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Italian sfogliatelle recipe

Name: Italian sfogliatelle recipe
Total time: 360 s
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: Bread flour; Semolina flour; Salt; Water; Honey; Ricotta cheese; White sugar; Egg yolks; Candied orange peel; Vanilla extract; Unsalted butter; Confectioner's sugar

20 Dec 2024

Fine Dining Lovers

Editorial Staff

Difficulty

Intermediate

Total Time

6H 0MIN

Cuisine

Italian

Ingredients

Bread flour: 12.3 oz

Semolina flour: 10.6 oz

Salt: 2 tsp

Water: 16 oz

Honey: 3 tsp

Ricotta cheese: 8.3 oz

White sugar: 4.2 oz

Egg yolks: 2

Candied orange peel: 1 oz

Vanilla extract: 2 tsp

Unsalted butter: 8 oz

Confectioner's sugar: for dusting

Learn how to bring a touch of elegance to your table with this authentic Italian sfogliatelle recipe

How to make this recipe for sfogliatelle pastry

01.

Make the dough. Mix the bread flour, semolina flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and honey. If the mixture is still dry after a few minutes you can add a little more water.

02.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth and firm. Divide into 4 pieces and then flatten down. Run through a pasta machine on its widest setting at least a dozen times, folding in half and rotating 45 degrees before each run. Repeat for all 4 pieces, then cover in plastic wrap, and place into the fridge for at least 2 hours.

03.

Whilst the dough is chilling, make the filling. Blend the ricotta in a food processor until completely smooth. Boil the water in a pan, and stir in the white sugar. Sift in the semolina flour over a lower heat, and whisk continuously to avoid clumping. Fold in the blended ricotta, and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, and transfer to the food processor. Add the egg yolks, and combine. Then add the candied orange peel and vanilla extract and mix. Leave to cool to room temperature then place into the fridge.

04.

Divide each dough piece into 4 smaller pieces, and run through a pasta machine on smaller settings until as thin as possible. They should stretch to 3 times their original size and be incredibly thin.

05.

Melt the unsalted butter in a pan. Place the pastry onto a sheet of parchment and brush with the butter. Place the next sheet above the first, leaving a small overlap of around 0.5 inches. Roll the sheets into a cylinder, and leave around 1 inch to overlap the next. Continue rolling up the log of dough until all rolled and brushed with the butter. Cover in plastic wrap and place into the fridge for 2 hours.

06.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag, and then cut the dough log into 0.5 inch slices to make around 20 pieces. Flatten each slice from the center outwards and shape into a cone. Pipe the filling into the centre and close partially. Repeat for all pastries.

07.

Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until it turns golden brown. Serve dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Tips & tricks

This is a fairly involved recipe, and it will take a large time investment to get this right, so our top tip is to make sure you have the time set aside and the patience for a long stint in the kitchen. The signature style of this dessert is in the shape, which should look like a clamshell, so don’t rush this step.

If this recipe has piqued your interest in Italian cooking, there’s a whole host of fantastic desserts to be discovered, whatever the season. At Christmas time, mini pannetonne cakes are the perfect stocking fillers. During the summer an Italian lemon delight is a delightful way to use seasonal ingredients, and popular Italian tiramisu can be enjoyed all year round.

How to serve it

Known affectionately around the world as the lobster tail dessert, these slices of pastry heaven can be enjoyed simply on their own, warm from the oven, with a little dusting of confectioners’ sugar.