Lemon Passover Cheesecake

We always end our Passover Seder with a sponge cake.  My dad’s mom, Grandma Gertie used to make it.  When the tradition was passed down, I felt somewhat honored to be making Grandma’s cake, until one day I realized Grandma’s recipe was pretty identical to the one found on the Manischevitz cake meal box.  I felt like Monica after she tried to perfect Phoebe’s special chocolate cookie recipe.  If you don’t know what I mean, you should be ashamed and then watch this.

Anyway, ever since the realization that Grandma’s cake was more of a generic Passover sponge cake recipe than a secret family recipe, I have realized how average that cake is (sorry Brinks).  We still make the cake for Grandma’s sake, she’s 92 after all, but this year I was finally home in time to make something more exciting for night two.

I found a recipe for Passover Cheesecake on Epicurious that had great reviews (4 forks!).  The crust is made from almonds and matzo meal and cheesecake is already Passover ready.  My first attempt at cheesecake was mighty good. 

Happy Passover.  And, Happy Updating!

Oreo Cheesecake Brownies

So a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of two days off for Shavuot (remind me never to leave my job!). What does Shavuot have to do with this brownie recipe you ask? Well, it all started when I was bragging to my cousin Marcy (the family Super Jew) about my days off for some holiday celebrating the Torah. She told me I was supposed to eat cheesecake. All of a sudden Shavuot became my kind of holiday! I bought lots of cream cheese and prepared to make my very first cheesecake. But, I didn’t have a springform pan and I really had to go dress shopping, so cheesecake just wasn’t in the cards. Instead, I got creative. And, with a little help from Jessica, Oreo cheesecake brownies were born.

The recipe comes from the Joy of Cooking. But I had tons of cream cheese to get rid of. And Oreos I really didn’t want in my house. So, we doubled up on the cheesecake portion and added cookies into the mix. The results were well received.

Happy belated Shavuot (I give you all permission to celebrate holidays that involve cheesecake, I surely celebrate holidays that involve Cadbury Eggs)