for charoset. What's yours? If you have one, feel free to leave it in the comments section.
Posted on April 2, 2008 in condiments by Elana
other entries you may like: Homemade Applesauce
or Raw Tomato Sauce
or Horseradish: Make Your Own Maror
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"Check out Elana's FAQ page for info on substitutions -- there are just too many possibilities so she can't answer all of these : ) But the Forums are an excellent resource and I highly recommend posting your substitution questions there; everyone is friendly and helpful." -Katie
This is the first time that I have heard of Charoset. It looks and sounds really good.
what a simple and easy dessert! a nice blend of both smooth and crunchy textures as well
Sounds great. Simple, flavourful and filled with natural goodness. This is my favourite from a kid healthified by me. It's not gluten free but I thought you could make a gluten free version. I think 1 cup rice flour and 1 cup almond flour instead of spelt flour would work?
My Gramma Florence’s 1950’s recipe for Benito Pudding was the inspiration for these bars. I remember having it as a kid and loving it. It was soft and chewy and slathered with a high sugar, caramely sauce. I am skipping the sauce to avoid the sugar rush and all that goes with it. This is a tasty and easy to go snack.
½ cup butter
½ cup rice milk
2 cups spelt flour (or 1 cup rice flour and 1 cup almond flour?)
½ cup quinoa flakes
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup raisins, soak in water
2 apples, cored and diced
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Turn on oven to 350°.
Melt butter and mix with maple syrup and rice milk.
In a separate bowl mix quinoa flakes, flour and baking powder.
Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix well.
Drain raisins and stir into batter along with diced apple.
Lightly butter a 9 inch baking dish.
Pour in batter, smoothing out top.
Bake for 25 minutes until just lightly browning.
I love charoset...now, do you have a good tzimmes recipe???
it sounds so healthy, simple, and delicious! I'll have to give it a try.
Kevin -thanks for your comment. Just checked out your blog closetcooking again; my mouth was watering over the stuffed mushroom recipe!
Amanda -Yes, this charoset recipe is a family favorite. My older son ate most of the batch that is shown in the photo above.
Marissa -I hadn't heard of Benito pudding until you posted it here. It looks really interesting and I bet it's tasty too.
Paige -I have never made tzimmes, if you can believe that. My mother-in-law has an amazing recipe; I will try it out and post it here if it works. Do you have a favorite tzimmes recipe? If so, let me know, I would love to see it here in the comments section!
Celine -Yes, so simple, so healthy. I will be making 26 batches of this with my son's third grade class the day before Pesach for the class seder the next day (100 people will be attending that event).
Oh my goodness, I just made your Charoset, what a flavour explosion, I can’t have orange juice so I exchanged it with pineapple juice. I also made the Simple Bread, My husband and daughter love them and they are hard to please, thank you so much for posting your recipes. Tomorrow I am going to cook the chicken with apples and banana cake; I will let you know how I go. Any idea on what I can replace the cream with? Thank you Elana. Tracy.
Tracy, Glad you liked the charoset and thanks for your kind words. Per the cream, are you referring to the cream in cream cheese frosting? If so, I must confess, I haven't found a "white" frosting that works yet. My chocolate frosting is vegan, not sure how that would be on banana bread. If you try it let me know how it all works out.
Dear Elana
THANK YOU, for your lovely recipes , recently i had to change my diet to a gluten free food , i will be trying most of the recipes but my question is can i use ( rice flour ) instead of almond flour just in case i don't manage to buy it here . I will keep viewing this site in future , with thanks
Tania
[...] and cinnamon, all moistened with sweet wine or a fruit juice. But over at Elana’s Pantry is a recipe for charosets that combines both Ashkenazi (Eastern European) and Sephardic (Middle Eastern) traditions with the [...]
This will be great for on the go when my son needs a snack.