Holy Hamantaschen!

What are you looking at, you ask?  Any guesses?  Well, they are little Hamantaschen cookies gone very wrong :(

I wanted to make these buttery triangular gems as soon as I read their backstory.  As a non-Jew, I was intrigued by the persistence of Queen Esther and her relative Mordecai in foiling the plot of King Haman to massacre Jews in his kingdom.  Nowadays Jews eat these cookies on Purim to commemorate the derailing of Haman's plan.  There is also the side-story that Haman wore a three-cornered hat, and so there you have it...Hamantaschen (Yiddish for Haman's pockets).

Right before Purim, a well-known bakery in my area (Patisserie Florentine, Englewood, NJ) published its recipe for these pastries.  It just so happens that my bridge group was meeting on the day of Purim (and you know I always bring some kind of treat).  Therefore you can understand that the stars were aligned for a successful endeavor in my kitchen.  I wish...

Now I need to mention that culinary mistakes aren't necessarily the worst thing that can happen.  A failed Hamantaschen journey (as is depicted in the photo above) can provide a path forward and have an eventual happy ending.  Though I had high hopes for these little nuggets, I had to show patience and persistence to succeed, starting with a do-over.  And, let me be the first to tell you that I served the bombs right along with the blessings and both were well received. Conclusion?  They are that good!

Notes

1.  Traditional fillings include poppy seeds, dried fruits, or preserves.  I used a rhubarb and strawberry preserve for some of mine and Hershey kisses (dark chocolate) for others.  The sheer variety of fillings that can hang out in the center of this cookie are reason enough to make these again and again.

2.  The recipe calls for adding one tablespoon of water if the dough does not come together when mixed.  I used 2+ tablespoons on each trial.

3.  I had a bit of extra dough left on trial #1, so I just rolled little balls and plopped them into the filling.  See picture at bottom of posting ;)

4.  I made this recipe twice in a 24-hour period, and never once was frustrated, even on the first disastrous try. I figured that my cookies were too small (I used a 2 and 5/8" circle and the mentor recipe said 3").  And though I kept the filling volume in check to account for the smaller-sized cookie, they still opened up and spilled the preserves.  So then I thought that I had not pinched the corners tight enough.  So many variables to reconsider!

5.  I was not very scientific about tweaking the recipe on the second trial.  I should have changed only one variable, but I didn't.  I used a 3" cookie cutter (no scallops this time) and really worked on the three triangular seams.  So who knows which variable made the difference?  My advice?  Use a 3" cookie cutter and work on the seams.

6.  As a preventative for preserve over-spillage, I also used individual Hershey kisses as filling since I figured they would hold their shape while baking.  Yes, you are right to note that this was yet another distinct manipulation of variables.  Good call!

Holy Hamantaschen
(courtesy of Patisserie Florentine)
Yield:  First time:  19      Second time:  13

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 stick of butter, room temperature soft
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
Filling of your choice (see Notes)

Directions:

1.  Place all the ingredients (except for the filling) into an electric mixer and combine until uniform.  Add a tablespoon or two of water if the dough does not come together.  You can place all ingredients into a large bowl and use a hand mixer to combine or even combine by hand.

2.  Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, give it a couple of squeezes, flatten into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.

3.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

4.  Meanwhile prepare baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

5.  Preheat oven to 350ºF.

6.  Lightly flour the surface where you will be rolling out the chilled dough.

7.  Remove dough from refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap.

8.  Place dough on floured surface and roll out, lifting and turning as you go to make sure the dough is not sticking.  Add a bit more flour if necessary.  Roll to a thickness of 1/4 inch.

9.  Cut out circles with a 3-inch diameter cookie cutter or beverage glass.

10. Place one teaspoon of filling (or one Hershey kiss) into the center of each cut-out.

11. Lift the dough from two opposite sides and pinch together to form the top corner of the triangle.  Then fold up the base of the triangle and squeeze the two corners to complete the triangle.  Make sure that the corners are well-sealed.  Compare the picture above and the one below.  Which one opened?

12. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until just turning golden.  Remove from oven to cooling rack.

Enjoy!

P.S.  I know you want to see more of my tasty mistakes, I have that photo for you 😬

P.P.S.  Persistence paid off! 😊

Sweet Custardy Apple Tart

This is a dessert lacking in... um...nothing.  In fact, if I made this once a week, it would always disappear...just not by me.  Why?  Well... you remember that I adore apples and eat them virtually every day of the year, right?  It's the crispy, juicy, tartness of this fruit that keeps me coming back for more, and I imagine that if there was a count kept of all the raw apples that individuals have eaten in their lifetime, I would win a medal!  That said, I have never been a fan of cooked apples in pies, cakes, bars, etc.  Can you believe that??

A Dorie Greenspan winner, this recipe is featured in her cookbook Baking Chez Moi.  I have made it twice in as many weeks and tweaked it just a bit (see Notes).

A dessert or breakfast treat, this tart can boast about its ease of ingredient assembling.  The mixing is done with whisks!  Imagine that!  Each of three bowls holds either the dry ingredients, the wet ingredients, or the apple slices.  Whisk the wet ingredients, add the dry and mix again, and finally add the apples slices for a good slosh.  All is spread into a pan and baked.  So easy...

I do appreciate aromas, and while this dessert is in the oven, your kitchen will smell like you just opened a high end bakery, and its name should be Apples Baking in Vanilla Custard.  Irresistible and enticing are the words that come to mind, but so do profusely-alluring and how-much-longer-until-this-is-out-of-the-oven?

In addition to the quick prep, the tart can be eaten out of the oven (you might want to cool it a bit first) without any other fuss, (unless you feel a dollop of vanilla ice cream or a dusting of icing sugar count as fuss) and leftovers can be refrigerated if you don't demolish it all at one seating.  And the greatest news on top of all this great news?  Its elegance is remarkable.  Expect oohs and ahs :)

Notes

1.  I have made this in a 9-inch square pan (trial #1) and a 1.5 quart casserole dish (trial #2).  Since the casserole dish's dimensions were smaller, the tart was thicker.  I preferred this result.

2. In trial #1 I used Almond Breeze Coconut/Almond Unsweetened Blend instead of milk since that was what I had.  In trial #2 I used 2% milk.  Each worked well.

3.  I used Fuji apples and Granny Smith.  Both were great :)

4.  Dorie used parchment paper on the buttered-bottom of her baking dish.  This means that to serve the tart, you need to flip the entire pastry over, peel off the parchment, and then flip it back over.  I did  this on trial #1, but just buttered the baking dish on trial #2.  I vote for no parchment paper.  This way you can serve right from the baking dish.  In the photos above, you can see that I cut the tart into fourths and removed with a spatula with no problems.

5.  In both trials, I covered the dishes with foil at around the 20-minute mark as some of the apple pieces were getting too brown.

6.  My husband was my objective taste tester.  He loved both trial results (no surprise here), but did comment on the structure of the apples.  The apples have some 'tooth'.  By that I mean they are soft, but not mushy.  You will need to chew them, but they are not crunchy.  I share this not because his comments were negative, but because his assessments are thorough.  Thank you, honey!

7.  When I make this tart again, I think I will pre-cook the apple slices a little by sautéing them in a bit of butter for a minute or two... just to further soften the texture, and then add them to the custard.  I'll let you know what my husband thinks :)

Sweet Custardy Apple Tart
(from Dorie Greenspan)

3 medium, juicy apples (see notes above)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons milk (see notes above) at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter (I used salted), melted and cooled slightly
Confectioner's sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 400º F.  Butter your baking pan on all sides.
2.  Peel, core, and slice your apples thinly.  Think 1/8" thick, but no thicker.
3.  Place the flour and baking powder into a small bowl and whisk together.
4.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the sugar is mostly dissolved and the eggs are a bit frothy and pale.  This may take a minute or two.
5.  Into the egg mixture, whisk the vanilla, then the milk, and finally the melted butter.  Continue whisking until the batter is smooth.
6.  Add the flour and baking powder to this batter. Whisk again.

7. Finally, add in the apples. Using a spatula, gently mix until each of the apple slices is coated with the batter.

8.  Scrape the batter into the pan, smoothing the top (maybe even picking up an apple slice to place it more strategically) evenly as best you can.

9.  Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, covering midway through with foil if the top is browning too quickly (see notes).
10.  The tart is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
12. After 15-20 minutes, cut, plate, and adorn with confectioner's sugar.
13. Leftovers (should you be so lucky) can be chilled.