[Sca-cooks] Passover cakes

[Philip Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Nov 19, 2009, at 10:52 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Okay, what is/are the passover restrictions? I thought this was no leavening, but maybe that is a different holiday. You can make cakes with flour without leavening, right, (or do you get a rock?)? Or a flourless cake with leavening?

At risk of oversimplifying, it's my understanding that for Ashkanazik Jews, the standard Passover rule is no grain products other than matzoh, and no leavening agents such as yeast or baking powder. Cakes, therefore, tend to be made with fine matzoh meal, nut flours, or potato starch, and beaten egg whites provide aeration for lightness.

The rules for Sephardic Jews are sometimes interpreted a bit differently.

Adamantius