Cream puff pastry cannons

A shell of crunchy caramelized puff pastry filled with delicious custard: here's the easy recipe for cream cannoncini!

Undisputed protagonists of the pastry mignon cabaret , cream cannoncini are among the first to disappear. Crispy and caramelized, they contain a custard filling that always pleases everyone. Maybe you've never thought about it but preparing puff pastry cannons is very simple.

To make them you will need the appropriate steel cylinder molds but alternatively you can recreate the shape with silver paper and then line them with baking paper: you will obtain a perfect non-stick surface. Our advice is to make homemade custard : it will really make the difference!

How to prepare the cream cannoncini recipe

1. First prepare the custard so that it has plenty of time to cool. Place the milk with the chosen flavoring in a saucepan. You can use a vanilla bean cut in half lengthwise or the zest of a lemon , removed with a potato peeler. Heat it until it reaches the boil.
2. Place egg yolks , sugar and flour in a separate saucepan and mix with a whisk until you obtain a frothy cream.
3. Pour in the milk, filtering it with a fine mesh strainer, then mix immediately with the whisk and place the second saucepan on the heat. Let the custard thicken , stirring often. It will take about ten minutes.
4. Then remove it from the heat, transfer it to a bowl and cover with cling film. Once cold, transfer it to the refrigerator.
5. Now focus on the cannons. Unroll the puff pastry and cut into 1cm wide strips .
6. Butter and flour the cannoncini molds then begin to roll up the strip, making sure to overlap it slightly with each turn.
7. Before placing the cannoncini on the baking paper, dust them with icing sugar . By doing it in a separate place you will prevent the sugar from burning during cooking.
8. Place them on the baking tray lined with baking paper with the closing point facing down and transfer them to the refrigerator for at least 1 hour .
9. Cook the cannoncini very cold at 180°C for 20 minutes, moving the pan to the upper part of the oven for the last 3-4 minutes to obtain a nice crunchy crust. At this stage do not lose sight of them.
10. Once warm, gently remove them from the molds and fill them with the custard that you have transferred into a pastry bag. Dip the opening in chopped hazelnuts , complete with a sprinkling of icing sugar and arrange on the tray.

The molds for cannons are available in different lengths. The shorter ones (8-10 cm) accommodate one cannon at a time while the longer ones (15-20 cm) can accommodate 2, starting to wrap the pastry from the ends and leaving a centimeter in the center between one and the other. As mentioned, if you don't have molds you can make them with aluminum foil and baking paper, securing the latter with a staple. As for the diameter, the choice is yours: you can make them small or larger using cannoli moulds.

In this video you can see all the steps and an alternative method to cover them with sugar (granulated in this case). The result will still be excellent!

Conservation

The cream cannoncini can be kept in the refrigerator for a maximum of two days but to appreciate the crunchiness of the pastry it would be advisable to enjoy them the same day.

Origin and history

Who would have thought that this much-loved dessert has such an ancient history. The ancestor of the cream cannoncino that we know today was probably born in the Balkans where it was filled with whipped cream, jams and various types of cream. In France , the pastry chef Pierre de La Varenne modified the puff pastry recipe by introducing butter .

But it was in Turin that the cream cannonne reached its peak of success, becoming a symbol of the city. We are in the midst of the Belle Époque and the filling par excellence was zabaglione, just like many other desserts born in the House of Savoy , while today we usually opt for vanilla or chocolate custard.

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