Photos by Copyright 2014 Deborah Kaplan

Charoset is a fruit and nut mixture that is mostly consumed during the holiday Passover. Although, I have seen different non-alcoholic versions of it from the North African Middle Eastern area (NA*ME). Besides charoset, I love these other Jewish foods: matzo ball soup, kasha bow ties with gravy, sweet noodle kugel, latkes, blintzes, challah, bagels, fried matzo and the fish sable. In the 35 years of marriage I have never developed a taste for gefiltile fish, white fish salad, lox, horseradish or chopped liver. All of these foods were new to me as my family is of Scottish, English and Welsh heritage. With that said, that didn’t mean we ever had haggis, blood sausage or shepherd’s pie as we ate normal American fare, like pork chops, lamb chops, cube steak, pot roast, steak, meatloaf, mac and cheese. This version of my charoset is potent and just for adults as it has more than a cup of cream sherry, that is at full strength. Can be served on bread, romaine, matzo crackers, on oatmeal or as a topping on ice cream. My MIL enjoys it straight out of the container on a spoon. (A kid friendly version can be made with cider omitting the wine.)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dates (pitted)
• 1 cup cream sherry (or other sweet wine)
• 4 tablespoons cream sherry (or other sweet wine)
• 1 cup almonds (finely ground)
• 1 apple (gala)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

1. In a container soak dates in 1 cup cream sherry for 24 hours.
2. Pour leftover sherry from date container, into a food processor.
3. Rough chop dates and place them in a food processor.
4. Peel apple, core it, dice it and place in food processor with dates.
5. Process for 1-2 minutes until finely mashed.
6. Place in bowl and fold in nuts, brown sugar, 4 tablespoons  cream sherry, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well blended.
7. Refrigerate.

Preparation Time: 24 hours and 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 0 minutes

Servings: 25