STANMORE & CANONS PARK SYNAGOGUE - Stanmore and ...

FEATURES
Sue Garfield
Before And Afters
HEARTACHE
CHOCOLATE CAKE
This cake is very rich .......... you
have been warned!
Elad whilst working at the Shul
Renowned for his ready smile and
personable disposition, Elad has
been working as the regular security
officer for Stanmore Synagogue
during the last two years, having lived
in England for the last seven. By the
time this magazine is published, he
will have left and taken up a
somewhat different position as
patisserie chef at a leading London
restaurant. He told me his story.
Elad was born in Jerusalem and moved
with his family to Givat Ze’ev. He
recalled how as a youngster he always
loved to cook and enjoyed nothing more
than watching Jamie Oliver on television,
‘The Naked Chef ’ being a favourite.
Karate was also a passion and after he
had completed his army training he
decided to come to England, work and
save enough money to travel further
afield to Thailand and India. Elad
wasn’t sure what he would do here, only
that he wanted to join his brother who
was already living in London and ‘do
something different’. Tragically, Elad
shared with me that his brother has now
passed away following a sudden illness.
Security seemed a natural career choice
given Elad’s ‘Israeli mentality’, basic
common sense and skills learnt from his
army days. Elad told me that his
heightened ability to profile people was a
natural instinct and he proceeded to
obtain the SIA licence, a pre-requisite for
doing security work in this Country. He
worked privately at the headquarters for
CST training, as well as at JFS and
Kinloss Synagogue.
At the same time Elad sought to perfect
his culinary skills and undertook a
Cordon Bleu Patisserie Diploma
specialising in French Patisseries,
Chocolate and Sugar. Achieving the
results required to apply for work at the
highest level, Elad applied for a position
at The Dorchester Hotel, as well as a
new restaurant opening in London
which had already established its
reputation in New York. He was
actually offered both jobs, but incredibly
turned down The Dorchester in favour of
starting afresh with the exciting new
restaurant venture at The Balthazar.
When Elad was assigned to security
duties at Stanmore he was sincerely
touched and surprised by the kindness
of all the families who showed him such
warm hospitality and said that he very
much wanted to retain links with the
Stanmore community. He hopes that by
sharing his signature chocolate cake
recipe with Habimah readers he will be
remembered in the sweetest way.
Elad in his new role
lngredients
400g aubergines
300g dark chocolate
50g cocoa powder
60g ground almonds
3 eggs
200g clear honey
2 tablespoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
I tablespoon brandy
Oil, for brushing
Method
1. Preheat the oven to l80c
2. Brush a 23cm tin (square tin is
better) on base and sides and line
baking paper at the base
3. Cook the aubergine by
puncturing the skin then place
them in a plastic bowl cover in
cling-film and microwave on high
for 8 minutes.
4. Skin the aubergine and discard
any water
5. Break the chocolate to pieces
and mix with the aubergine until
the chocolate is melted
6. Puree the aubergine and
chocolate in a blender until smooth
7. In a different bowl sieve the
cocoa powder, baking powder, salt
and ground almonds and whisk
8. Add the eggs slowly then add the
honey and the brandy
9. Whisk for I minute until well
blended then fold in the aubergine
10. Pour the mixture to the tin
11. Place at the bottom of the oven
and bake for 35 minutes
12. Remove from the oven and
leave lo cool to room temperature
13. Tum the cake out of the tin,
place on a flat surface and peel off
the baking paper (be careful when
you remove the cake as it’s very
delicate)
14. You can dust cocoa powder or
icing sugar for presentation
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