Of all the Jewish holidays (and there are many), Passover is the one that revolves most around food. If by chance you’ve never been to one, think DaVinci’s The Last Supper—but with people sitting on all four sides of the table and an atmosphere that’s only slightly less fraught. This is where, around a table laden with food and wine, the Passover seder unfolds according to the Haggadah, a guiding text that dates back at least to the 10th century. From the kickoff Four Questions, with answers known to all, to narrative passages and cued eating and drinking, the purpose of the seder is to preserve bitter memories of enslavement in Egypt, and celebrate liberation of the Israelites in the Exodus.

While the symbolism of certain proscribed Passover foods remains consistent around the world, their particular ingredients reflect the culture and region of origin. One example of this is charoseth, the sweetened fruit-and-nut mush symbolizing the mortar used by Israelites as bricklayers for their enslavers. Ashkenazi-style charoseth uses ingredients that were accessible in Eastern Europe: apples, walnuts, honey, and sweet red wine On the other hand, Sephardic charoseth draws from the cuisine of Mediterranean and the Levant: dates, dried fruits, dry red wine, cloves and orange blossom water. 

While there’s no overt rivalry between Ashkenazi and Sephardic food traditions, I’ve long detected a hard-to-argue with food chauvinism among Sephardic Jews, with their lighter, less peasanty fare. That said, I grew up in an Ashkenazi Jewish home, and like so many of us, find myself at holidays drawn to the foods of my youth. At Passover, I’m all in for gefilte fish (made once/never again), chicken soup with matzo balls, and a nice brisket or leg of lamb. Where I switch sides is at dessert.

In adherence to the no-leavening dictates of the holiday, most Ashkenazi Passover cakes call for matzo cake meal. “Meal” is a phonetic transliteration of the German and Yiddish “Mehl,” or flour. But matzo meal is not flour. It’s finely ground matzo, which unlike flour, cannot be leavened in water. In my house, matzo meal was the basis of a wan, spongy, mile-high cake that no amount of fruit topping or even ice cream (we weren’t kosher, so dairy after meat was okay) could rescue.

For many years now, one of my go-to Passover desserts is tishpishti, a Sephardic cake made with chopped walnuts and ground almonds and topped with a rosewater syrup. Like the Orange Olive Oil Cake I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, tishpishti is easy to make, even for unskilled bakers like me. Unlike that cake, however, tishpishti calls for no oil at all—relying instead on the release of natural oils from the nuts in baking . 

This recipe for tishpishti – a name I rarely say aloud, even when serving it— produces a cake that’s sweet, crunchy and dense. (You can find others online for lighter versions made with grapeseed oil, almond flour, grated apples, and even matzo meal.) No question, the richness and density of this one make a little go a long way. But cut into small squares or diamond shapes, tishpishti is a tasty treat to bring if you’re a guest, or to put out with other desserts invited guests may bring.

Tishpishti

Sephardic Passover walnut and almond cake

Tishpishti is traditionally topped with a simple syrup made of rosewater, sugar and lemon juice. Refrigerated and poured into a covered jar, the leftover syrup will last in your fridge until next Passover. I usually re-boil it for a minute or two before using it again.

Ingredients

Cake 

• 5 eggs 
• 1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup sugar
• Grated zest two oranges
• Juice of one orange
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Any oil or melted butter for the pan

Rosewater syrup 

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. rose water

Oil or butter for the pan. 

Directions 

For the syrup, boil the water with the sugar and lemon juice for 15 minutes. Stir in the rosewater. Cool and refrigerate. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk before mixing in all other ingredients. Line the bottom of a cake pan with foil or parchment paper. Brush with oil or melted butter. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for 1 hour until brownish and a knife, inserted, comes out clean. 

Immediately turn the cake into a deep dish. Peel off the foil or paper and cut the cake into squares or diamonds or any shapes you can manage. You can drizzle the syrup while the cake is still whole, or after you’ve cut it and arranged the pieces on a dish. 

Photos: Carolyn Swartz