Hamantaschen

Most often I bake when I find a good recipe - whether it be from a cookbook, the paper, or on another blog - and it looks too delicious and amazing to pass up. Occasionally I'll plan ahead to make something, for a birthday, or per request from my dad; but most of the time of the time it's a spur of the moment decision, and during the week I try to juggle baking and homework. So as one could imagine, baking for homework was a wonderful change of pace.

In civics, as we've been studying Judaism, we partnered up and did a project on Jewish holidays. My partner and I didn't get any of our top three choices, instead we were assigned Purim. At first we were both a bit hesitant, having never heard of the holiday before, but we soon found out that it's known as the most festive and joyous holiday on the Jewish calender. And, get this, it comes with it's own cookie. Hamantaschen, meaning "Haman's ears" or "Haman's pockets", are best explained by the story of Esther, the event commemorated by the holiday Purim.

Esther was a beautiful Jewish woman who, after winning a beauty contest, was married to the king of Persia, King Ahasuerus. The king was not aware that Esther was a Jew, as her guardian, a Jewish leader named Mordecai, had advised her to keep this from him. The king's prime minister, Haman, hated Jews, despising Mordecai especially for refusing to bow down to him. Haman went to the king, and convinced him that the Jews needed to be eliminated from his kingdom. Once Haman was given permission to do as he saw fit, he made arrangements for the Jews to be massacred, and built a gallows where he planned to hang Mordecai.

When Mordecai discovered this he convinced Esther to talk to the king about Haman's plans. At the time, for Esther to go to King Ahasuerus without being summoned was serious crime that was punishable by death. Nevertheless she approached the king, and told him her story. Hearing of Haman's terrible plan, King Ahasuerus was furious, and he had Haman hanged in the very gallows he had built to hang Mordecai. 

Even though Haman was killed, the king's orders had already been given so the massacre could not be stopped. So King Ahasuerus gave the Jews permission to fight back, and on the 13th day of Adar they fought.  

Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of Adar, the day the Persian Jews celebrated their victory.  

Although we just missed the holiday - the 14th of Adar usually falls in mid-March, this year it was on the 19th and the 20th - you have my permission to try these any time of the year.

As for the cookie, the soft dough has a light note of lemon that blends perfectly with the jam filling.  The soft texture of the cookie, and the gentle sweetness and lemon flavor, make for the most delicate, delicious cookie.

Hamantaschen

Adapted from "Schmaltz" by Shmil Holland via The New York Times

makes about 25 cookies

Hamantaschen are traditionally filled with a poppy seed filling or prune butter.  While the traditional ways are still popular, there are many different variations and plenty of room for creativity with these cookies. Choose whatever you prefer. I opted for a simple but sweet apricot jam, and a four fruits jam I happened upon in the grocery store, and they both blended nicely with the subtle hint of lemon in the dough. 

There are several methods for creating the triangle shape of hamantaschen, I tried both pinching and folding and felt the folding came out better for me, but either way works.  For the pinching method lift up three sides to form a triangle and pinch together the corners. To use the folding method, lift up two sides tucking the edge of the first one under the edge of the second; then tuck the third side so that one edge is under the first side and the other is over the second side. Each side should have one edge tucked under and the other edge over. Refer to photos above for the two different techniques.

The biggest challenge with hamantaschen is keeping the sides of the triangle from falling open. Whichever triangle-shaping method you use be sure it's closed. Also, make sure there isn't too much filling in the center; if you've folded it and the filling is all the way to the top and level with the sides spoon a little bit out.  

1 cup powdered sugar

Dash of salt

2 large egg yolks

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, in small cubes

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Jar of jam (8 ounces or more)

1 large egg beaten, for glaze

Pour the powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest and eggs into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to blend. Add the cubed butter, and pulse. Gradually add the flour, pulsing, until the dough comes together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or overnight.

Remove the dough from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for several minutes. Then roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out 3-inch circles using a cookie cutter or glass. Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of each and fold the sides up to form a triangle (pinch or fold), and brush with beaten egg.

Set in the fridge to chill for another 20-30 minutes before baking - to help prevent unfolding - and preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake until the corners are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes, switching after about 5 minutes if the trays are on separate racks.