Ozne Aman, the Sephardi Way

I love Ozne Aman - aka Hamantaschen - but I never like the filling. I have tried with jam, chocolate, hazelnut spread - no luck! Nothing inspires me. So, I decided to fill them with our Sephardic version of Haroshet, and everything got resolved!

I strongly encourage you to try it! I think that the taste is exceptional!

The magic here is the combination of orange and Grand-Marnier flavours.

Ozne Aman

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Ingredients, for 28 cakes – VEGAN and CLASSIC recipes below

Can be made dairy free

• Plain flour: 300g - 1 cups + ¾ cup + 2 tbsp

• Cold butter, or margarine: 200g - ¾ cup + 2 tbsp

• Caster sugar: 100g - ½ cup

• Baking powder: 2g - ½ tsp

• Liquid: 2 small egg yolks or 2 tbsp orange juice for the VEGAN version

• Zest of half an organic orange

For the Date filling:

• Very soft pitted dates: 250g - 1 cups + ½ cup + 3 tbsp

• Ground walnuts: 170g - 1cup + ¾ cup

• Ground cinnamon: 1 tsp

• Ground nutmeg: 1 tsp

• Ground ginger: 1/2 tsp

• Grand-Marnier: 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Start with the date filling:

2. Heat the pitted dates in a saucepan

3. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, adding tablespoons of water if necessary. Remove from heat when everything is well melted, like a jam. Sometimes depending on the dates, I need to add 300ml – 1 cup of water.

4. Add the ground walnuts

5. Add the spices and 2 tablespoons of Grand-Marnier

6. Combine carefully and set aside, let it cool.

Prepare the dough:

1. Grate the zest and squeeze the juice from the orange

2. Cut the butter into small pieces

3. Add the flour with the baking powder and sugar to the butter and combine everything until the dough is sandy.

4. Add the egg yolks or juice, and the orange zest

5. Mix until the dough is homogeneous and place for 1 hour in the refrigerator

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 355°F, with fan.

1. Roll out the dough to 2-3mm thick.

2. Cut out circles of 8 cm in diameter. Place some date filling in the center. You may use egg white to seal the edges.

3. Close the Ears of Aman and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.

4. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

5. Dust them with icing sugar when they are cold.

Bonne dégustation!!