Purim Archives - Splash of Sherri

triple chocolate hamantashen

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Sherri

My triple chocolate hamantashen are all dressed up and ready for Purim! They are one of my most requested recipes and with good reason. It’s chocolate – on chocolate – on chocolate!!!!!!!!!! The chocolate dough is rolled out and filled with a rich chocolate ganache and then as if there’s not enough chocolate, I give them a drizzle of white chocolate which puts them over the top!

Usually when I decorate them I scatter mini chocolate chips and colorful sprinkles over the white chocolate. This year I tried something outrageous and topped a few of them with a piece of a rainbow cookie and then I drizzled them with white chocolate. They turned out AMAZING and are definitely ready for the Purim party!

They are so rich and chocolatey, super easy, and I like that it makes a small batch of 2 dozen – however, they are so good, I always end up doubling it! I have adapted the recipe from one I found on My Jewish Learning’s website and it was created by Victoria Sutton. For more Purim info go to https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/purim-2020/ The ganache recipe is my tired and true from Ina Garten. – that’s quick, easy, and never fails.

I think I’ve kvelled (gushed over) these hamantashen enough. Now it’s time to get right to the recipe and start baking! I hope you love them as much as I do. Happy Purim & Enjoy!

ingredients
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa (I use Hershey’s Cocoa)
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 extra-large egg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
water to close the hamantashen

ganache filling (make ahead of time)
8 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
½ cup of heavy cream (half and half** will work too)
pinch of salt

toppings
white chocolate melting wafers, sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, and if you want to get crazy like me add sliced rainbow cookies, mini m&m’s or other candies

ganache
To make the ganache, place the chocolate chips, heavy cream and pinch of salt in a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Melt the chocolate until it’s just melted and stir it until it’s smooth. Put it in a container, let it cool on the counter about 15 minutes, then cover and put in the fridge. This should be made at least 2 to 4 hours before you plan to bake so it can harden. It can also be done a day ahead of time. If you are rushed for time, pour it into a shallow dish, it will set quicker.

dough
Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside until ready to bake. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Don’t skip the sifting. With a spoon, cream together butter, sugar, and almond extract until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in two stages, alternating with the heavy cream. More or less cream might be needed depending on the consistency of the dough. You don’t want it to be too sticky, and you don’t want it to be too dry. Divide the dough in 2 pieces and turn out onto plastic wrap, and form a flattened disc. Wrap tight and chill couple of hours or overnight.

To form hamantashen: lightly flour your baking surface, roll chilled dough ¼” thick. Using a round cutter or glass rim dipped in flour, cut circles about 3 inches in diameter. Add a little less than a teaspoon of ganache in the center of the circles.

Brush water around the edge of the circle and pinch the dough in three corners to seal and make the hamantashen triangle shape. Some people like to fold in the edges to form a triangular shape, if that’s your style, go with it!

If the dough seems a little soft, place the cookie sheet in the fridge for about 10 minutes to firm up then bake. This will ensure they stay closed.

Bake hamantashen at 350 F for about 12 – 14 minutes turning the cookie sheet half way through baking. They will be a little soft but will firm up a little after it comes out of the oven. Ganache will liquefy during baking, but will set as it cools.

*I usually have half and half in my fridge so I use that and it comes out perfectly.

easy homemade chicken kreplach

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Sherri

My easy homemade chicken kreplach recipe is here just in time for Purim but definitely something you’ll want to eat all year long! The Jewish holiday of Purim (which begins Monday night) commemorates the day Esther (Queen of Persia) saved the Jewish people from execution by Haman (advisor to the Persian King). During the holiday it’s customary to eat foods which look like the villain Haman’s triangular shaped hat or his ears! To learn more about the holiday check out one of my favorite websites My Jewish Learning https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/purim-101/

If you are on Instagram or other social media, I’m sure you have been seeing a lot of photos and recipes of the ever popular hamantashen. Which I have also posted because, well, they are hamantashen and delicious! However, there are other traditional foods eaten during the holiday like kreplach, which sometimes go unnoticed. They are triangular shaped dumplings filled with ground meat or brisket. They can be simmered in chicken soup, or pan-fried with onions* and eaten as a main or side dish. I think it’s time to bring the kreplach front and center into the spotlight!

I’ll let you in on a little secret, I’ve always been TEAM KREPLACH! While I occasionally like a nice fluffy matzo ball in my chicken soup and of course noodles, I have always and will always be team kreplach! They are so yummy and delicious especially when they are lightened up with chicken and are a perfect addition to chicken soup. The filling is simple and so tasty and the wrapper becomes pillowy soft after it cooks in the soup.

To make it easy from the start, I use prepackaged wonton wrappers. These are simple to find in the grocery near the Asian food section. Usually it’s near the vegetables in a refrigerated case. If you can find the Gefen brand in your kosher market, I prefer them. Using premade wonton wrappers speeds up the process. The filling is a few simple ingredients most of which you already have in your pantry. It can’t get less complicated than that. Start to finish it takes about 2 hours to sauté the filling and fold the dumplings. If it seems overwhelming prepare the filling a day ahead of time and refridgerate. Day one cook the filling, day two fill the wontons, day three 40 kreplach waiting to be enjoyed!

So let’s stomp our feet, scream out, and make some noise for kreplach! Who’s with me? Let’s get those groggers (noisemakers) shaking! Enjoy!

ingredients
1 pound ground white meat chicken (or ground turkey)
1 small onion diced (about a cup of raw onion)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large garlic clove minced
1 large or extra-large egg
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 package wonton skins

directions
Sauté the onion and garlic in oil with ½ teaspoon of salt. This should take about 10 to 15 minutes. When the onion is just starting to lightly brown, add in your ground chicken. Sauté the chicken until it is cooked through. Add remaining salt and pepper to taste. Chop it up a bit so there are no large burger sized pieces. Stir and set aside to cool.

When cool, add the mixture to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse about 10 times. Add the egg and pulse until it is ground. It should be the texture of small grains of rice. Not like baby food.

Line up your wonton wrappers a few at a time on a board. Wet the four sides of the wonton, add a teaspoon of the mixture to the middle and fold into a triangle. I try to press the chicken into the spoon so it’s compact. Then fold over into a triangle pressing the edges together very tightly and pushing the air out not letting any filling escape.

Place them in a large container lined with a double layer of wax paper in between each layer. The recipe makes a lot but they freeze very well, and when ready to use they can be added to the soup frozen.

The other way I like to serve them is by pan frying* them in caramelized onions, then adding them to the pan to brown alongside. That’s the way my Bubbie (grandmother in Yiddish) made them.

*To pan fry them, sauté sliced onions in olive oil low and slow until caramelized and golden brown. Add the kreplach to the pan with the onions and pan fry until golden on the outside.

A big thank you goes out to my sister’s friend Amy. She gave me this recipe when I first moved to the Midwest and has become a staple in my house ever since!

hamantashen ice cream sandwich… it’s a match!

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Sherri

******************THROWBACK THURSDAY***************

To when I made a hamantashen ice cream sandwich!

Hamantashen + Ice Cream = The most delicious Hamantashen Ice Cream Sandwich… IT’S A MATCH! Everyone calm down, I’m not a real matchmaker; I’m more of a food matchmaker. I guess I could start with a corny joke like a hamantashen and a scoop of ice cream walk into a bar, yada – yada – yada… ba dum bump! But I can feel my family start to twinge, so I’ll put my comedic career on hold for a little while.

Yes, you heard me right and oh yes I put ice cream in the middle of my hamantashen! I hear you all out there judging me, with your “Oh no you didn’t.” But, oh YES I did. I know hamantashen can be a rich cookie with it’s pie filling, and chocolate but when you stop and think about it for a minute, it really sounds good doesn’t it? We put ice cream on pie. Isn’t hamantashen just a triangular little pie? Plus, didn’t 2016 bring us the babka ice cream sandwich from Russ and Daughters? And, what about the black and white cookie ice cream sandwich I recently saw on Instagram? If you ask me, hamantashen was just waiting for its turn to be asked to the dance. Hamantashen and ice cream, let’s tango!

How did I decide to make an ice cream sandwich using hamantashen? This happy union came about after trying a new hamantashen recipe this year. On Tuesday, the hamantashen softened up a bit because of the cherry pie filling. When I ate one, something just screamed out “HEY, HOW ABOUT A LITTLE ICE CREAM WITH THAT?” See what I did there with the caps? Obviously the trick is to have the right dough and filling for it. If you read yesterday’s post, you know I have tried quite a few different recipes in my time so you can trust me on this. For example, I make a cream cheese dough which tastes similar to rugalach, ice cream would not be a good match for that.

This recipe is adapted from the 2^nd Avenue Deli Cookbook. It’s a hamantashen that definitely stands alone. When it is first baked, it is crisp on the outside and tender on the inside and is absolutely delicious. On the second day, it softened a bit and in my opinion making it even better! The addition of ice cream puts it over the edge and turns it into an elegant dessert that’s so much fun for Purim. Plus, I don’t know about you but I absolutely love anything with almonds in it, and this has a double dose. I hope you will try this with your favorite ice cream and let me know what you think! Happy Purim everyone! Enjoy!
The recipe makes 4 dozen cookies using a 3” round cookie cutter, or 24 ice cream sandwiches

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup finely ground almond flour* (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
3 extra large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 stick softened unsalted butter (or margarine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
sanding sugar
egg wash**
Cherry pie filling (or other pie filling of your choice)

Good quality ice cream
Sliced almonds (I used honey toasted almonds from Trader Joes)
Chocolate or caramel sauce (optional)
Whipped cream (optional)

Directions
In a large blow, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add the almond flour and mix well then set aside.

In another large bowl, cream sugar and butter with mixer until blended. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and mix well. Add the almond and flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides. If the dough is sticky, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your fingers. I did not do this step; I found the dough fine and then wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight. The original recipe says you can bake it without refrigerating first.

When you are ready to bake, position the racks to the upper and lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Roll the dough to a thickness of about 3/16”. My trick is to use paint sticks you get at the hardware store. I cover them with plastic wrap and use them as guides. I like that better than the rings you can put on your rolling pin. Using a 3” round cookie cutter, cut circles of dough and place them on the cookie sheets.

When all of the dough has been cut place about 1 ½ teaspoon of filling in the center of the circle. Brush the perimeter with the egg wash or a little water. Now you can either use the pinch method as I do and pinch 3 corners together, or use the folding method where you flap one side, then the next two till you form a triangle.

Brush the tops of the cookies with the egg wash. I sprinkled mine with some sanding sugar for that extra sparkle and crunch. Bake the hamantashen for 18 to 20 minutes (checking after 15) or until the cookies are golden brown. To ensure even browning, rotate the pans top to bottom and front to back. When done, remove from the oven and let them rest for 2 to 3 minutes on the cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack.

Now to make the match… Place one hamantashen bottom side down, add a scoop of ice cream of your choice, top with another hamantashen top side up so you can see the beautiful topping and eat it carefully. Of course you can place it bottom side up as well – make it your own. It’s so yummy it won’t last long! If you want to plate it, dress up the plate with some chocolate sauce, maybe some whipped cream, and almonds. However you choose to eat it, it’s a match made in heaven!

* I used Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour which I found in my local grocery. King Arthur makes a great one as well which you can purchase online. You can also make almond flour in a food processor, here is a how to link.

**For the egg wash I use the whole egg and put in a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, and a splash of water.

A Crazy Hamantashen Milkshake

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Sherri

I hear you loud and clear… “Hey Sherri, Purim is over and I’m out buying matzo, what’s with you and the hamantashen already?” My answer… I still have about 10 pounds of hamantashen crumbs to reinvent! So why not make a crazy hamantashen milkshake? Last year was the hamantashen ice cream sandwich so this isn’t so crazy – right?

Now to answer the burning question, why all the crumbs, I first need to give you a little backstory. I’m a member of a Jewish culinary group called the P2G Culinary Connection. Over the past several weeks, we had been putting together Shaloch Manos baskets (gifts of food given during Purim) for holocaust survivors in our area. Of course hamantashen are the star of any basket, but with everyone’s busy schedules we didn’t have time to all get together and bake so it was my job to find a way to buy them.

I reached out to Lilly’s Baking Company in Brooklyn, NY. I have ordered from them in the past and know their baked goods are absolutely delicious. Living in Columbus, we often need a black and white or rainbow cookie fix and if you’re not a baker, Lilly’s is the perfect place to order from. They have been my go to since we moved here because everything they make is reminiscent of our favorite bakeries in New York. Needing a very large quantity, I was hoping they would be able to give us a big discount. I emailed them our intentions, and the amount we needed (around 460). What happened next was unexpected. One of the CEO’s wanted to support our mission by donating the product and the cost of shipping! I almost started to cry; the generosity was overwhelming.

Sadly, the shipping company didn’t do such a great job getting them to us. All 3 cases were severely damaged and while we were able to salvage about 80 of them, the balance was all broken. What Lilly’s did next was even more generous, they shipped out more the very next day overnight air. The new ones arrived perfectly intact; we placed them gingerly on top of each basket.

Now the question was what to do with all of the crumbs? I couldn’t just throw them away. Any good Jewish mother would never let something like that go to waste! Ideas were spinning through my head: strawberry shortcakes, magic bars, dirt cups, yogurt parfaits, a trifle, mini cheesecakes, the world was my oyster (or in this case – my hamantashen)! If you follow me on Instagram, you know I made amazing yogurt parfaits and cookie pops. Then it hit me – a hamantashen milkshake.

To quote my son, “Mom, only you would think of making a hamantashen cookie milkshake – it’s amazing and I can’t believe it tastes like hamantashen ice cream!” This was the grand finale of my week and was so amazingly good; I suggest you drink it until you can’t tell the difference between Mordechai and Haman! That’s what we did. With these words I say drink and Enjoy! This recipe makes 2 servings.

First make the chocolate ganache:
½ bag of semisweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)
3/8 cup of cream or half and half
pinch of kosher salt
dash of vanilla extract

Add the chocolate chips to a narrow bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the cream until it just comes to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate and let it sit for about 3 minutes then whisk it together until smooth and shiny. Instead of making ganache (which I highly recommend) you can use a good quality hot fudge.

While the cream is heating, get all of your add-ins together. For me it was mini M&M’s, sprinkles, chocolate candies, KitKat bars, whipped cream of course, and one of my mini birthday cake hamantashen. Plus the crowning glory, a perfect Lilly’s hamantashen. You could also add pretzels, licorice, or other favorites you might have.

To assemble the glasses: take two tablespoons of the ganache and spread it inside the glass. Then, dip the rim into the ganache about 1” deep. Holding the glass over a cookie sheet or bowl to catch the overage, sprinkle with whatever adornments you want until it looks just right. If you want to stick things to the glass such as larger candies, you have to paint the candy with the ganache and hold it in place for a bit until it firms up.

Now for the shake: (this recipe makes 2 servings)
2 cups good quality vanilla ice cream plus an additional 2 scoops to float on top (one for each glass)
¾ cup of milk (any kind will work, I used 2%)
1 ½ cups hamantashen crumbs (including the filling pieces)

Blend together until well combined and pour into the glasses. Depending on the ice cream you use, and how thick you like your shakes, you may need more or less milk. Top each glass with one scoop of ice cream, add whipped cream, sprinkles and whatever treats you want to add. Then finish it off by topping it with a hamantashen. WARNING: These are addicting! Hamantashen lovers, BEWARE!

hamantashen throw down!

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Sherri

Have you ever had a hamantashen throw down? I have! Every year in preparation for Purim, I have a throw down with a friend of mine. The only difference is there is no winner – just a really good time and delicious hamantashen to eat! Every year, my friend Marcy and I get together to bake hamantashen for Purim. Hundreds of hamantashen in fact! This is just one of those amazing recipes.

Hamantashen are the triangular cookies we eat during the holiday Purim. Purim is a fun Jewish holiday which includes dressing up in costume, carnivals and drinking quite a bit! FYI, the drinking is so we can no longer tell the difference between good and evil – not such a bad thing once a year! As with all Jewish holidays, there is a retelling of the story of why we are celebrating and we always have very traditional and symbolic foods we eat. For Purim, hamantashen play a staring role. Let me set the scene… 6 different fillings on the counter, 5 dough recipes all chilled overnight and wrapped tight in plastic wrap, 4 fun hours of baking, 3 too many delicious hamantashen eaten which gave me a bellyache, 2 friends happily talking the morning away, and finally 1 house that smelled absolutely delicious – and still does! Did I forget to mention approximately 200 hamantashen were made?

Mine were baked, packed up and shipped out yesterday or handed out to local friends. Hers were frozen and will be baked today then brought to Connecticut for some very lucky people! Among the varieties: a cream cheese dough reminiscent of rugalach, a traditional dough, a secret recipe dough, a chocolate dough, and finally a new one I tried from the 2^nd Avenue Deli Cookbook which calls for almond flour. I almost said my new favorite but then deleted it. Like my mother always said “I have ten fingers and I love them all the same – don’t ask me to choose!” That is how I feel about most hamantashen recipes I’ve made.
I’m not sure if I ever mentioned this before or not, but mother had some kind of obsession with hamantashen recipes. Not necessarily baking them – collecting them! For whatever reason, she included about 3 of them in the little 15 page handwritten cookbook she made me when I got married. The crazy thing is while she was an avid baker, I don’t remember her ever baking hamantashen when I was growing up except for the time with the sisterhood from our Temple. So it was very surprising she added so many into my book. This being said, I guess it should be no surprise I have inherited her obsession. I never really thought of it like that, but clearly after reading my own words, what else would you call it? The only difference is I don’t write about them and collect them, I actually bake them!

Today I’m sharing Carole Walter’s recipe which my friend Marcy brought with her. Oddly enough is extremely similar to my mother’s except my mom used shortening (which is exactly why I know she never made them – she never used shortening!) and she always baked with jumbo eggs. Carole uses butter in her recipe and large eggs. The preparation is a little different as well. Sorry mom, but Carole is the winner in this throw down not only because I’m not a fan of shortening – because I don’t think my mom ever made them! However, I do think my mom would approve and besides, there is always room for one more hamantashen in your life – and in my mother’s case, one more recipe to add to the list! I hope you try this recipe which is adapted from Carole Walter’s cookbook simply called Great Cookies! The name says it all, they are great cookies and very delicious, with a nice bit of crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. Whatever filling you choose… Enjoy!

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt (I would add one tsp. like my mom next time)
1 cup (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter or margarine cut into cubes
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
sanding sugar (optional)
Egg wash*
Fillings of your choice (I used cherry pie filling, lemon curd, and poppy seed)

This recipe makes 40 – 2” cookies

dough
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse two or three times to combine. Add the butter and pulse five times then process 5 seconds to form meal like crumbs.

Place the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in a small bowl and mix with a fork to combine. Pour the mixture into the processor and pulse four or five times, then process until the dough begins to clump together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and with floured hands, form into two disks, wrap with plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days. (This dough may be frozen for up to 4 months)

When you are ready to bake, position the racks to the upper and lower 1/3 of the oven. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When all of the dough has been cut place about 1 ½ teaspoon of filling in the center of the circle. Brush the perimeter with the egg wash or a little water. To fold or to pinch? That is the question! Now you can either use the pinch method as I do and pinch 3 corners together, or use the folding method where you flap one side, then the next two till you form a triangle.

Brush the tops of the cookies with the egg wash. I sprinkled mine with some sanding sugar for that extra sparkle and crunch. Bake the hamantashen for 15 to 18 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. To ensure even browning, rotate the pans top to bottom and front to back. When done, remove from the oven and let them rest for 2 to 3 minutes on the cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container with wax paper between layers for up to 3 days. These cookies may be frozen.

*When I make an egg wash I use the whole egg and put in a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, and a splash of water. Carole uses egg whites only. Either will work fine.