Happy happy joy joy! A lovely package of Passover products from Osem was delivered for me to try out and review. Osem is an Israeli food company that is very huge in Israel. But here, only a few products are carried by my local markets, and until recently the only products I regularly purchased had been their veggie soup mixes.
I eagerly opened the box to find a selection of their products: 3 different types of matzot ...
... 4 if you count the dark chocolate-covered matzah I'm finishing off even as we speak (yummy and highly recommended if you adore dark chocolate as I do by the way), 5 if you count the mint chocolate-covered matzah, which (sorry, Osem) will not be opened in my house because I can't stand mint, pound cake, chocolate chips cake, matzah ball mix and passover roll mix. Also coupons, which I'll "test" out next week, seder Bingo cards for the kiddies, and a catalog of all their US products.
Aside from the chocolate-covered matzah mini-review, I decided to do a full report on the chocolate chips cake. As usual, I didn't carefully look at the package (it had me at chocolate chips ... can you tell I'm a chocoholic?). With only a quick glance at the cover, I erroneously expected pre-sliced mandelbrot (Jewish biscotti) to emerge from its wrappings.
Instead, I found a fully unsliced golden cake lightly studded with chocolate.
Having had store-bought Passover cakes before, I expected the usual dry cake, tasting almost as good as the oven-safe cardboard pan cradling it.
But this cake was quite moist, with a soft tender crumb. My very dull table knife cut through it like butter ... "like" being the operative word since the cake contains no dairy. I asked a few co-workers to volunteer asguinea pigs taste-testers, some Jewish, some not. Everyone said the cake was "good." The Jewish tasters added, "it doesn't taste like passover!" which makes perfect sense since, being
gluten-free, it contains no wheat matzah products. As for my own opinion, the taste and look reminded
me of the Drakes Cakes with raisins I loved in my youth ... but with chocolate chips. I would not be embarrassed to serve this cake at a Seder ...
or any time of the year, especially with all those gluten- or
dairy-intolerant friends I have.
It is reasonably priced in my 'hood at around $3.50, as opposed to those less-than-stellar K-for-P perpetual cakes at my local Try-n-Save that cost upwards of several times more, with not anywhere near the quality.
This cake is full of surprises. While at first glance there does not appear to be as many chocolate chips as in the cover photo (does any package of any product ever resemble its contents?), every bite contains that lovely mouth-feel of chocolate. Those tiny chips pack a dark chocolate wallop. This cake, Dear Reader, is an example of how quality trumps quantity. If you are not planning to make a scratch cake for your Seders, I recommend purchasing a couple of packages.
I'll be testing the matzoh ball and roll mixes and reporting on them, hopefully on Sunday.
Full disclosure: Osem USA provided several of their products at no cost to me to test and review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed are my own. Except for the opinions of my co-workers.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Osem USA. Received 2 of the 4 shown. |
I eagerly opened the box to find a selection of their products: 3 different types of matzot ...
 |
| I started nibbling before remembering to take a photo. |
 |
| Photo courtesy of me. |
Aside from the chocolate-covered matzah mini-review, I decided to do a full report on the chocolate chips cake. As usual, I didn't carefully look at the package (it had me at chocolate chips ... can you tell I'm a chocoholic?). With only a quick glance at the cover, I erroneously expected pre-sliced mandelbrot (Jewish biscotti) to emerge from its wrappings.
 |
| Photo courtesy of me again. |
Instead, I found a fully unsliced golden cake lightly studded with chocolate.
Having had store-bought Passover cakes before, I expected the usual dry cake, tasting almost as good as the oven-safe cardboard pan cradling it.
 |
| Yup ... my photo again. |
But this cake was quite moist, with a soft tender crumb. My very dull table knife cut through it like butter ... "like" being the operative word since the cake contains no dairy. I asked a few co-workers to volunteer as
It is reasonably priced in my 'hood at around $3.50, as opposed to those less-than-stellar K-for-P perpetual cakes at my local Try-n-Save that cost upwards of several times more, with not anywhere near the quality.
This cake is full of surprises. While at first glance there does not appear to be as many chocolate chips as in the cover photo (does any package of any product ever resemble its contents?), every bite contains that lovely mouth-feel of chocolate. Those tiny chips pack a dark chocolate wallop. This cake, Dear Reader, is an example of how quality trumps quantity. If you are not planning to make a scratch cake for your Seders, I recommend purchasing a couple of packages.
I'll be testing the matzoh ball and roll mixes and reporting on them, hopefully on Sunday.
Full disclosure: Osem USA provided several of their products at no cost to me to test and review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed are my own. Except for the opinions of my co-workers.
as usual, i missed out on being a guinea pig….
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