Today, the options for summer camp read like a college catalog: film, computer, theater, music, science, weight loss and even cooking camps, not to mention camping abroad.
Despite all those glamorous choices, most of the young people I know go back, summer after summer, to your basic, no-frills overnight Jewish camp for unforgettable summers filled with camaraderie, sports and hiking, and come home with a strong sense of Jewish identity.
They complain about the food the first few days and then when they return home they ask you to make it “like the camp cook.” Shabbat is always the most memorable experience at a Jewish camp. Friday magically winds down with a serenity, and joy is taken in the evening meal.
As parents we tried to make Shabbat dinner an occasion to look forward to each week. A bowl of fresh flowers or a pretty plant, and white tablecloths “just like camp” can make all the difference. My kids (now adults) still favor a Shabbat meal.
Chocolate-Orange Squares
Makes 9
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
2 eggs
1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup orange marmalade
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract
2⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1⁄4 tsp. salt
Glaze:
3 Tbs. unsalted butter or margarine
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 Tbs. corn syrup
grated zest of 1 orange
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square cake pan.
In a medium saucepan, over low heat, melt butter with chocolate. Pour into a mixing bowl and let cool about 10 minutes. Add eggs, sugar and marmalade to chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt just until flour disappears. Pour into prepared pan and bake until surface is shiny, about 30 minutes. Remove to cooling rack and let rest until cool.
Melt butter with chocolate and stir in corn syrup. Spread cake with glaze and sprinkle with orange zest. Let glaze set until fairly firm, then cut into 3-inch squares.
Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 6
7 oz. semisweet chocolate
6 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 large eggs, separated
6 Tbs. sugar
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour six 2/3 cup muffin cups. Melt 7 oz. chocolate and butter in a double burner until smooth. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl and cool to lukewarm. Beat egg yolks and 3 Tbs. sugar until thick and pale, about 3 minutes, then fold into chocolate mixture.
Using clean electric mixer, in a separate bowl beat egg whites until foamy. Add the last 3 Tbs. of sugar and beat until stiff but not dry.
Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture. Fold in the 2 oz. of finely chopped chocolate to mixture and divide between the muffin cups.
Bake until cakes are puffed and tester inserted into cakes comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes.
Transfer pan to rack and cool for 2 hours. Turn cakes out onto baking sheet. Can be made 6 hours ahead: Cover with plastic and store at room temperature. When ready to serve, preheat oven to 350 and bake until just heated through, about 5 minutes.
Louise Fiszer is a Palo Alto cooking teacher, author and the co-author of “Jewish Holiday Cooking.” Her columns alternate with those of Rebecca Ets-Hokin. Questions and recipe ideas can be sent to j. or to [email protected].