PASSOVER CHOCOLATE WALNUT CAKE

Passover starts tomorrow night, and you're probably Sheltered-in-Place, possibly 'attending' a seder with family and friends via Zoom. Here's a great recipe for a Passover Chocolate Walnut  Cake that you can enjoy while you 'participate.' This cake is delicious. I love the texture. I've mentioned before that many food product companies and food associations have great recipes on their websites. This recipe is adapted from Kraft recipes.

CHOCOLATE WALNUT CAKE

Ingredients
1 Tbsp matzo meal or matzo cake meal, for dusting
8 ounces semi-sweet dark chocolate, divided into 7 and 1 oz* (see optional directions below)
6 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar, divided
3/4 cup butter (or margarine), softened
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 cup fresh walnut pieces, finely ground (whirl in blender)

Optional: 1/4 cup apricot jam  (or orange marmalade)

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease and dust side of 9-inch springform pan with matzo meal.
Melt 7 ounces of  chocolate in double boiler or a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water; set aside.
Beat egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until thick and lemon colored.
Add butter (or margarine); beat until light and fluffy.
Add melted chocolate, orange zest, and walnuts; mix well.

BEAT egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir into chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared pan.

BAKE 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack 10 min. Run small knife or spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; remove rim of pan.
Gently loosen cake from bottom of pan with spatula; place cake on wire rack.
Cool completely.

Optional topping: (I don't do this because I like it the way it is and this makes it too sweet for me, but you might want to try it. If you want to top it with something less sweet, I have used thick cut Scottish orange marmalade with peel. This  works well since it is tart and adds texture)

Microwave jam in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 10 sec. Spread over top of cake.
Melt remaining 1 oz. chocolate; drizzle over cake. Let stand until chocolate is firm.

Photo: Kraft (with the topping)