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The return of the Charoset pyramid

by Alix Wall · March 29th, 2007

Cooking, Holidays, Personal Story, Pesach/Passover

I look forward to Pesach for a lot of reasons, but one of them is my cousin-in-law Rebecca’s famous charoset pyramid.
For many years now, my aunt Diane has made Egyptian charoset along with the Ashkenazi one, even though our family is 100 percent Ashkenazi. One year, Rebecca realized the dense matter looked a lot like…mortar. She started sculpting it, and voila, the pyramid was born.
Each year since, it has gotten more and more complicated. One year, she added plastic palm trees. Another, she managed to find a Pharoah action figure, which perfectly complimented the one I found of Moses. In this photo, from our seder at my home in Oakland in 2003, she fashioned sand out of brown sugar.
I wonder what it will be this year.

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6 Responses to “The return of the Charoset pyramid”

Carly Says:
March 29th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
oh my g-d! someone else does this too. mine lacks the fabulous action figures, but I’ve been making morrocan-style charoset for several years, similar to egyptian, and I was inspired to make a pyramid too.

Morrocan style charoset is used rolled into little balls of gooey goodness. I put a sheet of matzah between each layer of charoset, and voila — charoset pyramid!

I’ll have to post pictures this year.
Anna Stevenson Says:
March 30th, 2007 at 11:55 am
I love it! My dad has been making sculpted birthday cakes for my brother and I for years (regular sheet cake, carved into airplanes, great pink sea snails, party hats, dinosaurs…3D and everything) — but using this substance evocative of mortar to actually build something…genius. I think we’ll have a pyramid construction contest at my seder this year – action figures not included ;0)
Anna Stevenson Says:
March 30th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Wait – can one of you put up your recipe for sephardi charoset?
Carly Says:
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:21 am
Oh it’s so late! Sorry — I didn’t see this reply!

hmm…from memory

1 3/4 cups dates
1 3/4 cups dried figs
1/4 cup wine
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup raisins
2 tbs powdered sugar
1stp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Pit and chop dates — chop figs — then throw it all in the food processor and chop into a paste!

I roll mine into little balls.

Happy Pesach!
Anna Stevenson Says:
April 4th, 2007 at 8:16 am
thanks! sounds like fun.

i tried one recipe for ‘yemenite’ charoset…it had corriander in it, and while i like corriander, if you put too much in it sort of tastes like soap. oops. and I had totally planned a pyramid building contest but we didn’t start dinner until _eleven_ and I just couldn’t bear to add more to the seder! I’m going to try it at my parent’s seder this weekend (we always do ours on the weekend…).

the recipe I made also called for sesame seeds, which are kitniot, right? wasn’t sure – tho if you’re making a sephardi recipe and you’re ashkenazi, are you allowed to use the sephardi ingredients?!