Alon Shaya is Chef-Partner of Pomegranate Hospitality, which includes Saba and Saba’s Lounge in New Orleans, Safta in Denver, and Miss River and Chandelier Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans.
Born in Israel, raised in Philadelphia, and a proud New Orleanian, Alon has always had a deep love and appreciation for food and the singular way restaurants anchor their communities.
The hamantaschen I made as a child were filled with apricot jam or cherry-pie filling out of a can, sometimes poppy seeds and prunes.
Now when I think of hamantaschen, luscious fresh fruit comes to mind. I’ve always had a secret crush on cheese danishes, so I brought the two together for this recipe with a lightly sweet, tangy filling.
Peaches, unfortunately, aren’t in season during Purim, so, if you’re making these for the holiday, you can substitute strawberries (you’ll need only three or four for this recipe) — they’ll be sweeter at that time of year. However, if you’re like me and resist strict rules, you can make these in July with peaches!
I’ve had a lot of dry and crumbly hamantaschen in my life. These have a much softer, more tender dough, so don’t freak out when they spread a little as they cook. I also think they look cute this way.
Peach and mascarpone hamantaschen
PrintIngredients
- 1 ¼ cups sugar, divided
- Grated zest of 1 orange
- 12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 eggs, divided
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract, divided
- ½ tsp orange blossom water
- 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for rolling
- ½ tsp Morton's kosher salt
- 1 cup mascarpone
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp honey, divided
- 1 large peach
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup sugar and the orange zest in a mixing bowl, rubbing the mixture between your fingers to release all the fragrant citrus oils. Add the butter, and, with an electric mixer or the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, cream the mixture on medium speed until smooth and soft.
- Separate 1 egg, adding the white to the mixing bowl and reserving its yolk for the filling. Beat in the other egg along with 1 teaspoon vanilla and the orange blossom water, and mix until incorporated. Add 3 cups of four and the salt; beat on medium-low speed just until the dough forms a cohesive mass that starts to pull away from the bowl.
- Dust a work surface with flour, and scrape the dough onto it. Pat it into a disc about 1 inch thick, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. (This dough can be made ahead, frozen, then thawed overnight in the fridge when you’re ready to use it.)
- While the dough chills, make the filling: To the egg yolk that you reserved when you made the dough, add the mascarpone and the remaining ½ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Beat or whisk them all together, then cover and refrigerate.
- If the dough chilled awhile, let it sit at room temperature for 10 or so minutes, so it’s easier to work with. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, and make an egg wash by beating together the egg yolk, milk, and 1 tablespoon honey. Pit the peach, and cut it into ¾-to-1-inch cubes.
- Flour a work surface and a rolling pin. Roll the dough into a 16-to-18-inch circle, turning and flipping it as you work to keep it at an even thickness; if the edges start to crack, gently reinforce them by pinching them back together, and dust with more flour if it starts to stick.
- Cut the dough into 4½-to-5-inch circles (if you don’t have a cookie cutter that large, the lid of a plastic pint container makes a good stencil), then patch together any excess dough and reroll it, flouring as needed, to cut a few more. Don’t reroll it more than once, maybe twice, so that it stays tender.
- Brush the egg wash in a thin, even layer over each circle, add a heaping tablespoon of filling to the center of each cookie, and top with 1 cube of peach. Gently lift the edges of each circle around the filling (use a butter knife or bench scraper to loosen them without tearing), and pinch the corners together to make a triangle. Brush a little more egg wash on the cookies outsides, and set them on the prepared baking sheets with an inch or two between them. Cover with plastic, and chill for at least another 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Bake the cookies, straight from the fridge, for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the sheets after 15 minutes. Look for the tops to become a light but even gold, and don’t worry if the dough cracks a bit. Meanwhile, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons honey in the microwave or in a saucepan over low heat, just until it’s thin and easily pourable.
- When the cookies are still warm from the oven, paint them all over with the honey. Cool completely on the baking sheets before eating.
Originally Published Mar 6, 2023 02:33PM EST
