Hamantaschen from a master - The Jewish Standard

Moti Buchbut with his hamantaschen. Courtesy Inbal

This exclusive recipe comes from the kitchen of Moti Buchbut, executive chef at the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel.

Jerusalem Hamantaschen

Yields 50 hamantaschen

3/4 ounce of fresh yeast or one tablespoon of dried yeast
1/3 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 medium size cups of flour
A pinch of salt
10 1/2 ounces of butter or margarine
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg yolk for smearing on the hamantaschen

Poppy seed filling

3/4 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
3 spoons honey (about 2 ounces)
3 1/2 ounces butter
2 cups of freshly ground poppy seed
1 cup ground almonds
Lemon zest from half a lemon
1/3 cup of raisins

Place the milk, butter, sugar, and honey in a pot, and bring to a boil. Add the ground poppy seeds, remove from heat and mix. Let the ingredients cool for a while, then add the ground almonds, raisins, and lemon zest. Put it in the refrigerator.

Dough

Mix the yeast (if you are using fresh yeast) with some milk and a teaspoon of sugar and let leaven for 10 minutes.

Add the flour, butter (or margarine), salt, sugar, and the egg yolks, and knead until a soft elastic dough is obtained.

(If you are using dry yeast, skip the leavening process and simply add the yeast to the flour, the butter, and the other ingredients)

Roll out the dough (but not too thin). Create circles in the dough of around 2.5 inches in diameter.

Place a spoonful of the filling in the middle of the circle and fold the dough over the filling, creating a triangle.

Smear it with the egg yolk and bake for 20 minutes in an oven that was preheated to 350 degrees.