Digging into the charoset is one of our favorite parts of the seder. I finally decided to write down the recipe I’ve come up with the last couple of years for our traditional charoset with a little bit of a twist.
Charoset is one of the main components of the Passover seder plate and represents the mortar and brick used by the Jews during their slavery in Egypt.
The traditional Ashkenazi (Eastern European) recipe typically includes apples, walnuts, sweet wine and cinnamon.
I’ve been making different versions of charoset over the years based on food trends or recipes on blogs or cookbooks. But the last few years, I’ve been repeating my own version inspired by the Sephardic tradition of adding dried fruit and spices.
My basic template now is based on apples, walnuts, pecans, dates, and cinnamon. And I vary between freshly grated ginger or grated orange zest and pomegranate juice instead of the traditional sweet wine or grape juice.
There really is no need for a recipe – it’s so easy to throw it all into a food processor and taste and adjust as you go. But if you hit on one your family loves – make sure to write down what you did.
Some people like chunkier charoset, I like it just smooth enough to spread on matzo.
I think I’ll be sticking to this version for a while, it’s nice to create a family food tradition everyone always looks forward to eating every year at our seders (and for breakfast the next day!).
Do you have a recipe you use every year for your family’s charoset? Please share it in the comments!
Date Charoset with Ginger and Pomegranate
Yield: about 4 cups
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pecans
2 green apples (or one green and one red)
1 cup pitted dates
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup pomegranate juice
grated zest of one organic orange (optional)
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency – either chunky or smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed (you may want to add more cinnamon or juice depending on the softness of the dates used).
