I’ve never been good at Pesach recipes. In fact, I dread it all year. It’s not just the “gluten free” ness of it all, because I’m okay when it comes to almond and coconut flour. It’s that everything is different. All the products, the textures, the brands. So even if you have the most amazing recipe for gluten free cookies that you use all year, it’s going to be different come Pesach time because everything changes. That’s why it makes me happy to see the brands that are good quality all year round reaching out to the Jewish community and KFP-ing their products. Tropicana in particular has made their orange juice Kosher For Pesach for the past 25 years which makes me thrilled. Orange juice in particular is used is so many different recipes both savory and sweet so it makes for a wonderful ingredient to have around without explaining to the kids why their “special juice” tastes different this time of year.

So about Pesach recipes, if the ingredients are staying the same, the only thing holding me back is the actual recipe right? Instead of trying to make my own recipe from scratch, I decided to remake a no fail recipe that my Bubby Baila makes not only for Pesach, but all year round! Can’t get better than that right?

When Bubby Baila makes this recipe, she does so flawlessly, seemingly with as little effort as possible all while wearing 5 inch heels, a perfectly non-mussed shaitel and a full face of makeup. #GOALS She tops the fluffier than life cake with a vanilla whipped cream and fresh strawberries, and a smile. It’s always perfect.

But the cake here, that’s the real star. It tastes wonderful and light, like a cloud of vanilla goodness. It always struck me as something wonderfully versatile, the perfect cake to make a whole bunch of for Pesach and serve over and over again with a bunch of different toppings and creams. So many options, so little mess.

Here, I’ve decided to go with one of my all time favorites, a curd topped with some toasted coconut and pistachios. Thanks to Tropicana, an orange curd was inspired! The cake itself serves as a perfect base for a bunch of different serving options, so the extent of your imagination is the only limit! I’ve chose the classic snacking cake option which is always a favorite but some other great choices would be:

Crumbled into a trifle (the toppings here work wonderfully as layers for the trifle)
Baked in a loaf, frosted and sliced (classic chocolate frosting a sprinkles is always fun!)
Baked into cupcakes, filled and frosted (vanilla pudding inside and chocolate glaze outside)
Cut into shapes and toasted with cinnamon and sugar butter
And of course the classic strawberry shortcake option. (Sorry, but the Bubby Baila package is not included.)

Thank you Tropicana for Sponsoring this recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
Cake Recipe adapted from A Taste of Pesach
10 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
½ cup oil
2-3 Tbsp. Tropicana Orange Juice
¾ cup potato starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 3-ounce box instant vanilla pudding
Orange curd (recipe below)
3 Tbsp. chopped pistachios
1/3 c sweetened coconut shreds

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Line 2 greased 8x8 pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites and whip on med- high until foamy, gradually, about 1 teaspoon at a time, add ½ cup of sugar to the eggs until stiff peaks form, about 5-8 minutes.
In another bowl, add the egg yolks and remaining ½ cup of sugar. Whisk until light and yellow.
Add the oil, Tropicana Orange Juice, potato starch, and baking powder and mix. Then gradually add the vanilla pudding and mix until integrated.
Take about 1/3 of the egg whites and mix it into the yolk mixture. This should lighten the batter and allow you to fold in the rest of the egg whites without taking all the air out of them. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites and continue until you no longer see any white streaks. Do not over-mix or the batter will fall.
Pour the mixture evenly between the two pans and smooth the top. Place in the middle rack of the pre-heated oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a stick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not open the oven door while the cake is baking. This will cause the cake to fall.
When the cake comes out of the oven, run a knife along the slides to help the edges pull away from the pan as it cools.
Cool on a cooling rack until cool enough to handle and then remove the cake from the cake pan. Continue cooling on the cooling rack.
In the meantime, in a small frying pan, add the coconut a pistachio and heat over a medium flame. Stir constantly for 2-3 minutes or until the coconut and pistachio begin to brown and smell fragrant. Set aside to cool.
At this point you may top the cake with the curd (recipe below) and the pistachio coconut mixture on top of that or wrap tightly and freeze for up to 2 months. Pistachio mixture can be made a stored at room temperature up to 2 days in advance.

Curd:
Recipe adapted from @epicurious
½ c Tropicana Orange juice
1 tbsp. orange zest or zest from 1 orange
½ cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons butter or margarine

In a medium size saucepan over med-low heat add the Tropicana Orange Juice, the orange zest, the sugar, and butter.
Remove the white squiggly bit from around the yolk of each egg. Whisk the eggs until uniform in color. Add the eggs to the mixture and whisk until integrated.
Whisking frequently, allow the mixture to heat and thicken until you can drag a spoon through it and begins to form slow bubbles.
Cool the curd for a few minutes before pouring through a strainer if desired, into a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap. Cool at least 2 hours before using.

Partnered with Tropicana for this post. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.