Today, I learned a few cool things about the cookies we bake for Purim. In Hebrew, they are oznei Haman (Haman's ears). In the US, Yiddish speakers dubbed them Hamentaschen (Haman's pockets).
Thing I Learned One: On Purim, it's traditional to eat poppyseed hamentaschen in particular. And that's because: 1) Queen Esther ate seeds and beans so she could stay away from the non-kosher meat in Ahasuerus's court (while her religion was still in the closet), and 2) the minuscule multitude of the seeds in poppyseed filling might also be an in-your-face reference to Genesis, where God tells Abraham, “I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore.” And instead of being wiped out by a roll of Haman's dice, we multiplied.
Thing I Learned Two: One website says the name Hamentaschen actually came not from evil Haman, but instead from the German name for a similar pastry. The German word for poppyseed is Mohn. Over here they have traditional cookies with a poppyseed filling which are called Mohntaschen, or poppyseed pockets. This website has it that the Yiddish speakers took the name back, added the Hebrew prefix ha- (meaning "the"), and came out with ha-Mohntaschen. Which, sound it out with me, also pretty much equals up to Hamentaschen.
And now, to the hamentaschen recipe. Fill these with pie filling, jam or jelly. Nutella also works. As does dulce de leche. We went to town, threw our fridge doors open and came out with seven different kinds of hamentaschen.
From the top, going clockwise: apricot, caramel-fleur de sel-honey cream (German dulce de leche??), blueberry, peach-jalapeno, Mira Sol chili, sanddorn-mango-chili, and Nutella.
Our sources.
As for the flour, start with two cups and add more as necessary. The Hamentaschen honey dough recipe always makes tasty cookies, but maybe the flour over here's different, 'cause I always need a lot more than the recipe says. Like, up to another 50% of what's already in there. As for the honey, here's a top tip to keep honey measuring easy. Cover the inside of your intended bowl or measuring cup with a layer of oil first. There's already something oil-based in the recipe, so it won't change any fundamentals - and the honey will slide right out instead of clinging.
Honeyful magic!
Hamentaschen honey dough
prep time: 20 minutes
cook time: 10-15 minutes per batch
makes about 40 hamentaschen
ingredients:
2 cups flour (250 grams), up to 3 cups (375 grams) as needed
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup (57 grams) shortening, or 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (71 grams) butter, softened
directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.
Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl (mixer if you got it), mix the wet ingredients until well combined. The butter can be tricky to mix in - hence the mixer recommendation.
When the wet ingredients are combined, gradually stir in the dry ingredients. Add more flour as needed until the dough doesn't stick to the bowl any more. Knead with your hands if you don't have a mixer.
Divide the dough in half and roll to 1/8 inch thickness. Pick your favorite cup, whose rim should be about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. Dip the rim in flour then use the cup to cut out circles in the dough. Make them as close together as you can, 'cause the fewer times you have to gather and re-roll the remaining dough scraps, the better.
Carefully transfer the circles to a baking sheet. Place about a teaspoon of filling into the center of each circle. Pinch into a triangle using the pads of your fingers. Pinch them quite firmly, or they'll come apart while baking.
I mean, no matter how careful you are, there are gonna be a few that do that. Not to worry; they still taste just as delicious.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Remove to a cooling rack.
We do not have cooling racks, so we made do with some upside-down pizza pans that have holes in them.
Chag Sameach!
No comments:
Post a Comment