Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook (28 page)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground allspice
Vi
teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup sour cream

Cream the butter; add the brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Preheat oven to 350
⁰
.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Add to the egg mixture alternately with the sour cream. Beat well.

Pour into two buttered 9-inch layer-cake pans.

Bake 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool. Spread whipped cream between layers and over top of the cake, or ice with the following butter cream:

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Va
cup melted butter

% cup heavy cream

Mix the sugar and butter together. Add enough cream to make a spreadable mixture. Ice the cake.

²
54

No matter what Mr. Webster says about the meaning of the word ^holiday," his dictionary can't ever tell you what it really is. Words are not enough to describe a feeling, and for my family to come together to celebrate a holiday, any holiday, is an occasion, a bigger occasion than Mr. Webster even dreamed about in his dictionary.

Beginning with New Years, the calendar goes around from Lincoln's Birthday to Valentine's Day to Washington's Birthday to St. Patrick's Day. Then follow Purim and Lent, close together, and in my neighborhood you'd be surprised how the recipes change from hand to hand and back and forth. For Easter and Passover, which follow next, I always plan for a big table because from out of town and the four corners I never know who is going to drop in from where. The unexpected is always welcome and a full house is always a pleasure.

Decoration Day starts our neighborhood on the picnic season and the Fourth of July is next, when the Parents and Teachers and all the children have their annual. And then, very sad to say, the summer closes with Labor Day. Then we have Rosh Hashonah and
Yom
Kippur, and before you can turn over Thanksgiving has come around the corner.

After that come Chanukah and Christmas and the presents from one to another and good will and peace and the

256

Holidays

happiness to share with the family and all our friends. In our own way my neighbors and all our families live in peace and deep friendship that extends beyond ourselves and goes forth to the world.

And then comes the next holiday on the calendar pad and it all starts all over again. You would think there were enough holidays to celebrate for one year, but for me, I could double the recipe and then maybe there would be enough. Maybe, but not positively.

PRUNE HAMMENTASHEN

prune cakes
                                 
54 cup sugar

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Va
teaspoon salt

Vi
cup shortening

i egg, beaten

2 tablespoons orange juice

Sift the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Work the shortening in by hand. Add the egg and orange juice, mixing until a dough is formed. Chill overnight if possible, or at least 2 hours. Now prepare the filling:

1 pound unsweetened prunes, presoaked, pitted, and chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lemon juice
Vi
cup honey

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
Y4
cup ground almonds or

hazelnuts (filberts)

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

Combine the prunes and water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice and honey. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lemon rind and nuts. Mix together. Remove from heat and let cool.

Roll out the dough about
Vs
inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut into 3-inch circles. Place 1 heaping teaspoonful of the prune mixture on each. Pinch 3 edges of the dough together, but leave a small opening in the center; the resulting pastry will be in the shape of a triangle with a little of the filling showing. Place on a greased cooky sheet. Cover with a cloth and set aside for
Vi
hour.

Preheat oven to 400
⁰
.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until delicately browned on top.

This is My Uncle David's recipe, exclusive. Every time he makes it he tells us the story of Haman and Queen Esther. To hear him, you would think he was there, and no matter how many times Jake has heard the story and myself and the children, we can hear it again.
Purim
is called the Feast of Esther, who was King Ahasuerus* Queen. She saved the Jewish people from destruction by Haman, their enemy. Children love this holiday, because it is a little like Halloween. They dress up in costumes and act out the story. Uncle David acts it out too, that's why when he makes
Hammentaschen,
nobody would miss it for the world.

₂₅
8

Holidays

UNCLE DAVID'S

POPPY-SEED HAMMENTASHEN

1 cake or package yeast

1V4
cups scalded milk, cooled to

lukewarm
¥2
cup sugar

Vi
cup shortening, melted
Yi
teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

3?4 cups sifted flour

Combine the yeast,
Va
cup of the milk, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in a cup. Allow to soften for 5 minutes.

Combine the remaining milk and sugar, shortening, salt, eggs, and the yeast mixture in a bowl. Add the flour gradually, mixing together lightly until a dough is formed. Knead until very smooth. Place in a greased bowl, cover with a cloth, and set aside in a warm place for 2 hours, or until double in bulk. Now prepare the filling:

2 cups poppy seeds, ground (see

note below) % cup milk
Vi
cup honey
^l
A
cup brown sugar
Vs
teaspoon salt 1 egg, beaten 1 egg yolk

Combine the poppy seeds, milk, honey, brown sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until thick, about 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly. Let cool for 15 minutes. Add the egg and mix well. Punch down the dough and knead for 1 minute. Roll out about %-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3-inch circles. Place 1 heaping teaspoonful of the poppy-seed mixture on each. Pinch 3 edges of the dough together, but leave a small opening in the center; the resulting pastry will be in the shape of a triangle, with a little of the filling showing. Place on a greased cooky sheet. Cover with a cloth and set aside for 1 hour.

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

Preheat oven to 350
⁰
. Brush the tops of the pastry with the egg yolk. Bake for 20 minutes, or until delicately browned on top.

note: If possible, have the poppy seeds ground at the store where they are purchased. They may be readily ground at home by pouring boiling water over them and letting them stand for 10 minutes. Drain very well and put them through a food chopper or mill.

This candy we have but once a year for
Purim,
and you would think that I had more than two children in the house when it came time to make the candy, Rosie and Sammy I could understand when they could hardly wait for me to pour the candy
_y
but such big babies as Jake and David you never saw. They would all stand around the table waiting for the candy to get hard so they could have a little taste, and it never got hard enough for them. I dont know what gets into them on the holidays, but would I be disappointed if they didn't get excited? I should so say so.

MOHN CANDY

POPPY-SEED CANDY
                                   
Yl
CUp SUgar

2 cups honey 2 pounds poppy seeds 2 cups hazeinuts (filberts) or almonds, halved

Combine the sugar, honey, and poppy seeds in a saucepan. Cook over

260

Holidays

low heat until thick, about 30 minutes. Stir frequently. Add the nuts and mix well.

Wet a wooden board and pour the mixture onto it. Pat down until about
V2
inch thick. Cool. Cut with a wet knife into diamond-shaped pieces about 2 inches long. When thoroughly cool, lift the pieces with a knife and place on a lightly floured platter.

The candy will keep indefinitely.

If you have a daughter like My Rosie and she's My Rosie's age, then this is a good recipe for you. I find that sometimes my daughter is walking around the house without her head. I don't have to ask the trouble, I know already there's a boy someplace. I also know it's a good time to make
teiglach
even if it's not
Purim,
because after the dough is made and cooked I can sit Rosie down and have her roll the dough in honey and nuts and she doesn't even know what she's doing. Sammy says it's therapy. I say it's smart. Jake and David say it's good, and Rosie wants to know when did she make
teiglach?

ROSIE'S TEIGLACH

HONEY-NUT PASTRY

2 cups sifted flour

¥1
teaspoon salt

Vi
teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons salad oil 1 cup honey

V2
cup brown sugar

Vi
teaspoon powdered ginger

1 cup hazelnuts (filberts)

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The Molly Goldberg Cookbook

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder onto a board. Make a well in the center. Pour the eggs and oil into it. Work in the flour gradually until a soft dough is formed. Knead until smooth. Roll between lightly floured hands into strips the thickness of a cigarette. Cut into Vi-inch lengths. Place on a greased cooky sheet. Bake in a 375° oven for 10 minutes, or until delicately browned. Shake the pan frequently.

Combine the honey, brown sugar, and ginger in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the baked pastry and the nuts. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick and browned, about 5 minutes.