Hamantashen Time

Time to Get Baking

With the festival of Purim approaching on 1st March, it’s time to get rolling, folding and baking the sweet three-cornered filled pastries served at this festival. 

Yep, it’s hamantashen time.

We have spent the past three or four weeks searching for the best hamantashen dough we could get our floury hands on.

Was there one better than in our first book ‘Monday Morning Cooking Club‘?

Could there be? 

We weren’t sure, perhaps it was time for a change. So we made 12 different doughs – yeast, no yeast, baking powder, no baking powder, risen, not risen, glazed, unglazed – and guess which was the one we loved the most?

It was ours.

The hamantashen that originated from Sydney cook Evy Royal. You’ll find her fabulous recipe and chocolate/halva filling in our first book (alongside her delectable mamoule). You’ll find Merelyn’s Mum’s dried fruit filling here. And this year we’ve tweaked the dough just a touch, and added in two traditional fillings – sweet poppyseed and creamy cheese. 

Just a word of warning about poppy seeds. They go rancid really quickly, and unless you have a spice grinder, it’s easier to get them already ground. And they need to be freshly ground! We suggest to only ever buy them from a store with a really high turnover.

If you’re in Australia, we fully  recommend The Nut Shop – they grind them fresh for you, and deliver within a day or two. It is also a great place to buy walnuts. They source them from the best places in Australia and California, depending on the quality and the season. (We are not sponsored by, or affiliated with, them in any way, but do tell them we sent you.)

 
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HAMANTASHEN
Dough
450 g (3 cups) plain flour
115 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
200 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150 g sour cream
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg whites, beaten, for glaze
sugar, for sprinkling

To make the dough, combine all the ingredients either in a food processor or by hand. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Roll the dough out to a 3 mm thickness. With an 8–9 cm diameter cookie cutter or glass, cut out circles from the dough. Place a heaped teaspoon of your filling on each circle. With your fingertips, wet the outer rim of the circle. Bring the three sides of the circle up into the centre (leaving a small opening at the top if you wish) to form a triangular pastry, pinching the three ‘joined edges’ to seal.
Place on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove from the fridge, brush with the egg white, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
Makes about 45.
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POPPY SEED FILLING
100 g poppy seeds, freshly ground
55 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sultanas
180 ml (3/4 cup) milk

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan. Gently bring to the boil and simmer on a medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, or until it has reduced to become fairly solid, but still moist, mixture. Allow to cool.
Makes enough for 25 hamantashen.

CHEESE FILLING
250 g cream cheese, at room temperature
200 g ricotta cheese (dry)
¼ cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of ½ lemon
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cornflour
2 tablespoons sultanas (optional)

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Add the sultanas and stir well. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 1 hour before using.
Makes enough for 45 hamantashen.