Hamantaschen Bake Off….

A blog post by Visitor Services Coordinator Abby Krolik. To read more posts by Abby, click HERE.

It all started with a lunch time conversation between Esther, Jobi, Sylvia (one of our volunteers), and myself. It was two or three weeks before Purim, and we were discussing all the different types of hamantaschen and debating their merits. Should one use cake dough or cookie dough? Is chocolate an acceptable filling? (the consensus on that last one was “no.”) And most importantly, of our own individual recipes for hamantaschen, whose was the best?

Then Sylvia said the fateful words: “You know there is only way to decide this, right? You have to have a hamantaschen bake off!”

We immediately knew that she was right. Esther, Jobi, and I quickly drew up some rules and guidelines for the contest and sent out an email to the staff, encouraging them and their volunteers to participate. The date was set for the Thursday following Purim to allow ample time for preparation.

Over the weekend of Purim, I camped out at my parents’ house so my mother could help me recreate her mother’s recipe. All Friday and Saturday, we bent over circles upon circles of dough, spooning lekvar or apricot jam into them and folding them into little triangles. (Funny story: having only ever heard my Bubby, who had a very strong Newark accent, say the word “lekvar,” I could never tell—until just now—if the word was supposed to be pronounced “lekvah” or “lekvar.” Fortunately, that’s what Google is for.) The process was a bittersweet one for us this year.  My Bubby died a year last Sunday, and for the last ten or more years of her life, she’d always come down to Baltimore to stay with us over Purim, and we’d make hamantaschen together. It felt very appropriate to commemorate the anniversary by making hamantaschen together.

The author making hamantaschen
The author making hamantaschen

Last Thursday, the day of the contest, four very different plates of hamantaschen made by two staff members and two volunteers entered the doors of the JMM. We had decided to make everything anonymous: nobody except for the competitors knew who had made the hamantaschen, and judging was open to anyone who wanted to participate. We were surprised by just how different each batch was: besides my very traditional lekvar (prune and raisin) and apricot hamantaschen, there were blueberry hamantaschen with dough that had a texture similar to scones, a batch that had a prune and mun (poppy seed) filling that tasted a bit like fig, and a very experimental batch with crispy chocolate dough filled with cream cheese and chocolate chips! All were delicious in their own way.

taste testing1
The tasting begins!
taste testing2
taste testing
taste testing3
The votes are cast!

At first, it seemed that the chocolate/cream cheese hamantaschen were in the lead because we couldn’t stop talking about them. But when the judging had finished, and we tallied the votes, the dark horse blueberry hamantaschen came in first! The chocolate ones came in as a close second, and the prune/mun and the lekvar/apricot ones tied for third.

At this point, we revealed the bakers:

The  winning blueberry hamantaschen were made by none other than docent Robyn Hughes!
The winning blueberry hamantaschen were made by none other than docent Robyn Hughes!
The chocolate and cream cheese hamantaschen were made by our Marketing and Development Manager, Rachel Kassman.
The chocolate and cream cheese hamantaschen were made by our Marketing and Development Manager, Rachel Kassman.
The prune and mun hamantaschen were made by archives volunteer Dana Willan.
The prune and mun hamantaschen were made by archives volunteer Dana Willan.
And, of course, the lekvar and apricot hamantaschen were made by me.
And, of course, the lekvar and apricot hamantaschen were made by me.

Congratulations and Mazel Tov to Robyn Hughes, who gets the glory and bragging rights for making the best hamantaschen…until next year!

Thank you to everyone who participated, both has bakers and judges!

Categories
Museum Stories

2 replies on “Hamantaschen Bake Off….”

Congratulations to my cousin Robyn. Cooking is a family trait so I am not surprised that she won.

All your talents, Robyn, and a baker too! Congratulations, I’m very proud of you!

Aloha!

Dad

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