Hot Chocolate Pie

I know I have not been the most up to date on this little ol’ blog but after trying this recipe a few weeks ago, I knew I had to share it. This recipe is called ‘hot chocolate pie,’ although I did first try it cold, it is basically a molten lava cake in a pie tin. It is so easy to make, pretty much fool proof. I did happen to have all of the ingredients already in my pantry, not necessarily all of the right quantities but it turned out amazing just the same. Rebbetzin E had graciously shared the recipe on a post-it note after my husband insisted we try to make it ourselves. It sat pinned onto the refrigerator for a week until we could take it no longer…we had to make this pie again.

Hot Chocolate Pie

½ Cup Oil
6 oz Chocolate Chips
1 cup of sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
2 Eggs
¼ Cup Flour
1 Graham Cracker Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler place oil, chocolate chips, sugar and vanilla and stir until melted. If you don’t use a double boiler, carefully mix over a low flame making sure the chocolate does not burn. Once melted, take the bowl off of the heat and add the flour and eggs. Mix and pour into the graham cracker pie crust. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The center will be loose. Serve hot with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Rebbetzin Notes:
If serving hot on Shabbos, make sure to put the ice cream next to the pie. When slicing the pie, make sure to wet the knife before cutting to create clean slices. An alternate way to serve the pie is to put in the refrigerator and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Leah’s Notes: I didn’t have enough chocolate chips (probably 3 oz) so I added a few table spoons of cocoa powder instead. I also cut the sugar to about 1/4 of a cup and it was still very sweet from the chocolate chips itself. I did also add a pinch of salt and since I didn’t have any ice cream or whipped cream, I just made a quick compote of mixed berries to pour on top.

 

 

Say Cheese(cakes)!

Traditionally for Shavuot we decorate with flowers and eat dairy. Some families eat a completely dairy meal and others will eat a dairy meal, clear off the table and reset for a meat meal. Again, Aish.com gives 7 different reasons why we celebrate this custom in their informative article. I like reason number two which states, “Torah is likened to milk, as the verse says, “Like honey and milk [the Torah] lies under your tongue” (Song of Songs 4:11). Just as milk has the ability to fully sustain the body of a human being (i.e. a nursing baby), so too the Torah provides all the “spiritual nourishment” necessary for the human soul.”

Here are a few delicious and creative sweet cheesecakes that would be showstoppers at your Shavuot meal.

The Classic: New York Cheesecake with Strawberries

The Exotic: Individual Keylime Cheesecake with Mango

The “Two-For-One”: Hot Fudge Cheesecake with Brownie Crust

The Gourmet: Nectarine, Mascarpone + Gingersnap Tart 

The Snack Option: Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust

The No-Bake-Snack Option: Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries 

Last but not least… The Stay-Up-All-Night: Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake

Eating Your Flowers

It is customary for the holiday of Shavuot that we decorate our homes, Synagogue and Torah scroll in flowers. Aish.com has a great article on the reason why we eat dairy foods and decorate with flowers stating that this tradition comes from a Midrash where the foot of Mount Sinai was covered in flowers while we were awaiting the receiving of the Torah. My family always grew flowers in our garden which were edible. It was always a funny prank to invite friends over, pull some off of the plant and stuff them into my mouth. Flowers are a beautiful way to garnish and add subtle flavor to salads, side dishes, desserts, basically anything!

Here is a list from GoodHouseKeeping.com which lists a few edible flowers and their flavor profiles:

• Arugula Flowers: Peppery flavor, just like arugula leaves. Use in salads or other savory dishes. (Recipe below.)
• Chive Blossoms: Delicate oniony flavor. Use whole flowers or separate the individual petals.
• Hibiscus: Tart and sweet. Often used in teas, cocktails and salads.
• Jasmine: Very sweet, floral fragrance and flavor. Use in teas or desserts.
• Johnny-Jump-Ups: Minty, almost bubblegum-y flavor. Serve on cakes or with soft mild cheese, like goat cheese. (Recipe below.)
• Lavender: Floral flavor that’s perfume-y and faintly citrusy. Use in cocktails, teas, desserts or other baked goods.
• Lemon Verbena: Light lemon flavor that’s well suited for sweet or savory cooking.
• Marigold: Faint citrus flavor. Try it in a salad.
• Nasturtiums: Peppery flavor and golden hue. Try them on crostini with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Pansies: Use these as garnish—they’re so pretty! Faint grassy flavor.
• Squash Blossoms: Mild raw squash taste. Usually cooked before eaten. Lightly dust with cornstarch and deep fry.
• Violets: Sweet and floral. Use in dessert or freeze into ice cubes for decorative drinking!

Here are some beautiful examples and recipes to try and make your own house and meal filled with floral blossoms.

Johnny-Jump-Up Angel Food Cake with Sour Cream Glaze : Recipe Here

Vanilla Cupcakes with Edible Flowers

Savory Open Faced Smoked Salmon Sandwiches 

Stuffed Squash Blossoms 

Beautiful Blossom Popsicles 

Pansy Shortbread Cookies

Nasturtium and Baby Greens Salad

Naked Cakes

Now that engagement season is is full bloom I thought I would share some of my favorite wedding looks. With engagement season comes wedding planning hysteria, which can be really intimidating, especially when you don’t really know where to start. I started by basically living on pinterest and figuring out the type of look which would be budget, seasonal and aesthetically friendly. Since I did spend quite the embarrassing amount of time on pinterest, I can save you the task of picking through the plethora of wedding blogs and pins.

One of the trends which I found to be quite beautiful is the ‘naked’ wedding cake. There are a few reasons why I think this is perfect for a wedding. First of all- Wedding cakes can be so expensive. One way to cut that cost is to have it prepared by a regular baker. The only difference, i think, is that they can’t really do the elaborate frosting decoration that many wedding cakes require. But why make that a requirement? This is a great way to have a delicious cake, not ‘caked’ on by all that parve frosting and be able to decorate it to match your colors, theme, season without a heavy price.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Beautiful spring cake with rosemary and foliage

Eucalyptus branches on one that could probably feed a whole Yeshiva 

Ombre and Succulents? treeennndddyy

Raspberries on a delicate summer cake

Blushing flowers spiraling up the sides

Glamorous fruit toppers for an elegant fall wedding

Flower toppers with delicate detailing

Almost completely naked except for honey and pomegranates, holiday appropriate

simple skim coat for a winter wedding 

 

#frumpterable

‘Frumpy’ and ‘Comfortable’ – what more could a girl ask for? In a simple google search for “frumpterable,” I found a field guide to all things frumpterable in which it says, “A Frumpterable wardrobe demands that form follow function.”  A line typically thought over modernist Architecture, but this is anything but. Now If anyone knows me, I think they would describe my style more ‘schlepperaya’ than frumpterable, but either way, I could get behind it being socially acceptable to wear anything made from sweatshirt material to work. Here are a few of my favorite FRUMpterable looks. 

 

 

Dress from TOTÊME 

Natural Linen Tunic Dress from Etsy

Sarong Style Skirt with Sweater

Basically any type of sweater dress

Perfect for Spring

Seder Plates

With Passover right around the corner I thought  I would share seven of my favorite Seder Plates I have been sourcing. I love all the variation of styles, traditional, modern, rustic. It is really too bad that we don’t have seven seders!
1. White Seder Plate  2. Louvre Collection 3. Isabel Halley Seder Plate
4. Futura Seder Plate 5. Marc Chagall Inspired 6. Armenian  7. Spode Collection

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the first blog post of Mamash Mamash! I guess I will first introduce myself, to right now myself because I am sure no one is reading this, but G-d willing you have scrolled through all of the postings to find this dusty introduction sitting idle at the bottom of your browser.

My name is Leah. I moved to Brooklyn to attend art school where I received a degree in Interior Design. After working in the field for a few years and starting to slowly get kiruved, my then boyfriend and I decided to take the leap and go to Israel for a year. Now instead of going to Williamsburg for a few beers, I am going to Williamsburg for a few kosher chickens. Needless to say, our lives as professional creative types has changed quite drastically as we moved from “trendy” Brooklyn, to “Mamasha In-Town.”

So why am I creating this blog? After our wedding, the number one compliment we got from all our guests was that the wedding was, “so us”. We were able to create an atmosphere where we felt comfortable melding our personalities within the Halacha. What I hope this blog can do is provide all types of content that is Halachically appropriate. Hope you enjoy!