Hamantaschen for Purim (or anytime)

The Jewish holiday of Purim begins this evening, and these cookies are the quintessential food item in Ashkenazic (of Eastern European tradition) households for this holiday. Sephardic Jews have other traditional food items, but that is for another blog post.

The following description of Purim comes from my cooking curriculum, Bubbie’s Kitchen, which is available from Amazon.com:

During ancient times in Persia, an evil minister named Haman schemed and connived his way into a position of enormous influence with the King. When King Ahasueras decreed that all must bow down to him, another advisor who was a Jew named Mordechai, refused. Haman used this opportunity to accuse the Jews of being disloyal and persuaded the king to set a date for the extermination of all the Jews in the country. The date was to be set by the casting of “lots” or Purim in Hebrew. Unknown to both Haman and King Ahasueras was the fact that the beloved Queen Esther was a Jew and a cousin to the condemned Mordechai. She prepared a feast for the king and, at the risk of her own life, pleaded with the king to spare her people’s lives. This made the king realize what a danger Haman had become and so the king had him hanged on the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordechai. On the date that had been scheduled for the destruction of the Jews (the thirteenth of Adar), the king allowed them to take vengeance on the enemies who wished to destroy them. On the following day, there was a great celebration of the victory, but in the walled capital city of Shushan, the fighting continued for one more day and so the celebration was delayed. As a result, it is customary for Jews in walled cities to celebrate Purim on the fifteenth of the month of Adar, rather than the fourteenth as elsewhere. This celebration is called Shushan Purim, but in reality, the celebration is such a major event in Israel that most people celebrate both days.

The holiday is marked by a carnival and parade called Ad’lo’yada which comes from the Talmudic suggestion that one should drink enough wine so that he “doesn’t know the difference” between the names Mordechai and Haman during the reading of the Megillah, or scroll which tells the story of Queen Esther. Children and adults dress in masquerade. A festive meal is eaten called a Purim Se’udah during which merriment and joke-telling are the order of the day. It is also a time to distribute gifts of food called mishloach manot in Hebrew to friends, relatives, and the poor.

Triangular-shaped cookies called hamantashen are a traditional treat among the Ashkenazim, but how they came to be associated with Purim is obscure. One explanation is that they already existed in the form of mohn tashen, meaning poppy-seed pockets. The similarity of the name of these cookies may have caused them to be renamed Haman taschen as a remembrance of the bribes that lined the evil Haman’s pockets. In Israel, they are known as oznai Haman, or Haman’s ears.

I would also like to mention here that Saul and Ari ran into a problem when they were in Israel a few days ago because they had forgotten about Ta’anit Esther, a yearly fast day that commemorates the fast that the Jewish community and Esther undertook before she risked her life to petition the king. They found many of the restaurants in Israel closed on that day.

Do not attempt this recipe unless you can obtain Wondra flour. It is a special granulated flour which gives the cookies a toothsome crunch. I have it from friends who tried it with all purpose flour that the recipe does not come out the same.

Hamantaschen

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter or pareve margarine
• 3 large or extra-large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 3-1/2 cups Wondra flour
• 2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 oz. orange juice
• Assorted fillings (lekvar, honey-walnut, cherry, poppy seed, almond, raspberry, strawberry, etc.)

Cream butter or margarine with sugar in bowl of electric mixer.

Add eggs, one at a time.

Add salt, flour and baking powder. Add vanilla and orange juice. Mix together well, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours in the refrigerator.

Divide into four portions and roll out on a well-floured surface until about 1/8-inch thick.

Cut with a large, thin edged cup or drinking glass or round cookie cutter making cuts close together to avoid rerolling wherever possible.

Place on floured cookie sheet or baking pan.

Place a scant tablespoonful of filling in the center.

Turn up opposing edges of the circle and pinch together at the corner where they meet.

Bring up remaining edge of the circle and pinch together at the corners where it meets the first two edges to form a triangle.

Bake at 400°F. for 8-12 minutes. Bake for 5-7 minutes in a convection oven.

Re-roll scraps and proceed to cut more circles, etc.

Fillings for Hamantaschen

In this country, prepared fillings can be purchased in the supermarket baking supplies section and are made by such companies as Solo, Lucky Leaf, and Musselman’s. The following recipes are offered for those who wish to make their fillings a little more unique.

Lekvar Filling (Prune Butter)

• 1 1-lb. 1 oz. jar lekvar
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Stir these all together and use as filling for hamantaschen.

Honey-Walnut Filling

• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. grated orange rind

Place honey, walnuts, sugar and bread crumbs in a saucepan.

Stir constantly over low heat until the mixture becomes thick. Scrape the bottom as you stir to prevent sticking.

Remove from heat and stir in grated orange rind.

Cool before using.