How To: Make Charoset

Yes, you can have you seder catered, but that’s no fun at all. If you don’t feel up to making a brisket and matzah ball soup for 30, at least try making your own charoset—it’s fun, easy, really yummy, and there are tons of different kinds of recipes to try. And remember, charoset is supposed to look like mortar, so the results can be plenty ugly as long as they taste sweet.

charoset: looks nasty, but you know you love itTraditional Ashkenazi Charoset

• 5 pound bag of apples (I like red delicious, but if you want your charoset tart, use granny smith), peeled and cored.
• About half a bottle of sweet red wine (Manischewitz works great)
• 1/3 to ½ cup of cinnamon
• one big bag of walnuts (about a pound)

Grind the apples and walnuts until they’ve formed a weird beige kind of runny paste. Add cinnamon and wine and keep trying until you get the consistency and taste you’re looking for. Ideally, you’d do the grinding with a meat grinder, but a food processor will work as well. Makes enough for two seders of twenty people each.

Looking for a gourmet take? Try Wolfgang Puck’s recipe.

Traditional Sephardi Charoset

Sephardi charoset usually contains dates, and is a little chunkier than its Ashkenazi cousin.

• 4 oz dates
• 4 oz figs
• 4 oz apricots
• 4 oz raisins
• 1 apple (Macintosh, preferably), peeled and cored
• 1 cup walnuts or almonds, ground
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Manischewitz
• cinnamon

In a food processor, grind the dried fruits until they’re chunky and add the apple, which should moisten everything a little. Mix in the ground nuts and the honey, and add some manischevitz until you have the consistency you want (sticky and chunky is the norm, but go with your gut) Then you can either add cinnamon to taste, or roll the charoset into balls about the size of a walnut and refrigerate. A few hours before serving, roll the balls in the cinnamon so they’re completely coated. Serve at room temperature. Makes enough for about 30.

For a gourmet take, try the recipe at Epicurious.

There’s a couple of great collections of Charoset recipes online if you’re looking to be more adventurous. The Canadian Jewish News covers the classics alongside recipes for Coconut and Lemon Charoset, Maple Charoset, Seven Fruit Charoset, and Turkish Charoset. Jewishfamily.com has charoset recipes from Morocco, Afghanistan, and India. Finally, Kosher4passover.com covers every exotic Charoset you could possibly imagine, including Provencal and Georgian.