Hazelnut Torte for Passover

How my German grandmother’s recipe became my go-to holiday dessert

When I converted to Judaism, I of course had to learn to prepare traditional Jewish dishes: gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, matzo brei, cholent, etc. You’d think I would have had to give up favorite family recipes from my childhood in Germany. Not so! My German grandmother’s beloved hazelnut torte turned out to be the perfect (and easy to prepare!) Passover dessert.

For every birthday of my childhood, there would be Oma’s Haselnusstorte (hazelnut cake).

She lived a four-hour train ride away in Wiesbaden, and if she wasn’t visiting for my siblings’ or my birthday, the torte would arrive in the mail. She’d save the right kind of cardboard box for those parcels. Even after we had grown up, when Oma wouldn’t necessarily send it right on our birthdays, the tradition prevailed: The next time we visited her, a hazelnut torte would be waiting on her kitchen counter, glazed in glistening dark chocolate and decorated with a gummy bear per slice, or for the more grown up among us, a blanched almond.

Oma’s original recipe for Hazelnut Torte

My kids are more into piled-high American chocolate cakes for their birthdays, but Oma’s hazelnut torte has become a different tradition in our Jewish household because, since it’s flourless, it’s kosher for Passover. It’s also tremendously easy to prepare if you have mastered the art of separating eggs—namely making 100 percent sure that no yolk seeps into the egg whites (they won’t stiffen otherwise). Tip: Use a separate glass for cracking the eggs and pour each egg white into a bigger bowl for beating once you’re sure no yolk has gotten in there. If you mess up, toss that egg white.

My husband, my kids, and so far all guests at our Passover Seders love Oma’s hazelnut torte, and so every Passover I bake the traditional version using hazelnuts (also called filberts). Thankfully, since I was diagnosed with celiac disease a few years ago, the torte is also naturally gluten-free. Thus the tradition carries on unaltered.

Over the course of the eight days of Passover, I also bake an almond and a walnut version. See for yourself what version you like best.

Hazelnut Torte

6 eggs, separated

3 cups finely ground hazelnuts (use about 9 oz. ground; almonds or walnuts work just as well but of course taste different)

1 1/3 cups sugar

grated rind of half a lemon

1 bar of semi-sweet chocolate

olive oil and matzo meal for pan

9″ round springform pan

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat egg whites until stiff (peaks need to stay when you turn off your beater).

Beat egg yolks until they are foamy. Add lemon rind, then beat in sugar until creamy. Add nuts. A stiff mixture will form.

Carefully fold the egg whites into the nut mixture. The nut mixture will loosen up with the gentle folding in of the egg whites. (Do not beat in the egg whites as that would destroy their foamy structure, which is what helps the cake rise.)

Coat the pan with oil and matzo meal. Pour batter into the pan. Bake at 350F for about one hour. The cake should be light brown on top.

Let cake cool off.

Melt the chocolate, add a teaspoon of olive oil (to keep it a bit soft for cutting), and spread it over the cake.

Enjoy, and happy Passover!

An earlier version of this article appeared in Tablet Magazine in April 2015.