MANISCHEWITZ’S TOASTED COCONUT MARSHMALLOWS
Th is treat from the classic Jewish brand was the fi rst dessert we tried during
our offi ce taste test on March 31 via Zoom. And it may have been the best
dessert, too.

Writer Lindsay Van Asdalan tried it fi rst and immediately started nod-
ding her head.

“It’s good, it’s not too sticky and I love toasted coconuts so ... it’s a win,”
she said.

Th e rest of us agreed.

“I don’t have high expectations for a kosher for Passover marshmallow,
but it really tasted like a marshmallow,” Editor Selah Maya Zighelboim said.

“And these are only 17 calories apiece,” Editor Andy Gotlieb added.

SCHICK’S LEMON RASPBERRY ROLL
Writer Sasha Rogelberg had mixed but ultimately positive feelings about
this one.

“Dryer than the desert we wandered through,” she said upon a fi rst bite.

But then she kept chewing.

“Th e fl avor’s good,” she concluded.

Gotlieb seconded the opinion.

“Actually, it is pretty good and it’s not overly sweet; it’s fairly light,” he
said. JOYVA’S MARSHMALLOW TWISTS
Th e marshmallow twists were the most divisive product of the 5782 MAM
Passover Taste Test Classic.

For some, like myself, they were much too creamy.

“Not a fan,” I concluded.

22 APRIL 7, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
But for others, like everyone else, the creaminess was the point.

“I like the creaminess,” Zighelboim said.

“Yeah, the creaminess works for me,” Gotlieb added.

“It’s almost like eating cream instead of chocolate,” Zighelboim
concluded. YEHUDA CHOCOLATE-FLAVORED CAKE
Th e chocolate cake drew rave reviews, even with the unleavened factor.

“Th e chocolate fl avor on this is really good,” Van Asdalan said. “It almost
tastes more like a light brownie. Like a fl uffi er brownie.”
“It’s not too sweet, and I really like that; it tastes like it would be really
good with a cup of coff ee or a cup of tea or something,” Zighelboim said.

SCHICK’S SEVEN-LAYER CAKE AND
MANISCHEWITZ’S MANDEL CUTS
Both teams tried diff erent desserts during this round, and the seven-layer
cake was the expected favorite before the taste test, and it delivered.

“Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Th is cake is really good,” Gotlieb said.

“A little bit of texture, but actually moist and actually good fl avor,”
Rogelberg added.

Others tried the mandel cuts, which looked and tasted like a dry biscotti.

Despite the dryness, though, it wasn’t terrible.

It just could have used a specifi c complement.

“It would be another good one to have with tea,” Van Asdalan said.

Zighelboim agreed.

THE REST
Th ese being Passover desserts, there was plenty that we didn’t like, too.




Th e staff despised a sugar-free sponge loaf cake from Oberlander.

“It’s a little eggy, a little dry,” Rogelberg said.

“It’s a little bland,” I added.

Gotlieb went as far as imagining what a sponge might taste like.

“I know why they call this sponge cake — because it tastes kind of like a
sponge,” he said. “Not that I eat sponges that oft en, but this is dry.”
A group of Joyva chocolate-covered jelly rings was hated by everyone.

Zighelboim compared the taste of the jelly to the fl avored medication that
a doctor would prescribe to a child.

“It’s like that weird cough medicine taste,” she said. “Th e chocolate is
good though.”
Gotlieb called them “Robitussin rings.”
“I think I would have stuck with just the chocolate next time,” Zighelboim
concluded. Macaroons, both chocolate (Goodman’s) and coconut (Manischewitz),
also got less-than-stellar reviews.

As they began chewing on the chocolate macaroons, staff ers said they
didn’t taste enough chocolate. Th en they chewed to the end and realized
that the dessert even tasted “soggy.”
Gotlieb off ered up a one-word review.

“Eh,” he said.

“I think that sums up the Passover macaroons for sure,” Zighelboim
added. Th e coconut macaroons were a little better. Van Asdalan loved them.

“I’m probably biased because I love coconut, but I would eat a bunch of
these,” she said.

Van Asdalan must have a Passover sweet tooth because, near the end, she
admitted to kind of, sort of liking the jelly/Robitussin rings as well.

“For whatever reason, just because I thought they were interesting, I
didn’t hate the jelly rings as much,” she said.

SMERCONISH MICHAEL SMERCONISH, Nationally
Syndicated Sirius XM Radio Talk Show Host,
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This program is being underwritten by the Stanley I. Sheerr Memorial Lecture Fund.

Tickets available at:
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THE TRICK TO MAKING GOOD PASSOVER DESSERTS
We did our best to fi nd some good Passover desserts, and while we found
a few that were decent, it was a diffi cult task.

But it was tough because we picked up pre-made items at the super-
market, according to Yonah Gross, the kashrus administrator for the
Community Kashrus of Greater Philadelphia. Th e key is to do what Gross’
wife does every year: make desserts at home.

Th at way, you can use matzah meal, or crushed matzah, to replace fl our
and still get a similar taste. Gross’ wife makes coff ee cake mixes and bis-
cotti with chocolate chips for the family to eat throughout the eight-day
holiday. “Th ere are special Passover recipes that work it out,” Gross said. “A lot
of chocolate is helpful.”
Store-bought items can’t replicate this formula because they depend on
preservatives, Gross said. If you change one preservative, like using corn
syrup instead of sugar, you change the whole dynamic of the dessert.

“Th ere are various chemicals that could have some impact on the taste
or the texture of what it might otherwise be,” he said.

In other words, this is how you end up with “Robitussin rings.”
But if you’re willing to do the work, you don’t have to settle for the
equivalent of a child’s medicine repackaged as dessert. You just have to be
willing to bake like you’re competing on the Food Network.

“My wife works very hard on baking,” Gross said.

“If you go store-bought, you can be rest assured that the kosher status is
excellent,” he concluded. “I will leave the judgment of taste to others.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
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