Make this year’s mishloah manot extra special with the following recipes offered
to us by chef Miki Shemo. He makes many versions of hamentashen for Purim in his
bakeries, but he also offers other filled cookies that are traditionally served
for the holiday.
NUT AND POPPY CRESCENTS
Makes 14
For the pastry
✔ 2 cups
flour
✔ 150 gr. soft butter
✔ 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
✔ 1⁄4 cup milk
✔ 1 large
egg
✔ Zest from 1⁄2 lemon
✔ 1 tsp. vanilla extract
✔ 1⁄2 tsp. salt
✔ 25 gr. (1⁄2
cube) fresh yeast or 1⁄2 package of granulated yeast (shimrit)
For the filling
✔ 1 cup milk
✔ 50 gr. butter, cubed
✔ 11⁄4 cups sugar (250 gr.)
✔ 1⁄4 cup ground
walnuts
✔ 1 Tbsp. farina
✔ 3 cups freshly ground poppy seeds (270 gr.)
✔ 1
beaten egg for glazing
In the mixer bowl, using the dough hook, mix together all
the pastry ingredients except the yeast about 5 minutes until smooth. Add the
yeast and continue mixing 1 minute.
Place dough in the refrigerator for
at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.
To prepare filling: Heat milk, butter
and sugar until sugar dissolves. Lower heat and add farina and nuts, mix for 1
minute and remove from heat. Add poppy seeds, mix well. Cover with plastic wrap
and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
To shape and fill: Divide the
filling into 14 parts and roll each part into 8- cm. long, 2-cm. thick
cylinders.
Divide the dough into 14 equal parts and shape into balls. On
a lightly floured work surface, roll each ball into an oval-shaped 1⁄2-cm. thick
leaf. Place a cylinder of the filling along one side of the pastry leaf and
roll. Close side and bend to create a crescent shape.
Place the crescents
on two lined baking sheets and let rise for 1⁄2 hour to 1 hour.
Heat oven
to 190º, brush crescents with egg and bake 20 minutes or until color is
dark.
TURKISH DELIGHT COOKIES
Makes 40
The pastry itself has no added
sugar, but with the filling these are just sweet enough. To make the
cookies slightly sweeter, you may sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Note:
When adding the flour to the dough, do not add all the flour at once. The
kneading time to be as brief as possible, so adding the flour at two separate
times helps.
✔ 250 gr. soft butter
✔ 150 gr. sour cream
✔ 4 egg yolks
✔ 3 cups flour
✔ 1⁄2 package baking powder
✔ 1 tsp. vanilla
extract
✔ 250 gr. Turkish delight (available in spice shops and some
supermarkets)
✔ 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
Knead together in a mixer, using the
dough hook, the butter, sour cream, egg yolks and vanilla at slow-medium speed
until smooth. Add flour and baking powder at two separate times. Knead
until smooth, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for three to four
hours.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface until about 5
mm. thick. You will get approximately a 30x40-cm. leaf. Divide the pastry into
two 40-cm. long rectangles.
Roll the Turkish delight into two narrow
40-cm. long cylinders.
Place each cylinder on each pastry rectangle and
wrap the Turkish delight with the pastry.
Place the two filled pastry
cylinders on a lined baking sheet. Cut the cylinders into 2-cm. cookies, using a
plastic knife.
Bake at a preheated 170º oven for 20 minutes until light
golden in color. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.
NUT-FILLED
MA’AMUL
Ma’amul is a filled shortbread cookie scented with rose water. It
originated in North African Jewish cuisine and became a part of Israeli cooking.
The most common ones are stuffed with dates, but this is a recipe for nut-filled
ones that you will love.
✔ 4 cups flour
✔ 1 cup semolina flour
✔ 1
package baking powder
✔ 1 tsp. vanilla extract
✔ 350 gr. butter
✔ 1⁄2 cup oil
✔ 1⁄2 cup water
✔ 1 tsp. rose water
Filling
✔ 2 cups walnuts, chopped
✔ 1 tsp.
cinnamon
✔ 1 sachet vanilla sugar
✔ 1 Tbsp. sugar
Place the dry ingredients –
flour, semolina, baking powder and butter – in a mixer bowl and mix at low speed
for 5 minutes. Start adding the liquids – vanilla, oil, water and rose water –
gradually, while mixing, until a smooth dough forms. Leave the dough in the bowl
and cover with plastic wrap. Leave dough to rest for 1 hour.
Mix together
all the filling ingredients.
Divide the dough into small 30-gr.
balls. Create a well in each ball using your finger and turning the ball
around the finger until the walls of the ball are about 3 mm. thick. Fill
with the nut mixture, close and decorate the top with a special tool or a fork.
Bake at 170º for 20 minutes.
Serve dusted with powdered sugar.
Recipes and photos courtesy of Miki Shemo Bakeries
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