This post is the first in a new series, Edible Crafts. I will be exploring edible crafts and food as art throughout the year. Not only can food be made to look beautiful just as it can be made to taste delicious, but there are many ways to incorporate crafting into making food.

For a treat this year, I decided to try baking hamentashen with local, homemade jams that I made last summer. Using fruits from Berkshires farms and farm stands, I made four varieties: peach, pear, blackberry, and blueberry. I filled the hamentashen with blackberry, peach, and pear jams. The blackberry and peach ones are nice alternatives to raspberry and apricot flavored ones. The pear brings on an autumnal flavor. Try any fruit-flavored jam you like, as long as it has a thick consistency.

I used this hamentashen recipe, substituting rice milk for cow’s milk, half of the flour with whole wheat, and half of the sugar with raw sugar. You can also find recipes here and here.

After the baking was complete, I prepared a recycled shalach manot bag by covering a used one with recycled paper from magazines and wrapping paper. Since part of the mitzvah of giving these gifts is to include at least two different types of food, I included a jar of jam and some organic tea with the hamentaschen. Along with some scones or toast, the receiver has a lovely snack or meal ready to eat.

Purim Sameach!