Passover is in full swing now, here to torture those observing for a full week.  Seder plates have been washed clean and the “festive meal” consumed, but the real observance has just begun.  Like I said earlier, I don’t keep kosher, and I had hoped to just suggest a few sweet recipes appropriate for the holiday, maybe give a few pointers to those confused about chametz, and then wash my hands clean of this whole thing.  Yep, that was the plan… But here you sweet people have guilted me into thinking about this more, and ultimately working to create something else to share for this time of year.

Really, it’s the challenge of meeting such strict dietary guidelines that gets me. Taking the opportunity to create something else to add to me repertoire of gluten-free recipes, it seemed only appropriate to go for a staple sweet, something that I know I would miss dearly if abstaining from wheat for any reason.

Brownies. Yes, plain, classic, standard brownies. But much to my surprise and delight, these chocolate morsels turned out even better than I could have expected; Quite possibly even better than my original recipe for gluten-ful brownies, too! Dense but not heavy, full-bodied and intensely chocolatey, these straddle that fine line between cakey and fudgey, these simple bars possess what I consider the ideal texture for this crowd-pleasing baked good.

No compromises here! In fact, forget about Passover, because this is one recipe you’ll want to whip out all year round!

Gluten-Free / Passover-Friendly Brownies

2/3 Cup Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
1/3 Cup Potato Starch
1/4 Cup Sweet White Rice Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Margarine
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Walnuts, Chopped

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, potato starch, rice flour, salt, and sugar. Melt the margarine and stir in the pumpkin puree and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir well. No need to worry about over-mixing here, as there’s no gluten to make the brownies tough, so just make sure to get all of the lumps out. Add in the walnuts, and mix to evenly distribute them throughout the batter.

Smooth the batter into your prepared pan, and bake for approximately 20 – 24 minutes. The top should no longer look “wet,” and a toothpick should come out mostly clean, with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan before cutting.

Baking and cooking can be many things to many people; A way to relieve stress, get out aggressions, or soothe sadness. The simple act of slowing down and creating something from scratch with your own two hands can just be such a catharsis in this busy, maddening world. It isn’t, however, something to plow through, rushed and uninterested in the process itself, eyes only focused on the end result. Baking is less about the cakes and the cookies that come out of the oven, but more about the sifting of the flour, careful measuring, and skillful work with the knife. Or in my case, disastrously clumsy and painful use of the knife.

Waking up late and hastily throwing together the base for my Passover dessert to be served at seder later that night, everything was going as planned… Until I pulled out those fateful oranges. Without thinking, I began hacking away, paring off strips of zest when the blade slipped and… Well, I think you can guess what it began paring after that. This was quite possibly the worst injury I’ve sustained in the kitchen yet, and yes, it was all from a careless mistake.

Things kept going downhill from there- The crust for my tartlettes fell apart in the oven, and my iSi cream whipper refused to work in more than spurts and splats, making for a rather Picasso sort of presentation. Taking a deep breath, slowing down a bit, and thinking things through more was the only way out of this mess.

The orange curd meant to fill my tartlettes went into the bottom of some clear glasses instead, to be topped with chopped strawberries and strawberry mousse. Much simpler than my original plans, but working with only one hand definitely limited my options this time around. At least there will still be a dessert to serve tonight… And I don’t think I need stitches, I consoled myself at the time.

Thank goodness those verrines were so well received after all of that drama! It’s one thing to be able to think on your feet, but another to think ahead enough so that you don’t need to. Just in case you’re thinking about speeding through your next culinary endeavor, consider how much less time and pain it may take if you go about it mindfully in the first place.

Easter means two things to me: Cute, fluffy bunnies, and candy.  Since I would hate to pass up the opportunity to celebrate pretty much any holiday, despite my pitiful lack of knowledge about it, I set about making the most festive sweet treat I could muster.

Thank goodness I still had a marshmallow kit from Angel Food, which had admittedly expired six months ago, but still worked just as promised.  Thick, billowing clouds of marshmallow-y goodness were soon whipping around the beater of my mixer, dyed a pastel pink thanks to the pomegranate juice I substituted for water.  Peeps are pretty much the epitome of Easter to me, but it would be a stretch to try piping out those iconic shapes, so instead the mallow was set in a baking dish, to be cut out later into appropriate shapes.

Lightly dusting the counter, knife, cookie cutter, and entire kitchen with powdered sugar, tiny pink bunnies were soon taking shape.

Carefully poking those microscopic ears and tails out of the metal form, it seemed like a task that would last me all day. Little did I know that like the real thing, this rabbits can really multiply in no time…!