The hamantaschen are Jewish cookies prepared for the Purim festival, a celebration that is very cheerful today and is recounted in the Book of Esther.
The Megillah tells that Persian king Ahasuerus divorced his wife Vashti and chose Esther as his new queen, a young woman raised by her uncle Mordechai, who hid that she was Jewish.
The wicked Haman, minister of king Ahasuerus, wanted everyone to bow as he passed by, but Mordechai refused, so he decided to enact a law to kill all the Jews in the kingdom, including women and children, on a day that would be selected by casting lots (“pur”).
Queen Esther pleaded with Ahasuerus to spare all the Jews, including herself, since she was Jewish.
The Jewish people could thus save themselves, and the wicked were punished. In remembrance of this event, the Purim festival was established.
On this occasion, it is customary to give a package of sweets called mishloach manot, a very sweet way to ensure that loved ones have food to celebrate and share.
This year, the Purim festival will fall from the evening of March 9 to the evening of March 10, 2020, and during this celebration, it is also customary to dress up, somewhat similar to our carnival.
P.S. The unit of measurement in the Labna recipe from which I took the hamantaschen recipe is the classic disposable paper cup found in all supermarkets… if you don’t have it, clearly use something else and keep it as the unit of measure for all ingredients!
HAMANTASCHEN Jewish cuisine
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 25/30 hamantaschen
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients RECIPE HAMANTASCHEN
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil (for me corn)
- 1 1/2 packet instant baking powder
- to taste jam or preferred preserves (for me orange)
Tools RECIPE HAMANTASCHEN
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Bowls
FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE HAMANTASCHEN RECIPE
Mix all the ingredients (eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, and vegetable oil) in a bowl, kneading everything well.
Once you have a compact dough that does not stick to your fingers, make a loaf, cover it with cling film, and let it rest for about 1 hour.
The Labna blog suggests leaving it covered at room temperature, but I personally put the bowl in the fridge.
After the rest period indicated above, place the loaf between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
Roll it out with a rolling pin to about 1/5 inch thickness, not too thin, otherwise, it will be more challenging to make the hamantaschen.
With the help of a cookie cutter or a water glass, make many circles.
In the center of each, place a little jam or preserve of your choice, then close the cookies as you see in the picture by overlapping the sides of a hypothetical triangle.
Make sure to seal the intersections well…
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, placing the hamantaschen on it as they are made.
Now all that’s left is to bake in a preheated oven at 338°F for about 10 minutes, always checking the degree of baking to avoid burning the pastry.
Let the hamantaschen cool on a cake rack, then serve these simple sweets from traditional Jewish cuisine!
Enjoy your meal!
Annalisa
Isn’t it wonderful to travel the world using traditional recipes and customs, don’t you think??????
Recipe source here
Source of web information
