Sicilian Choux
Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Recipes Desserts Cheese
An interesting idea I saw on Pinterest. Cannoli shells are deep-fried in oil, which doesn't appeal to me at all. So when I saw choux shells with typical cannoli filling, I said this is my way. I tested them last night and they turned out very cute like this, decorated with pistachios. The filling is flavored with a Sicilian trio of cinnamon-nutmeg-lemon. I've used this trio successfully before in these donuts, maybe you already know them.
Ingredients
Choux Pastry
250ml water
125g butter
125g all-purpose flour
5 eggs
2 pinches salt
Cannoli Filling
500g ricotta cheese
500g mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
zest from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla paste (optional)
150g powdered sugar
toasted pistachios, for decorating
Yield: 27 (medium-large size)
How to prepare sicilian choux
- For the dough, put the water, salt, and butter in a small pot and bring to a boil. When the butter is melted and boiling, add all the flour at once and stir quickly until the dough comes together, like a ball around the wooden spoon.
- Remove from heat and add one egg at a time, mixing after each until fully incorporated. At first, when you add each egg, the dough seems to separate, but keep mixing quickly and it will return to the original consistency. At the end it will be a slightly soft dough, but one that can be piped into mounds without spreading in the pan.
- Put the dough in a pastry bag with a plain or star tip and pipe mounds onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper. I made the mounds larger, keep in mind they double in volume during baking. In total I got 27 choux (in two baking trays). If you don't have a pastry bag, you can drop them with a spoon onto the tray, but they won't be uniform. If you don't want them to have a "peak", after piping, press the peak gently with a wet finger.
- Bake the choux at 200°C for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180°C and leave for another 20-25 minutes until lightly golden. If you want them more golden, you can leave them at 200°C throughout baking.
- Remove the choux from the oven and let them cool completely.
- For the filling, just mix the ingredients well to have a smooth cream. Taste for sugar and add more if desired. Use only powdered sugar so it dissolves quickly in the cheese.
- With a serrated knife, cut a small cap from each chou.
- Fill the pastry bag with the cheese cream.
* if you're not filling the choux immediately, keep the cheese cream in the pastry bag in the refrigerator until needed
Fill the base of each chou with enough cheese so it shows after you put the cap on. - Sprinkle with lightly toasted and ground pistachios (a few pulses in a food processor or you can crush them manually in a mortar; don't crush them too fine). Place the caps on top.
- Serve within the next hour. If you want to serve them later, I recommend filling them only shortly before serving, as the whey from the ricotta can soften the base.
