Pam

Passover Five-Layer Square (Hello Dolly!)

7-Layer Squares, also known as Hello Dolly or Magic Bars, are one of the easiest desserts to assemble and in my experience, one of the most popular. All you have to do is layer the ingredients in a baking dish, bake, and let cool.

The Passover version needs a little more active participation. Instead of graham wafer crumbs, I make a simple crust. It’s very easy to put together, but you could substitute crumbs made from your favorite Passover cookie mixed with melted butter.

And instead of opening cans of sweetened condensed milk? For this, you’re going to let a mixture of milk and cream simmer with sugar for about an hour, allowing water to evaporate and literally condensing the milk/cream.

You can also play around with the layers. My version has crust, coconut, chocolate chips, pecans, and the milk/cream mixture. You can use different nuts, different types of chocolate chips or chopped-up chocolate bars, dried berries, or anything else you think will taste good.

I cut these into 16 or 25 squares, depending on if I’m serving them on their own or as part of an assortment of desserts. After you’ve cut them up, you can freeze them in an air-tight container.

Passover Five-Layer Square (Hello Dolly!)

The Passover version of a 7-Layer Square, made with a simple crust and homemade sweetened condensed cream.


Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 10 oz / 280 grams granulated sugar (1 1/4 cup)
  • 3 2/3 oz / 105 grams cake meal (3/4 cup)
  • 1 oz / 28 grams confectioner’s sugar (1/4 cup)
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 4 oz / 114 grams softened butter (1/2 cup)
  • 4 1/2 oz / 125 grams shredded coconut (1 1/2 cups)
  • 6 oz / 170 grams chocolate chips (1 cup)
  • 4 oz / 114 grams pecans, roughly chopped (1 cup)

Directions

  1. Whisk the milk, cream and sugar together in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot and place over medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook, whisking often, until the mixture has reduced by half the volume and has thickened. This will take 60-75 minutes. Keep an eye on this as it cooks and if it’s boiling too rapidly and foaming up, reduce the heat. Once the mixture is condensed and thickened, remove from the heat and cool.
  2. While the milk mixture cooks, prepare the crust. Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line an 8″ x 8″ baking dish with parchment paper.
  3. Combine the cake meal, confectioner’s sugar, salt, cinnamon and softened butter in a bowl and use your fingertips to work the butter into the dry ingredients, until if all comes together to form a dough. Let it rest for a couple of minutes (the cake meal will absorb some of the moisture from the butter and firm up a bit). Transfer the dough to your prepared baking dish and press into an even layer. Use a fork to dock the crust and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven.
  4. Once the condensed milk/cream has cooled slightly, assemble the square.
  5. Sprinkle the coconut evenly on top of the crust. Do the same with the chocolate chips and then the pecans. Pour the condensed milk/cream over the pecans, using a spoon to help spread it out.
  6. Place back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the pan and bake another 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
  7. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Once chilled, transfer the square from the baking pan to a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into equal-size squares.
  8. Store in the fridge in an air-tight container for a week or in the freezer for a few months.

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