Easy Kosher Passover Cake Recipe and Other Desserts

Ilse's Passover cake recipe isn't just for Passover. This mocha nut sponge cake is one Alex and Zoe often requested for their birthdays. Try this delicious walnut sponge cake with the best, to die for, mocha frosting ever! And check out some of my other favorite Passover desserts, too!

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Passover cake recipes are traditionally sponge or meringue cakes and are always made without leavening.

Passover cakes are made without leavening because when the Jews were slaves in Egypt they didn't have time to wait for their bread to rise.

After all, when the Pharaoh says go, it's time to get the hell out of dodge.

Hence we eat matzo or unleavened bread, during the Passover seder and for the following 8 days.

Matzo is made from flour, is not gluten-free, and has no leavening.

Matzo meal (ground up matzo) is substituted for flour and matzo cake meal is the same thing except it is ground finer.

Just make sure the box is labeled kosher for Passover because matzo is made all year, not just for Passover.

During this Jewish holiday one often makes flourless cakes for Passover meals such as this flourless chocolate cake recipe.

Why I Love Ilse's Passover Sponge Cake

Ilse's Passover cake recipe brings back many happy memories of sitting in her and my Papa's small apartment on Sunday night while she served us this cake on fine china.

When I was younger, I did not like this cake, but I loved the mocha butter cream frosting.

I remember trying to eat around the cake and make it look like I really liked it. But all that does not matter now.

One of the first things I wanted when I got married was this Passover cake recipe.

It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. However it then took me almost 20 years to get the recipe out of Ilse's mouth!

It was over the phone and well, you can see exactly what I wrote. Now it's in recipe form so it can be enjoyed by all.

One last note. My kids LOVE this Passover cake recipe. I have twins so I bake two cakes each year.

We always do chocolate and we always do Ilse’s cake. 

And when they came home this year for winter break, it was Ilse’s cake that was waiting for them.

Additionally this was the nut cake I made on Season 2 of The Great American Recipe on PBS.

So now you can be a TV cook!

FAQ's

Ingredients For Ilse's Passover Cake Recipe

Large eggs at room temperature separated with the whites in one mixing bowl and the egg yolks in another.

Finely ground walnuts are chopped in the food processor with the steel blade. You do not want to turn these into a paste. They should be very finely chopped nuts which is done by turning the machine on and off. (I have never tried ground almonds which I've been meaning to do.)

White Cane Sugar Divided in half

Almond extract and Vanilla Extract (As a child I didn't really love almond extract so I toned this cake down with a touch of vanilla. However use what you like but be sure to use at least some almond extract.)

Matzo meal is used instead of flour. The texture of the matzo meal is similar to ground nuts.

Mocha Frosting
(I do this recipe plus 50% more. However if you are not a frosting lover use the basic recipe and do not increase it. You could also double it and then eat the rest with your fingers. Doubled is just a bit too much for this cake!)

Powdered sugar (kosher for Passover)

1 envelope Swiss Miss or hot cocoa mix

Unsalted Butter or margarine

Coffee at room temperature from a cup of brewed coffee or instant espresso

How To Make This Passover Cake Recipe

• Whip egg whites in the large bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Then add ½ cup white sugar slowly to make a very thick bowl of stiffly beaten egg whites. A hand mixer could also be used.
• Beat egg yolks with whisk until very thick and lemony. Whisk in remaining ½ c of sugar.
• Add chopped nuts, vanilla and almond extracts, and matzo meal to the egg yolk mixture.
• Fold in egg whites.
• Using a spatula scrape into a parchment lined 9” springform pan. Bake at 375 anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. Insert skewer to check for doneness. It should be clean or with very few crumbs clinging to it. You do not want it to over bake or it will become dry.
• Cake will probably rise above pan. Cool on a rack. It will fall and actually look quite ugly. That is OK because now you get to make this most delicious frosting.

Mocha Frosting

• Beat frosting ingredients well in a mixer. Be sure to cover the mixer with a towel so the powdered sugar doesn't fly everywhere. And be sure to buy Kosher for Passover powdered sugar.
• When cake is cool, slice through middle horizontally and create 2 layers.
• Spread the bottom layer with frosting.
• Carefully replace top half and then frost the entire cake. This is a great birthday cake, not to mention a very special Passover cake recipe. Apparently it is also a great cake to attract future husbands!
  
• Note: The cake does not require a middle layer of icing. That is up to you. 

Though these are old pictures you can see that this isn't a pretty cake until you frost it!

We always serve this Passover cake recipe after the Seder meal. 

If so, you may want to make the frosting with margarine and kosher for Passover powdered sugar.

We love the nutty taste of this cake, but it's the mocha frosting that sends this cake over the moon and back.

The top of the cake can be decorated with more chopped nuts or chopped chocolate covered cofee beans.

Alex and Zoe often requested it for their birthday cake so there is no reason to not eat this the rest of the year.

What To Serve With Ilse's Passover Cake Recipe

You could serve this Passover cake recipe with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but I usually serve it plain.

I always do a cookie platter with coconut macaroons and do matzo toffee instead of chocolate-covered matzo.

Fruit desserts such as a fruit compote or fresh berries are also nice on the side.

The good news is with 8 days of Passover it all manages to get eaten!

The Backstory of Ilse's Passover Sponge Cake

I’m not sure how my Papa Alex fell in love with our beloved Ilse, but I believe it had something to do with her cooking.

I was young when my Bubbe died and I know my Papa was very sad.

However it wasn’t too long until he found Ilse and we all discovered that the way to a man and a family’s heart is through their stomachs.

Ilse was a tremendous comfort to Papa, which made me comfortable too- because if Papa was happy, well, I for one, was happy, too.

I can only guess what she cooked up on their first date but my imagination leads me to believe that it may have been this Passover cake recipe.

It is a special cake not only because it contains love in the purest form, but also because I have never found any like it.

So don’t lose this recipe! I guarantee you won’t be able to replicate it.

My guess is Ilse brought this recipe from Germany through Portugal at the age of 18 after travelling through Europe in 1938 to escape the Nazis.

It is also said that she brought her two cast iron pots that are used to make her famous potato kugel.

Many years later when I was older, I asked Ilse how long she had been making this sponge cake.

As you will see the secret ingredient in the frosting is hot cocoa mix.

I had no idea they made hot cocoa mix in the 40’s but she informed me they did.

Now something else you may realize-this was before food processors were standard fare in the kitchen, so all those nuts had to be chopped very finely by hand.

Egg whites were mixed with a hand beater. Quite a job and more than I would want to do, but Ilse did it and not just for Passover.

(Yes, this is a Passover cake recipe, because it contains no leavening or flour.) She made it often.

Now, let me digress and admit something here.

It's only fitting that in the month of December when Ilse would have been 91, that we use this Passover cake recipe to celebrate her.

It is comforting to know that my kids will be celebrating with this cake for many years to come.

And in doing that Ilse will always be in our hearts and our thoughts. And dare I say- our tummies? 

I do believe that would make her very happy.

Enough stories! Go bake this cake!

More Passover Dessert Recipes

Passover Fudge Cake

Passover Apple Cake with Caramel and Streusel

Raspberry Meringue Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Cinnamon Hazelnut Pavlova

Salted Butterscotch Tart in Toasted Coconut Crust

40 Of My Passover Recipes

Recipe

Ilse's Passover Cake Recipe: Mocha Nut Sponge Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

• Author: Abbe Odenwalder
• Prep Time: 30 Minutes
• Cook Time: 40 - 60 Minutes
• Total Time: 1.5 hours
• Yield: 8 - 12 Servings 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Jewish

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

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Description

This Passover cake recipe for mocha nut cake isn't just for Passover. Alex and Zoe often requested it for their birthdays.  Try this delicious walnut cake with the best, to die for, mocha frosting ever!

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 8 large eggs separated with the whites in your mixing bowl. Yolks in another.
• 2 c finely ground walnuts
• 1 c sugar
• ¾ t almond extract
• ¼ t vanilla extract
• ½ c matzo meal

Mocha Frosting
(I do this recipe plus 50% more. You could also double it and then eat the rest with your fingers. Doubled is just a bit too much for this cake!)

• 2 c powdered sugar
• 1 envelope Swiss Miss or hot cocoa mix
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 2-3T of coffee (from a cup of brewed coffee)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

• Whip egg whites until softly whipped and then add ½ c sugar slowly to make a very thick bowl of stiffly beaten egg whites.
• Beat egg yolks with whisk until very thick and lemony. Stir in remaining ½ c of sugar.
• Add nuts, vanilla and almond extracts, and matzo meal.
• Fold in egg whites.
• Using a spatula scrape into a parchment lined 9” springform pan. Bake at 375 anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. Insert skewer to check for doneness. It should be clean or with very few crumbs clinging to it. You do not want it to over bake or it will become dry.
• Cake will probably rise above pan. Cool on a rack. It will fall and actually look quite ugly. That is OK because now you get to make this most delicious frosting.

Mocha Frosting

• Beat frosting ingredients well in a mixer.
• When cake is cool, slice through middle horizontally and create 2 layers.
• Spread the bottom layer with frosting.
• Carefully replace top half and then frost the entire cake. This is a great birthday cake, not to mention a very special Passover cake. Apparently it is also a great cake to attract future husbands, too!

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Notes

I use a 9” springform pan but Ilse used a 10”. I prefer it taller and I also think it stays more moist this way. Keep in mind this is my interpretation of what you see on the above paper.

Matzo meal is not gluten free though I believe many gluten free flours would work in place of matzo meal.