Let’s see the recipe for Poppella snowflakes, a typical dessert from Naples

Let's discover together how to prepare a dessert from Naples, Poppella snowflakes: soft and creamy they have enchanted everyone.

It is undeniable: when the Neapolitans make the desserts it cannot fail to be a success . Poppella's snowflakes, a Neapolitan pastry shop in the Sanità district, were invented a few years ago. This dessert based on long-rising brioche bread is then filled with cream, milk and ricotta. If you want to try them at home, here's a recipe that, in our opinion, is very close to the sweets that can be enjoyed directly in a pastry shop.

Sweet snowflakes require a long list of ingredients and long rising times but the result will win you over to the point that you will never be able to stop making them. The recipe is now widespread throughout the city and is prepared by many pastry shops . Let's see together how to do it.

How to prepare snowflake

1. First let's dedicate ourselves to the dough . Place the 00 flour, the Manitoba, 40 g of sugar taken from the total, the fresh yeast dissolved in the water, 85 g of milk and the seeds of half a vanilla pod in the bowl of the planetary mixer .
2. Start kneading and when it has come together, add the butter in pieces, taking care to add more only when the previous piece has been absorbed.
3. Transfer the dough into a bowl and let it rise for 2-3 hours .
4. Let's now prepare the milk cream . Heat the milk with the seeds of the remaining half vanilla pod.
5. In a bowl mix 50 g of sugar and the starch, then slowly add the warm milk, mixing with a whisk so that no lumps form.
6. Put everything back on the heat and heat until the cream begins to thicken. Cook for 2 minutes after boiling, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
7. Separately, whip the cream with the ricotta, icing sugar and grated lemon zest. As soon as the milk cream has cooled, add them, stirring gently from bottom to top. Transfer the cream into a pastry bag and keep it in the refrigerator.
8. At this point the dough will have risen. Divide it into 20 parts giving it the shape of a ball. We recommend using a scale so that the cooking is uniform.
9. Put them back to rise in the oven with the light on until they double in size .
10. Beat the egg with a spoonful of milk and use the mixture to brush the brioches then cook them at 180°C for 10 minutes.
11. Remove them from the oven, make a small hole at the base using the tip of the pocket and fill them while still hot with the previously prepared cream .
12. Once cold, decorate them with icing sugar and serve.

Do you love Neapolitan desserts? Try the legendary pastiera !

We also leave you a video where you can see all the steps that separate you from these delicious clouds of brioche. As you will see, the doses are different and the reason is simple: the Neapolitan snowflake recipe is secret!

storage

We recommend eating these brioche cakes filled with milk cream within 1-2 days of making them, you can store them in a special container in the fridge.

Sweet Snowflake Story

The origins of the Neapolitan sweet snowflake are relatively recent. In fact, it was born in 2015 by Ciro “Poppella” Scognamillo (this is his real surname) from the need to prepare a good but also simple and economical dessert.

It must be said that the sweet snowflakes did not enjoy immediate success . During the early days, only about twenty were produced every Sunday and Ciro used to give them away to the most loyal customers to get feedback from them. Despite the studies done on taste (a right balance between the sweetness of the vanilla and the citrus of the lemon also supported by the presence of sheep's ricotta) and consistency, it is only after a charitable event, thanks to word of mouth , that the Neapolitan snowflake acquired the fame it still enjoys today.

But what does snow have to do with Naples? According to legend, during the Second World War a soldier from Trieste and a Neapolitan woman met in the Catacombs of San Gaudioso, which became an anti-aircraft shelter in the Sanità district. He proposed to meet again on the surface but she confidently stated: "only when it snows in Naples". It goes without saying how the story ended: that same night the city was covered in a blanket of snow.