arts&life

PHOTO BY ANTONIS ACHILLEOS

PHOTO BY ANTONIS ACHILLEOS

food

Frank Carollo and Amy
Leviten Emberling, co-
owners of Zingerman’s
Bakehouse in Ann Arbor

Hooray For
Hamentashen

The master bakers behind Zingerman’s Bakehouse tell their favorite way to say “Boo, Haman.”

LYNNE KONSTANTIN ARTS & LIFE EDITOR

W

ho doesn’t love Purim? It’s a true fun-filled cel-
ebration of a female heroine saving the Jewish
people — and we get to eat lots of cookies!
The cookies, of course, are hamentashen, and we can
begin munching Wednesday evening, Feb. 28 (the 14th of
Adar) through Thursday, March 1.
Amy Leviten Emberling grew up on Cape Breton Island
in Nova Scotia, Canada, in a Jewish family enjoying stan-
dard Jewish fare like brisket, rye bread, pickled herring
— and would beg for her Nanny’s gefilte fish and chopped
liver.
Last year, Emberling, along with Frank Carollo, cel-
ebrated 25 years of business as co-owners of the beloved
artisanal bakery Zingerman’s Bakehouse in Ann Arbor.
In honor of the milestone, the pair teamed to write
Zingerman’s Bakehouse (Chronicle Books), the recently
published must-have baking book that gives the master
bakers’ secrets away — including Emberling’s versions of
the scrumptious triangular filled cookie.
“Haman was a vizier of ancient Persia who plotted to kill
all the Jews in the empire, and Purim celebrates his defeat
by the Persian (and Jewish) queen Esther,” Emberling
writes in Zingerman’s Bakehouse. “It was one of my favorite
holidays when I was little, because we were encouraged to make lots of noise in syna-

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gogue to drown out the name of the evil Haman as the rabbi
read the story. It was probably the most joyful day of the year in
synagogue from my child’s perspective.
“Why are these cookies triangular, and what does the name
mean, anyway? Oy. It’s quite a story,” she continues. “The name
is German and means ‘Haman’s pocket’ and may refer to the
bribes Haman took as vizier. It has also come to mean ‘Haman’s
hat.’ Either way, it’s clear that these cookies are a celebration of
the delicious sweetness of life.
“Hamantashen are traditionally made either with a short
cookie dough or with a yeasted dough. Both are good, and they
are quite different.
“This recipe is for the cookie version, and we’ve included
three fillings for you to choose from: cream cheese, poppy seed
and apricot,” Emberling says. “Although this is a traditional
Jewish cookie and made for a very specific holiday, it’s eaten
year-round by our [bakery] guests of all heritages. Cream cheese
and apricot are the most popular flavors. Poppy seed and prune
are favored by the traditionalists.”

HAMANTASHEN

Filling of your choice (cream cheese, poppy seed and apricot fill-
ing recipes follow)
¾ cup plus 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

