Almond and Sesame Seed Brittle – Boulokunio

While we Ashkenazim eat Hamentashen (see here and here) on Purim, Sephardic communities have some very interesting foods for the occasion.

From Stella’s Sephardic Kitchen by Stella Cohen…

Almond and Sesame Brittle

Detail from photo by: Marc Hoberman, on page 211

Toasted cinnamon seeds, honey and almonds make a deep-golden, chewy treat. Popupar at any celebration, this ancient confection is traditionally offered over the Festivals of Purim and Hanukkah (Feast of Lights). These petite treats, not unlike the nut bars that are popular today are utterly addictive.

5 cups hulled sesame seeds
1 tablespoon plain (all purpose) flour
1 tablespoon blanched spit almonds, toasted

For the syrup:

1 1/2 cups clear honey
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 1/2 cups sugar

SPRINKLE 1 cup of sesame seeds with a pinch of flour and toast lightly in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat for 4 minutes or until lightly golden. Shake the pan often and stir with a wooden spoon. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat this process, 1 cup at a time, with the remaining four cups of sesame seeds.

HEAT the honey, water and sugar in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until it thickens and reaches the soft ball stage *. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a very large, heatproof bowl.

ADD the almonds and 3 cups of sesame seeds and stir together vigorously with a wooden spoon. Spread the hot mixture onto an oiled worktop. Sprinkle in the remaining two cups of sesame seeds, working it a little at a time into the mixture. Dampen your hands with cold water and roll into four ropes about 1 inch in diameter. Cut diagonally into 1 inch sections using a sharp knife dipped into hot water. Allow to cool at room temperature until hardened.

STELLA’S HINTS:

* The soft ball stage is reached when a small drop of syrup forms into a little ball at the bottom of a cup of cold water. It will flatten and feel soft and pliable.

To store: Place the brittle between layers of baking paper and store in an airtight container up to 1 month.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Chef Geila Hocherman’s Hamentashen With Four Fillings

As featured in her brand new cookbook, Kosher Revolution, Geila Hocherman teaches us how to make hamentashen in print and on video:

Hamentashen with Four Fillings

Crust

• 2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for flouring work surface
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon orange juice (optional)

Poppy filling

• One 2-ounce jar poppy seeds
• One 12-ounce jar black currant jam
• 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in boiling water until soft, drained
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Raspberry filling

• One 12-ounce jar raspberry jam
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Apricot Filling

• One 12-ounce jar apricot jam
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, soaked in boiling water until soft, drained.
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Coconut -Chocolate- Hazelnut Filling

• One 13-ounce jar Nutella, or other
• chocolate-hazelnut spread

Photo by: Antonis Achilleous - Kosher Revolution, page 181

1. First make the crust. Sift the flour and baking powder onto parchment paper. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugar and vanilla, and blend at medium speed. One at a time, add the eggs, incorporating the first before the adding the second, and blend. Add the orange juice, if using and blend. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, gradually to make a dough.
2. Divide the dough into 2 parts and flatten each to make a disk. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap, stack the discs on a plate, and refrigerate until the stiff enough to work easily, at least 2 hours.
3. Meanwhile make the filling(s). For the poppy, raspberry-and/or apricot fillings, combine the ingredients in small bowls, stir to blend, and refrigerate for 1 hour. For the chocolate combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer half the filling to the centerof an 18 inch piece of plastic wrap, fold the wrap over the filling to enclose it, and squeeze the mixture to create a log 1-inch in diameter. Repeat with the remaining filling and freeze the logs.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Flour a work surface well and roll 1 of the discs out on it. Using a 3-inch glass or round cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of the poppy seed, raspberry and/or apricot filling(s) in the center of each round, wet the edges with water and bring up the dough together to seal. Alternatively, drop the filling onto the dough by heaping tablespoons. For the chocolate filling, cut the frozen logs onto 1/2 inch discs. Fill the rounds by placing a disc in the center of each form and seal.
5. Transfer the hamentashen to 1 or more cookie sheets and bake, in batches if necessary, until pale gold 12 or 14 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Lilly’s Home Style Bake Shop

As I toured Lilly’s Home Style Bake Shop, the sweet aromas wafting through the air, I was transported back to my mother’s kitchen, where the promise of sweet delicious treats were imminent as she prepared Shabbos or Yom Tov cakes and cookies. This past Tuesday morning, I walked the plant with Ethan Lieberman who together with CEO Irving Guttman, started the company in 2004 and kept on expanding the premises as new machinery was needed to streamline production of their growing product line.

Sprinkling cinnamon onto babka dough...

From jumbo to regular sized bagels, to assorted breads and challah types of various shapes and sizes, to mouth watering cakes and danishes, to cookies and biscottis,  all beckoned before my gluttonous Hansel and Gretel eyes as the various doughs were being made, shaped and baked.

Racks filled with challah, chocolate danish, hamentashen and so much more...

Lilly’s (named after Ethan‘s – Avrumi‘s – mother) ships nationally under their own name and under various private labels – including well known supermarket chains and warehouse type wholesalers. The whole operation is supervised by Silliker, a third party approver which specializes in certifying the cleanliness and strict adherence to codes governing this type of operations. Kashrus is under OU supervision.

Fresh and moist! A tray full of chocolate babka, rainbow cookies, black and whites are awaiting me...

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy! As for me, I’ll just grab another piece of that decadent babka oozing with chocolate… Get your own, kid!!!

CS