It always happens every time I perform a demo. I am rolling along with whatever the menu du jour is and I am all excited and enthusiastic about the food and ingredients (I can be quite dramatic at a demo). Then I get to dessert and it all goes south on me. Invariably someone asks me about pareve desserts.

I cannot stand fake food. I never use margarine and non-dairy creamer in place of butter and cream. I just don’t trade lipid for lipid and white liquid for white liquid. I end up in heated battles at these demos with home cooks telling me how great their margarine cakes are and how dare I suggest otherwise?!

So, let me say that I think food should be real. I don’t DO faux food. If it can’t be the real thing, then I don’t make it. If I can’t make brownies with butter, then I save that recipe for a dairy meal. If you really want béarnaise sauce (and who doesn’t?) I make a gorgeous piece of fish or amazing vegetables. I have asked customers in no uncertain terms why they would ask me to drown their steaks in chemicals. I won’t. And by the way, I won’t make fake crème brulee. What did cream ever do to me? Someone once asked me for a recipe for Chicken Parmesan using fake cheese. UGH!

What I do like to make for pareve desserts are great fruit compotes. I have a million recipes for sorbets and granites. I am a big fan of really high quality chocolates and lavishly drizzle them on poached pears and sponge cakes. I have gone overboard with a pantry full of nut pastes and vanilla beans. These ingredients are my friends when I am looking for pareve desserts. I completely eschew bogus food. It is not the same and is not good for you. If the counterfeit items were so great every chef would be using them. Instead those items are typically associated with inferior cheap baked goods.

My strategy when I am planning menus at home and at work is to look at the season. I find what is seasonally at its peak. I then write my menus around those ingredients. The end product is always fresher and better flavored. I also like to keep the integrity of the dish by keeping it real. So, I suggest that we all use the best chocolates we can find. Pick the freshest seasonal fruits and fresh herbs (yes herbs are great in desserts) and try not use recipes that rely upon butter and cream for our pareve desserts. Here’s to seconds of amazing authentic desserts!

Almond sponge cake

This cake is really delicious and versatile. It can be rolled into a roulade with a variety of fillings or used as a layer cake.

2 egg whites
10 oz. almond paste
12 egg yolks
10 + 2 egg whites
10 oz sugar
7 oz sifted flour
zest of 3 oranges

Preheat oven to 375.
1. Place the almond paste in the mixer with the paddle attachment. Gradually add the 2 egg whites until combined and smooth.
2. In a separate bowl beat 3 oz of sugar with the egg yolks until the ribbon stage (about 5 minutes) (the mixture should hold a” ribbon” when the whisk is lifted and a small amount of batter is drizzled on top of the batter).
3. Add the almond paste gradually. Add the orange zest.
4. Beat the remaining egg whites to a foam. Add the remaining sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the almond mixture.
5. Gently fold in the sifted flour.
Line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Divide the cake batter between the pans and bake in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes.
Or, you can bake this in 1 large layer using a jelly roll pan. Cut the bake time to about 15 minutes.
The cake layers can be stored tightly wrapped in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Laura Frankel is the Executive Chef for Wolfgang Puck Kosher Catering and Cafe at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies and the author of JEWISH COOKING FOR ALL SEASONS (John Wiley and Sons)

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