GBBO's Italian week, saw the bakers make a batch of sfogliatelle in the tent along with cannoli and a margarita pizza. Continuing to bake along with the Great Bloggers Bake Off I found homemade pizza, as delicious as it is, a little underwhelming, and cannoli somewhat scary with the thought of creating a makeshift fryer! And yet strangely enough I was excited to tackle the Sfogliatelle showstopper bake which Mr blue-eyes himself admitted he found difficult.
I must either LOVE baking or be an absolute fool to try and make a batch of Sfogliatelle, but I was so captivated by the amazing paper thin layers that were formed, the fun 'lobster tail' shape and of course the delicious ricotta filling!
How difficult could they be? Well, as it turns out very difficult.
They take hours to make, home baker Steven told us that his research into the bake taught him that professional bakers take four days to make them and yet they were only given a few hours to complete their bake in 'the tent!'
In all honesty, the rolling of the dough with the pasta machine and stretching it to be paper thin wasn't overly difficult once I'd got into the swing of it - though I did consign the first portion of dough to the bin because it had become tough with my liberal scattering of flour! I like to think of it as the sacrifice piece in much the same way as we often do when making pancakes or even Pikelets.
At this point, having put our 'sausage' of paper thin layers of dough in the fridge I was feeling confident, albeit exhausted, with the mammoth bake.
Then came the shaping! Working the discs of dough into cones without squashing the layers of lamination which had been created over hours of patient meticulous work is no easy task! It was undoubtedly, for me, the most difficult part. My shaped discs, instead of resembling ice cream cones (as suggested in Steven's recipe) were more akin to the small pinch bowls I had been making earlier in the week in my clay throwing class! The shaping did become slightly easier as I practised, but the all elusive lobster tail evaded me!
But if you fancy trying this challenging bake, here are a few tips when making sfogliatelle at home:
- Consider making extra dough so you can practise making them, especially
if they're for special visitors. The shaping stage is something
which needs practise.
- Shape and bake a few of the sfogliatelle before working on the remainder of the dough to see if your technique has been effective.
There's no getting away from the fact that sfogliatelle are challenging. And there's no getting away from the fact that they take hours to make. But they're certainly absolutely delicious!
So, when you next see some for sale in an Italian bakers don't raise your eyebrows at the price if it appears expensive for what may appear to be just a bit of flakey pastry filled with a creamy 'custard'. Trust me when I say that there is an enormous amount of skill in making sfogliatelle. And that's even before we think of the number of hours they take to make!
So, here's how to make Sfogliatelle.
Tails. Paper thin layers of pastry dough are shaped and filled with a
delicious ricotta mixture which is often flavoured with orange &
cinnamon.
Specific Equipment
Pasta Machine
Hands on time: about 3 hour Bake time: 18 mins Yield: about 20.
For the Sfogliatelle Dough
- 500g Strong White Bread Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 225ml Water, at room temperature
- 125g Vegetable fat (or if not baking for vegetarians use Lard), melted Lard
- 50g Butter, unsalted & softened
For the Sfogliatelle Filling
- 250g Ricotta cheese, full fat
- 250g Whole Milk
- 100g Caster Sugar
- pinch of Salt
- 1 teaspoon (level) Ground Cinnamon
- 40g Fine Semolina
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1 Orange, grated zest of
- Icing Sugar
Notes: a) You will probably find it easier to stretch and shape the sfogliatelle dough with short finger nails. b) I found it easier to stretch the dough when a small piece of the dough was left in the pasta machine to create a little resistance which helped stretch the dough out.
Recipe adjusted from Steven's Chocolate & Ginger Sfogliatelle
Stacey G
They look great - I will definitely try one if I ever come across them!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
Oh wow! Angela you really do have a talent! I wish I had the time to bake and the patience with pastries. These look amazing, do you do home deliveries?? Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou Kirsty, I love working with pastry (it was something Mum & I often made when my brother & I were young ), but I think the knack with these Sfogliatelli is in the shaping - I could have done with an Italian pastry chef at my side 😉
Angela xx
helen
wow, hats off to you for making these, they look great! I would definitely not have the patience.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thankyou Helen, though to be honest I almost ran of patience making them!
Angela x
Nico @ yumsome
These are so impressive! I love that shot of the icing sugar - it's so pretty!
BTW, your TV people are misinforming you (the gits!) - a lobster tail is not the same as a sfogliatella! It isn't Italian, it's American (from New York City), and it's filled with a sweet cream, not ricotta.
Sfogliatelle can also be filled with marzipan... I'm not admitting how many of those I got through when I lived in Pozzuoli!
I've not made sfogliatelle (yet) but I have made cannoli a few times though... because they're so much easier! Ha ha! I'm looking forward to seeing what else you'll be making in the coming weeks. xx
#CookBlogShare
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou Nico I really enjoyed taking that picture and playing with the setting just to get things right - though I did end up with a fair bit of icing sugar everywhere 😉
Ooh now that's interesting! I'm fascinated now as to why they referred to them as lobster tails when they aren't! ... I don't think I fell asleep and dreamed it, though anything is possible 😉
You say they make them with marzipan in the centre in Pozzuoli?! That is definitely my idea of heaven and I can completely understand why you may have devoured a few of them 😀
Yes, the cannoli did look sorely tempting but we don't have a deep fat fryer with a temerature control so i though the Sfogliatelli was possibly the better option for us seen as I didn't want to fight with a pan of really hot oil!
Thanks for your lovely comment Nico x
Angela x
detoutcoeur Limousin
very impressive! Would love to give these a go
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou, be warned they're somewhat time consuming!
Angela x
Charlotte Oates
I'm so impressed that you made these Angela, there's no way I'd have the patience. They look really good and sound delicious.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thankyou Charlotte, to be honest I can't quite believe i had the patience to make them to, though there was one point when I was trying to stretch the dough where I almost called it a day and chucked it in the bin!!! But I persevered. at least I can say I've tried to make them 🙂
Angela x
Deepika|TheLoveOfCakes
I am impressed with your pastry skills Angela!! I can't even pronounce the name perfectly ;). These are definitely not easy..they need so much patience and efforts..Yours have turned out so perfect and delicious!!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, nor can I Deepika - it took me all my time to try and spell it properly 😉
Angela x
Priya Joshi
These look sooo good!
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou Priya, they're not really how they should look to be honest!
Angela xx
Donna Dundas
How good do they look? I'd never heard of them either, well done!! #CookBlogShare
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw you're too kind Donna, they're not quite right but I'm happy with them a first attemp.
Angela x
Jenny
well done on giving these a try Angela, there was no way I was going too! I had never even heard of them before watching last weeks GBBO. I think your Sfogliatelles are really good - and brilliant for a first attempt . What a faff though - would you ever make them again?
thank you for linking to #GBBOBloggers2017 x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
I'd never heard of them either Jenny, but seeing all of that beautiful flaky pastry I just felt the urge to give them a try! Yeah, I have to agree though, they are a faff to make and take blinking ages 9but I did speed up once I'd got into the swing of stretching the dough and the likes), and tbh it's unlikely I'll make them again - I'll just find a really good bakery and buy one from them 🙂
Angela x
Recipes Made Easy
well done Angela they are tricky little blighters to make.I wish I had found that video before making mine so much better than any i found. Definitely worth watching before attempting them.
And a very good point about being prepared to pay more for something that takes a lot of skill to produce.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aren't they just Jacqui! It was definitely a pretty useful video, and I've since found another great viseo showing the shaping (wish I'd found that before I made them!) which I've just added into the post.
I must admit that I've never seen sfogliatelle for sale in bakeries where we are, but if ever I do come across some I'd be so happy to pay for them knowing how difficult they are to make.
Angela x
Jasmin Charlotte
I'm sooo impressed that you made these, they look SO tough!! x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, as it turns out they are Jasmin 😉
Angela x