Purim comes early this year, on Tuesday, March 3 and, like all Jewish days, begins the evening before.
Actually, Jewish holidays are never early or late on the Jewish calendar. Purim is always on the 14th of Adar. But the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle, not the solar, so to make sure Passover always occurs in the spring, the Rabbis developed a complicated system that adds an extra “leap” month in seven out of every 19 years. So, while Purim comes early on the secular calendar, next year is a leap year, and everything will seem to be “late.”
Also, Jewish days begin at sunset and go through to the next sunset. Every holiday begins on the “erev,” or in the evening. When determining a person’s birthday or yartzeit (death anniversary), we ask whether they were born or died before or after sunset to determine the Hebrew date on which to remember.
There is much more to be said about the Jewish calendar, but this story is about Purim and hamentashen. Last year, I wrote about why Purim should not be regarded as a simple holiday primarily for children. It is a complicated story with adult themes. You can read more here.
Last year, I also wrote about the festive Purim meal traditionally celebrated on Erev Purim. It follows the Fast of Esther, which begins that morning. I wrote about the meal rather than the more popular Purim treat, hamantashen, because I don’t bake much.
I bake for Passover and Rosh Hashanah. I make the same cakes every year, so I pretty much mastered those recipes. When I need dessert, I look for easy, usually no-bake options. A few of my favorites are Fresh Fruit Compote, Sweet Israeli Couscous, and Fresh Fruit Crisp with Super Crunchy Topping.
But this year, I couldn’t resist trying the biggest sweet trend, maybe ever – Dubai Chocolate.
Until I started writing this and doing some research, I didn’t realize just how new Dubai Chocolate is. It was created just a few years ago by Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian woman living in Dubai. She was pregnant and craving flavors of her childhood – something sweet with a big crunch. She worked with a Filipino culinary consultant, Nouel Catis Omamalin, a trained pastry chef, to develop the now ubiquitous chocolate bar. To be fair, it should be noted that Hamouda and her husband already owned a chocolate business, so creating this new flavor was not as huge a leap as it seems.
The first Dubai Chocolate bar I ever tried was home-made by a friend who couldn’t find the main ingredient, kadayif, which is shredded, toasted phyllo pastry. She substituted shredded wheat. The result was meh, and I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal. When I came across an authentic bar at a ridiculous price of almost $40, I had to try it. I wanted to see why it became such a global sensation. I figured that I would write about it eventually. Well, today is the day, and I can tell you without hesitation, it was totally worth the price.
There are knock-offs everywhere, some very good close approximations, and some terrible ones that aren’t even close. The true Dubai bar is thick. It’s mostly filling surrounded by a thin wrap of high-quality milk chocolate. The filling is crunchy, not too sweet, and tastes very specifically like pistachios.
The filling has only three ingredients (plus a little salt) – chopped and toasted shredded phyllo dough, pistachio cream, and tahini.
Kadayif, or kataifi, is available at Middle Eastern specialty stores and online. I found one that is already toasted, but it’s easy enough to toast it yourself if you can’t find it.
Pistachio cream or pistachio butter is like peanut butter – puréed nuts, sometimes with sugar, oil, or stabilizers added. Look for a product with the highest percentage of pistachios; the information should be on the label. Pistachios are naturally green because they contain a lot of chlorophyll, the same component that makes other fruits and vegetables green, such as celery, green apples, and lettuce. Some recipes call for adding food coloring to enhance the color, but it’s not necessary.
Tahini is easy to find in any grocery store. Look for products that are 100% crushed sesame seeds without any other additives. The paste and oil often separate. If it’s too hard to stir, throw it all in a food processor or blender to make it easier to work with.
Of course, the final ingredient in Dubai Chocolate is chocolate. Authentic bars are made with milk chocolate, but you can use semi-sweet or dark chocolate if you like. Keep in mind, the filling is parve, so if you use margarine instead of butter and parve chocolate, you can keep the whole recipe parve. If you’re going to use milk chocolate anyway, go ahead and use butter in the cookie dough – it’s much more delicious.
Some recipes include instructions for making your own kataifi and/or pistachio cream from scratch. I used prepackaged products, which turned out to be an excellent cookie. You can also use canned pie filling or canned crushed poppy seeds to fill your Hamentashen. If the difference between you making Hamentashen or buying them is the hassle of making the filling, press the easy button, like I did.
One final Note. The minute Purim is over, it’s time to start planning for Passover. Go through your pantry and freezer. Start eating up your chametz. Over the next month, try to use your pasta, noodles, and bread. And Passover means Spring, so enjoy the soup you put in your freezer and other cold-weather meals now. Think about whether you will host seders or be a guest. Look through cookbooks and online for new recipes to try. If you have any particular questions, please leave them in the comments.
Dubai Chocolate Hamentashen
Dough Ingredients
3 C + 2 TBSP all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
10 TBSP butter at room temperature
¾ C sugar
1large egg + 1 large egg white, both at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest from 1 lemon or orange
Filling Ingredients
5 oz chopped kataifi pastry dough (about 2 C, packed)
1 jar (7-8 oz) pistachio cream or butter
2 TBSP well-stirred tahini
¼ tsp salt
1-2 TBSP chocolate – chopped, grated, or chips
If your kataifi isn’t already toasted, 2 TBSP butter or coconut oil
Make the Dough
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, & salt together. Set aside.
- Put butter & sugar in bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle. Beat together on medium, until mixture is light in color and fluffy – about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Reduce speed to low. Add egg, egg white, vanilla, & zest. Mix on low until thoroughly combined. Scrape sides of bowl as you go.
- Add flour mixture, about ½ C at a time. Continue mixing on low until the dough comes together into a ball. Scrape sides of bowl as you go.
- Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
Make the Filling
- If your kataifi isn’t already toasted, melt the butter or oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add the kataifi and cook, stirring frequently, until it is golden brown and crispy. Keep a close eye on it; this is the type of thing that can go from perfect to burnt if you walk away.
- In a large bowl, combine the kataifi, pistachio cream, tahini, & salt. Stir until thoroughly combined.
Assemble the Hamentashen
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Divide dough in half. Keep one half in fridge while working with the rest.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll dough out, until even thickness, just a little less than ¼ inch. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out circles. Use a 3 to 5 inch round; bigger circles are easier to work with & make larger cookies.
- Remove the scraps, rewrap in plastic, & put back in fridge.
- Put some chocolate in the center of each circle – about ¼ to ½ tsp depending on the size of your circle. Put about 2 tsp of the Dubai filling on top of the chocolate in the middle of each circle. Top the filling with a little more chocolate.
- Use clean hands to pinch the edges of each circle together in 3 evenly spaced places. Make sure they are pinched closed, leaving some of the filling showing in the middle. Each cookie should be shaped like a triangle.
- Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between them. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until light golden brown. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through the baking. Work quickly; don’t leave the oven open longer than necessary to turn the sheets.
- Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.