The Edible Equilateral Chapeau Chocolate Kiwi Hamentashen

The key to this recipe is the filling. Traditionally the fillings are either prune lekvar (thick prune jam) or poppy seeds (with honey). While they are both very tasty, eating too much (which invariably happens) might cause some issues. The prune goes down smooth and, no surprise, comes out smooth as well. As for the poppy seed variety, do not eat them before taking a drug test.

As a messy gourmet who loves to experiment, Hamentashen fillings are where I go wild! The easiest thing to do is to buy an interesting jam such as : lemon curd, ginger, mint, fig, sour cherry, plaidberry (Scottish multicolored berry..no joke). For the hot hamentashen, fill it with habanero, or jalapeno jam. If you can't find the right gourmet jam you can always experiment. For a kiwi filling I mashed up a kiwi. The consistency was too liquidy so I added some Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread). Dulce de leche (caramel),peanut butter, marzipan paste, or any jam or paste could also have helped thicken it up. In retrospect, I could have drained/strained the liquid from the kiwi mash or even added some corn starch as a thickener.

• 1/2 cup shortening. I use 1 stick of margarine.
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups flour
• Poppy Seeds
• Kiwi
• Nutella

Cream the shortening and the sugar. This is a fancy way of saying 'mix well'. Add the egg, vanilla, baking powder, poppy seeds (not too much) and mix. Add the flour slowly, mixing until the dough is no longer sticky. Flatten the dough , wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. In this time you can work on your filling or watch "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".

When the dough is chilled roll it onto a floured board to about a 1/4 inch thickness. If you don't have a rolling pin you can use a roung glass or a can of soda. Use the same glass to cut the dough into a circle. Put a teaspoon of the filling into the center of the circle. Here is the best part of the baking process - bring up two sides of the circle and pinch a corner. Repeat this to get a three cornered equilateral triangle. Who said geometry was a waste of time? Place the hamentashens on a greased or sprayed non-stick cookie sheet and bake at 350 (pre-heat) for about 15 minutes or until it turns brown.

Stains: Jam
Soak in a solution of borax and water.

Movies for inspiration: Miller's Crossing (1990)
Tom: Dream I had once. I was walkin' in the woods, I don't know why. Wind came up and blew me hat off.
Verna: And you chased it, right? You ran and ran, finally caught up to it and you picked it up. But it wasn't a hat anymore and it changed into something else, something wonderful.
Tom: Nah, it stayed a hat and no, I didn't chase it. Nothing more foolish than a man chasin' his hat.