Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (138 page)
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The dough for these crisp cookies is easily made in the food processor. Since they take only a few minutes to bake, you can shape them and keep them 1 or 2 days in the refrigerator, ready to pop in the oven, for a treat of just-baked cookies for Purim guests.
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1
â
2
cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling
Grated rind 1 orange
1
â
2
cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or firm margarine, well-chilled and cut into small pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 to 2 tablespoons orange juice or water (optional)
1.
Combine egg, egg yolk, sugar, salt, 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, orange rind, and butter in a food processor. Process using 10 brief pulses, then process continuously 5 seconds until nearly blended. Add flour; process 2 seconds. Scrape down sides and process about 3 seconds or until dough begins to form sticky crumbs but does not come together in a ball. If crumbs are dry, add juice or water and process using brief pulses just until blended. With a rubber spatula, transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap, and push together. Shape dough into a flat disk. Refrigerate dough at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.
2.
Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Roll out
1
â
2
of dough on a cold, lightly floured surface until about
1
â
4
-inch thick. Using a round 2
1
â
2
-inch cutter, cut dough into circles. Sprinkle each with
1
â
8
to
1
â
4
teaspoon poppy seeds, according to your taste. Press lightly to make them adhere to dough. Put cookies on baking sheets and refrigerate. Gently press scraps together, wrap them, and refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll.
3.
Roll remaining dough to shape more cookies. Do the same with the scraps. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before baking to firm dough. (They can be kept, covered, overnight in refrigerator.)
4.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake cookies 8 to 9 minutes or until they are very light golden at the edges and golden on the bottom. Transfer cookies to racks to cool.
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From the time of the Talmud, it has been a custom to enjoy wine for Purim as part of the spirit of celebration, and sometimes wine finds its way into candies as well. In these treats, sweet wine provides a pleasing complement to the chocolate and the dried apricots. When I was growing up, we prepared a variety of easy sweets like this to add to the cookie boxes for our friends. We made them by mixing chocolate, dried fruit, and wine with cake or cookie crumbs, then rolling them in chopped nuts or coconut.
1
â
2
cup diced dried apricots
1
â
2
cup sweet wine or orange juice
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons (
3
â
4
stick) butter or margarine, at room temperature and cut into pieces
3
â
4
to 1 cup cookie crumbs
About 1
1
â
2
cups chopped blanched almonds
1.
Combine apricots and wine in a jar and cover. Shake, then let stand about 1 hour. Remove apricots, reserving wine.
2.
Heat chocolate, cocoa, sugar, and reserved wine in a medium, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until chocolate melts. Remove from heat and add butter. Stir until melted. Stir in cookie crumbs and apricots. Mix well. Refrigerate 30 to 45 minutes or until firm enough to shape.
3.
Put almonds in a shallow bowl or tray. Shape chocolate mixture into balls, using about 2 teaspoons for each. Roll balls in almonds. Set candies on plates. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Serve in foil or paper candy cups.
When I appeared on Israel's popular TV morning show, "Boker Tov Yisrael" ("Good Morning Israel"), to prepare treats for Purim, these were everyone's favorites. They contain only three ingredients (chocolate and heavy creamâcalled ganache in French when blended togetherâplus nuts), and are fun to make. In fact, making them is a great family project. But they're main attraction is that they are so delicious!
Be sure to use fine chocolate for these truffles. You can make them ahead and keep them up to 5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or you can freeze them.
8 ounces fine quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped
3
â
4
cup heavy cream
2
â
3
cup finely chopped walnuts or unsalted macadamia nuts
1.
Put chocolate in heatproof medium bowl. Heat cream in small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking, until it comes to a full boil. Pour cream over chocolate all at once. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool to room temperature, occasionally stirring gently.
2.
Cover bowl of ganache and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until very thick and firm enough to scoop out in mounds but not hard, about 45 minutes.
3.
Using 2 teaspoons, spoon mixture in
3
â
4
-inch mounds onto a foil-lined tray, using about 2 teaspoons of mixture for each. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
4.
Press each mound into a rough ball and return to tray. Then roll each between your palms to a smooth ball and return to tray. Work quickly so they do not soften too much. If truffles become very soft, refrigerate or freeze to slightly firm them.
5.
Put nuts in a shallow bowl. Roll each truffle in nuts, pressing so nuts adhere and truffle is well coated. Place on foil-lined tray. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Serve cold or at room temperature, in foil or paper candy cups.
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Popular in Alsace for Purim, babas are traditional French cakes baked in small bucket-shaped molds. Here, I use cupcake or muffin tins because they're more common in most kitchens. These taste great on their own but you can serve them with
Vanilla Whipped Cream
if you like.
Unlike most yeast cakes, babas are light and airy. They are dipped in syrup to keep them moist. In classic recipes, they are sprinkled with rum just before being served but you can use other spirits that you like. If you're serving them to children, simply leave out the spirits; the cake has good flavor without them and is plenty moist from the syrup. Finally, the cakes are frosted with apricot glaze. If you like, you can decorate each with red candied cherries and sliced almonds just after brushing on the glaze, as bakeries often do.
If you want to prepare these ahead, the best stage to keep them is before they are dipped. Then you can store them in an airtight container for 3 days at room temperature. You can keep the glazed babas in a covered dish in the refrigerator for about 3 more days, but after a day, they start to lose their rum flavor and to become a bit soggy. That doesn't matter in our houseâthey're still delicious!