Purim is carnival time. Decorum is tossed out the synagogue window and surprises are the rule of the day. We are encouraged to dress up in colourful costumes and masks. Children in particular enjoy dressing up as the characters in the Book of Esther. Children also enjoy delicious Purim treats and colourful crafts. This year, blend the two together: take your children into the kitchen for a hands-on adventure. Spend holiday time with them while creating inventive and colourful treats to celebrate Queen Esther and all that she did for the Jewish People.
Queen Esther’s jewelled crown cookies
These amusing cookies are great for kids of all ages. Entertaining to decorate and delightful to eat! Use a crown-shaped cookie cutter, or design your own crowns.
o 1 cup butter, softened
o 1 1/2 cups sugar
o 2 large eggs
o 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
o *1 tsp. pure almond extract
o 3 cups all-purpose flour
o 1/2 tsp. baking powder
o pinch of salt
o 1/2 cup icing sugar
o 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla
o 1 1/2 tsp. water
o Edible jewels: your choice of jelly beans, M&M’s, course sugar crystals, silver dragées, assorted sprinkles, sugar pearls, candy covered sunflower seeds or cinnamon hearts
*optional, but almond extract gives the cookies an amazing boost of flavour.
In food processor, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, vanilla and extract until mixed. Combine flour, baking powder and salt just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Divide dough into four equal pieces and flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or as long as overnight.
Prepare 2 or more cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350.
Remove one piece of dough from refrigerator. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough to 1/4-in. thick. With floured cookie cutter, cut dough into as many cookies as possible. Place cookies carefully onto parchment paper. Bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower oven racks halfway through.
Place cookie sheets over a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
When cookies are cool, mix icing sugar with vanilla and water to make an icing paste. Use paste to fasten candies to decorate the cookies. Set cookies aside to allow icing paste to dry completely, about 1 hour. Store in tightly covered container with parchment paper between layers.
Depending on the size of the cookie cutter, recipe makes 12 to 16 cookies.
Jewelled crackle
Crackle is all the rage, showing up everywhere, made from all types of ingredients. Here is a fun crackle recipe to prepare for Purim, or any other time you wish.
o 1 cup butter
o 1 cup brown sugar
o 2 cups pretzels, mini, twisted style
o 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
o 1 cup M&Ms or similar candy
Line a baking sheet, including sides, with parchment paper. Set oven to 350.
In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and add brown sugar. Stir well with a whisk until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking and stirring with the whisk until the mixture starts to look like toffee, about 3 minutes.
Line the pretzels in rows on the parchment, then drizzle the mixture over the pretzels. Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the mixture, and place in oven for 1 minute. Chocolate chips will hold their shape but become glossy. Using an offset spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly over the mixture. Sprinkle the M&Ms evenly over the chocolate. Cool mixture in the refrigerator until set, approximately 1 hour.
Break the crackle apart into cookie-size pieces and keep refrigerated until serving.
Jewelled crown dessert
You will feel a twinge of nostalgia when you prepare this elegant Purim dessert. It is a blast from the past, an oldie, but a goodie! And it is worth bringing back. It is based on an ancient Jell-O dessert that many of us enjoyed as kids and your family will love now. Either prepare it as I suggest, in a crown shaped pie shell, or serve in a clear bowl, a trifle dish or in individual fruit nappies.
Crown Pie Shell
o 2 cups all-purpose flour
o 1/4 tsp. salt
o 2/3 cup cold unsalted butter
o 1 tbsp. sugar
o 1 tsp. pure vanilla
o 4 to 6 tbsp. cold water
o 9-in. spring form pan
Combine flour and salt in food processor or bowl then pulse or combine in butter, pure vanilla and one tbsp. sugar until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in water just until flour is moistened and forms a ball. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a disc. Flatten slightly. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450. Roll each ball of dough on lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Place one circle in the spring form pan, pressing firmly against bottom and sides. The second circle will be cut with a sharp knife into zig zags around the outside of the circle. Then cut a second circle about 1 in. below the zig zag pattern, cut the zig zagged section into two pieces and carefully attach them up the sides of the pan so the zig zag pattern stands just above the crust.
Press down at the seams to make it secure. Using a fork, make prick marks all along the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Bake for10-12 minutes or until it is golden brown. Cool.
Filling
o 1 package orange gelatin
o 1 package cherry gelatin
o 1 package lime gelatin
o 1 package grape gelatin
o 1 package lemon gelatin
o 1/4 cup sugar
o 1 cup boiling water
o 1/2 cup pineapple juice
o 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip
Dissolve package of orange gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1/2 cup cold water. Place gelatin in a shallow 9×9-inch individual baking dish. Repeat with cherry, lime and grape gelatin. (There should be four different pans.) Place in refrigerator to set 4 hours or overnight.
Dissolve lemon gelatin and 1/4 cup sugar in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1/2 cup pineapple juice. Let set in large bowl in the refrigerator until thick but not solid, about one hour. Add Cool Whip. Fold it in until completely combined. There should not be any streaks. Cut the four colours of gelatin into cubes and fold into the lemon mixture. Place mixture into the prepared pie shell. Refrigerate until set, 4 hours or overnight.