Happy Holidays from the Kitchen of Jan DAtri HAMANTASCHEN They are most often enjoyed in March during Purim, a Jewish holiday of deliverance as told in the Book of Esther. But at this time of the year, Hamantashen, with their triangle shape and sweet fillings, also show up on holiday cookie platters. The dough is sweet, delicate and cookie-like. Some of the most popular fillings are made of raspberry or apricot preserves, prune or poppy seed paste and chocolate. I was introduced to Hamantaschen this year for the first time and I promise I’m going to get better at shaping them, which is a bit tricky at first. I made this batch with raspberry preserves and am looking forward to trying new fillings, perfecting the technique and giving them as gifts from my kitchen all year long! HAMANTASCHEN Ingredients: 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1 egg, room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons orange juice 2 1/4 cups flour 1 cup raspberry preserves or filling of choice DIRECTIONS: Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, salt and orange juice, mixing well until creamy. Sift flour into the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until a crumbly dough forms. Knead dough to form a smooth ball. Don’t overwork dough. (If too crumbly, add a little bit of orange juice.) Form the ball into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight. When ready to assemble, preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out disc to ¼ inch thickness. (The dough should be chilled and firm.) Using a 3-inch cookie cutter (round or scalloped) or a 3-inch rim of a glass, cut out circles from the dough. Gather any remaining scraps of dough, roll out and make more circles. Place a small amount (approximately one level teaspoon) of raspberry preserves in the center of each circle. Fold the left side of the circle towards the center to make a flap. Fold the right side of the circle towards the center, overlapping the upper part of the left side flap to create a triangular tip at the top of the circle. Fold the bottom part of the circle upward to create a third flap completing the triangle. You should still see the raspberry filling in the middle of the triangle. Gently pat down the folds of the triangle to secure the shape. (Note: I wet the edge of the circle with a tiny bit of milk to help “glue” the folds together.) When all Hamantaschen are filled, place on baking sheet which has been lightly greased or lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the dough is lightly golden. Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Store them in a tightly sealed plastic bag or container with a tight lid.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:18:10 +0000