Who doesn’t love dessert..
I mean even the most savory of savory food lovers still has love for a good dessert after that delicious meal they’ve eaten..
I’m no different. I don’t think that no matter how stuffed I’ve ever been at a dinner out. Where I’ve sat filled to the gills and telling the waiter how great everything was that I haven’t caved in as soon as they’ve waived the dessert menu before me..
I mean, there’s always room for dessert..
Just a bite or two, right?
Then it’s all devoured and you’re wishing for a nap as you drift away into a food coma..
An that’s when it’s something someone else has made, for me, making something myself is even harder to refuse cause I know the work I’ve put into it..
This dessert is one I could get in serious trouble with. Not only wanting to eat all of the perfect ones, but every piece and part from any broken ones too that you might decide not to serve..
Don’t even get me started on the cannoli cream that I might have leftover..
So to give you a little more info about this pastry, that’s a favorite around here, I’ll start by telling you that this is a hack recipe with a shortcut to avoid the initial dough creation and it worked exceedingly well too..
Sfogliatelle, pronounced sfol-ya-tel-le (or as my NY Italian family says it sfoy-ya-dell), is a delicious Italian treat made of layers of dough stretched thin with butter or shortening so they’ll bake up flaky and layered..
I mixed my attempt with an authentic filling baked inside as well as a cannoli filling piped into empty shells..
Both types were delish in different ways, kinda torn on which I liked better, though my Sweetie was partial to the cannoli filled version..
This was my first try (I’ve seen the professional videos and only wish I had a kitchen big enough for what they do) but I think they ended up pretty close to what I wanted. Next time I may use additional real butter puff pastry dough sheets to have more layers and larger shells, but that’s it..
So if you’re interested in trying something new yourself give this delicious, flaky dessert a try. I know you’ll find it to be “Definitely Delish”
“Sfogliatelle”
Ingredients: (18 + servings)
Pastry:
1 lb Frozen real butter puff pastry dough (I may use 2 packages for larger pastries next)
3/4 cup Shortening or Butter, melted (more if necessary)
Authentic Filling:
1 cup Milk
1/4 cup Semolina flour
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1/3 cup Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 Egg, whisked
Cannoli Filling:
2 cups Ricotta cheese (see Notes)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mini chocolate chips (optional)
Additional Ingredients:
1 cup Powdered sugar, for dusting
Pastry piping bags (or a large zip lock bag with sharp corners can work)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Place milk in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Slowly add semolina flour, stirring constantly. Simmer and stir for about 3 minutes until smooth. Remove from burner, place in a bowl and let cool for five minutes.
To the milk/semolina mixture, add ricotta cheese, sugar, raw egg and cinnamon and mix well. Set aside.
Cut defrosted Puff pastry into 3 equal sized rectangles.
Place the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface and roll until it's very thin, about 12 x 24" rectangular or larger, you should almost see through it.
Brush the melted shortening (or butter) onto the dough and then roll the puff pastry along the long end into a tight roll. Be gentle as it’s very thin.
Now roll out a 2nd puff pastry rectangle until it’s the size of the first. Brush with melted shortening and then place the already rolled puff pastry along the long edge and gently roll the new piece tightly around the roll.
Keep repeating the process of rolling a rectangular piece of puff pastry very thin, brushing with shortening and placing the existing roll of puff pastry sheets along the edge then rolling it up until you’ve used up all of the puff pastry rectangles.
In the end you will have a long roll of many layered dough, place it on a tray and into the refrigerator for about an hour plus to firm up.
Mix drained ricotta with powdered sugar and vanilla extract adding mini chocolate chips if you want to and place into a large pastry bag or zip-lock bag with a sharp corner, then place into the fridge till needed.
Take out the rolled puff pastry from the fridge and cut 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch (or slightly wider) pinwheels of dough. Should end up with close to 20 to 24, there’ll be the imperfect ends of the puff pastry log roll that won’t form great.
Place a pinwheel into The palm of your hand and press the center down with your thumb and pull up with your fingers to make a funnel with a wide opening on one side working around the edges to deepen and widen the funnel.
Fill each sfogliatelle with as much “authentic filling” as you can (if using) and seal up the opening by pinching it closed. It should be shaped like a seashell. For those you plan to fill after baking, create the clam shell funnel but don’t add filling and just pinch the edge closed.
Place on a large baking pan covered with parchment paper, one inch apart.
Bake in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 15 minutes, or until the pastry turns a light golden color.
Remove from oven and let cool for about five minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool completely. For those needing cannoli filling, cut a small corner from the bag and squeeze cannoli filling into the slightly hollow cavity of the shells. Some may squeeze out so be gently.
Dust them all with powdered sugar and they are ready to eat. Buon appetito!
Notes:
For cannoli Filling you’ll need to begin prep the night before and drain the ricotta cheese through a cheese cloth lined colander in a large bowl with a weight on top to get the excess liquid out before preparing, letting it sit in the fridge overnight while doing so.
You can use all authentic filling or all cannoli Filling or a mix of both like I did.
I use real butter puff pastry frozen. “Pepperidge Farms puff Pastry” I don’t think would work well for something like this.
