Charoset Ice Cream

Several years ago I created this recipe for charoset ice cream for an article in the Jewish Week Food & Wine (which, I am sad to say, no longer has a regular food/recipe column).

Back then (2015), Ben & Jerry’s had created a charoset flavored ice cream that was all the rage — but it was only available in Israel.

The mere mention of charoset ice cream piqued my interest. So I got to work and created my own version.

I have never tasted theirs. Don’t need to. This version is quite wonderfully delicious.

Charoset Ice Cream 

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 6 dates, preferably medjool, pitted and chopped

• 2 small Golden Delicious or other sweet apples, peeled and chopped

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 cup sweet Passover wine

• 3 cups half and half, light cream or whipping cream

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 3 large egg yolks

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup chopped nuts, optional

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the brown sugar and mix it in. Add the dates and apples and stir the ingredients to distribute them evenly. Sprinkle in the cinnamon. Pour in the wine. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for 25-30 minutes or until the fruit is soft. Mash the fruit to make the mixture pasty and set it aside.  

While the fruit is cooking, heat 2 cups of the cream over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, the egg yolks and salt at medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until light and thick. Gradually add the heated cream and mix the ingredients completely. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5-6 minutes or until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour in the remaining cream and blend it in thoroughly. Stir in the fruit mixture. Refrigerate until cold (at least 45 minutes). Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’

Makes about 6 cups

Quarantine Charoset or Pantry Charoset or Completely Made-up Charoset

When I was growing up the Seder charoset was used symbolically only. My grandmother, and in later years my mother, would grate an apple or two, mix it with some walnuts and Manischewitz concord grape wine and that was that. It always turned brown and didn’t look very appetizing and we ate it only as commanded during the reading of the Haggadah.

Then, several years ago, charoset became a big deal. It was now expected to taste good, look good and be eaten like a side dish, the way we eat cranberry sauce or apple sauce.

And so, I stopped making the apple mush. Instead, over the years, I’ve made Persian versions, nut-free versions, coconut charosets and all sorts of others, based on different ethnicities.

This year I am making my special COVID19 jumble, made with what I have on hand in the way of dried fruit (plus an orange, which I always have in the fridge.

Should I call it Quarantine Charoset, Pantry Charoset or simply Completely Made Up Charoset?

I don’t use any nuts because of allergies, but you can add 1/3-1/2 cup of chopped nuts (any kind) to this recipe if you have some in your pantry.

Quarantine Charoset or Pantry Charoset or Completely Made-up Charoset

• 1-1/2 cups chopped dates

• 1 cup chop dried figs

• 1 cup chopped dried apricots

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 fresh apple, peeled and chopped

• 1/2 cup pomegranate jam (or any jam you have)

• 1/3 cup Passover wine (preferably Concord grape)

• 1/4 cup orange juice

• 1 teaspoon grated fresh orange peel

Place the dates, figs, apricots, raisins and apple in a bowl and toss the fruit to distribute the pieces evenly. Add the pomegranate jam and stir to coat the fruit. Pour in the wine and orange juice; add the orange peel. Toss the ingredients. Let rest for at least one hour before serving.

Makes about 5 cups

Nut-Free Dried Fruit and Apple Haroset

Passover has it's culinary challenges, it's true, but if you're like me, and have a kid with food allergies you are used to reading labels and figuring out substitutions throughout the year. I actually never minded this part. The fears of what could happen to my daughter if she ate fish or certain nuts, plus the medication and trips to the ER when it did happen were enough to motivate me.

Looked at it in a positive way, the Passover prohibitions plus the allergy no-nos are actually ways that have made my cooking more creative.

I like that.

Obviously, we do not have traditional Ashkenazi haroset at our Seders. My daughter can't even be in the same room as a walnut. She can eat pistachios and almonds, so our usual family haroset with dried fruit includes these.

But -- why take any chances? Because it's possible that one nut allergy could be a warning against all others, my daughter doesn't eat any nuts, in haroset or anything else. On Passover I always serve a second version that's nut-free.

Here is this year's:

Nut-Free Dried Fruit and Apple Haroset

• 1/2 cup chopped dried figs

• 1/2 cup chopped dates

• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

• 1/3 cup apricot preserves

• 4-5 tablespoons sweet red Passover wine

• pinch of cayenne pepper 

Combine the figs, dates, apricots, raisins and apple in a bowl. Add the nutmeg, preserves, wine and cayenne pepper and mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Let the mixture stand for at least one hour before serving. 

 Makes about 2-1/2 cups

Another Seder, Another Haroset

Please see the Note below:

Although I usually like to cook new foods and experiment with recipes, when it comes to the Jewish holidays I more or less prepare the same things my mother and grandmother served in their day. For the first night of Passover that means chicken soup with matzo balls, roasted turkey, chremslich and macaroons. And several side dishes, such as braised leeks and tomatoes, roasted carrots, some quinoa dish or other -- and so on.

But I can't help myself, even for this very traditional meal -- I always add a new dish or two or three.

Sometimes it's a side dish, sometimes a dessert.

Sometimes I'll add an additional haroset to my usual one.

That's it for this year. Here's the one: Dried Fruit Haroset with Ginger and Coriander.

NOTE: I understand that not everyone eats sesame seeds during Passover (sesame seeds are kitnyiot). Please follow according to your tradition. The haroset is delicious even without the seeds. If you prefer, scatter the top with chopped toasted almonds.

Dried Fruit Haroset with Ginger and Coriander

• 1 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander (nutmeg, cinnamon)
• 1/3 cup apricot preserves
• 4-5 tablespoons sweet red Passover wine
• 1 tablespoon lightly toasted sesame seeds

Combine the figs, dates, apricots and raisins in a bowl. Add the ginger, coriander, preserves and wine and mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Let the mixture stand for at least one hour before serving.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

 Makes about 2-1/2 cups

Haroset with Pistachios and Pepper

Charoset (Haroset) is more than a blob of stuff that sits on the Passover Seder plate. Sure, we talk about it during the Haggadah reading. It’s there to symbolize the mortar used between the bricks that Jewish slaves used to build the pyramids for the ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

But it’s also food. In our family, another fabulous side dish, more like a relish, that we eat plenty of during the meal.

None of us ever really loved the old fashioned apple-wine mixture that most of us Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern European descent grew up with. It always tasted a bit sour and it got brown and ugly and besides, my daughter Gillian can’t eat walnuts and somehow almonds didn’t taste right in the mixture.

So, years ago I experimented with lots of recipes and found one I liked. It was a “Persian” recipe that I changed over and over until I got it the way I liked. At first my kids refused to eat it saying they would rather eat real mortar than this new charoset. But over the years they gradually came to love it and now insist they always did or at least can’t remember when they didn’t.

I double the recipe I am going to post here because it’s so good we eat a lot of it and besides, this relish lasts a while in the fridge so you can keep on having it all during Passover.

Haroset with Pistachios and Pepper

• 1 cup chopped dried apricots

• 1 cup chopped dates

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 cup shelled pistachio nuts

• 1 cup chopped almonds

• 2 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped

• 2/3 cup sweet red Passover wine

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/2 cup orange marmalade

  Combine the apricots, dates, raisins, pistachio nuts and almonds in a bowl and toss ingredients to distribute them evenly. (You can prepare this much a week ahead). Add the apples, wine, vinegar, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne and marmalade and mix ingredients. Let rest at least 4 hours before serving. May be made 3 days ahead.

Makes about 6 cups.