If you’re keeping Kosher for Passover, you already trotted out your standard recipes at the seder. Now comes the drudgery of making lunch with matza and boiled eggs, then dinner with leftover brisket. That’s why I looked through my family files for recipes that I could modify for Passover.

Lemon pudding, printed on a palm-sized scrap of newsprint that my grandmother probably clipped from the Richmond Times Dispatch in the 1950s, looked like it had possibilities. It only calls for two tablespoons of flour, which could be easily replaced by matza meal. The other ingredients – eggs, lemon juice, and milk – have no restrictions this week. The pudding reminded me of chiffon without the stickiness.

As an accompaniment, I found a recipe that needed no adaptation: Macaroon Dessert in a pamphlet printed by The Wine Advisory Board in San Francisco. There’s no year listed, but it also looks like it’s from the 1950s. It calls for breaking up the cookies and sprinkling with port or sherry, then refrigerating several hours or overnight. The result? Soggy, but good with the pudding. And a welcome change from sponge cake.

Lemon Pudding (1950s)
Serves 4

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar [I used 2/3 cup and it was sweet enough]
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons flour [I used matza meal]
1/2 cup evaporated milk mixed with 1/2 cup water

1. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the lemon juice and rind, egg yolks, matza meal, and milk mixture. Stir well.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into the sugar mixture.
3. Pour into a buttered baking dish. [I used a two-quart glass dish). Set the dish in a pan of hot water. Bake at 325 degrees until the top is browned and the pudding is set on top, 45 minutes. Serve warm. Garnish with macaroons if desired.