Cannoncini alla Crema Pasticcera (Puff Pastry Mini Cannoli Cones)

Ingredients

Scale

• 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten, for brushing
• granulated sugar or cane sugar, for sprinkling
• icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Pastry Cream

• 4 egg yolks, organic free-range
• 140 g granulated sugar
• 40 g cornstarch
• 400 ml milk
• 100 ml half and half cream or whipping cream
• 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

Pastry Cream

1. With a small knife cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and extract the seeds. The pod will go to flavor the milk in the pot, while the seeds will be added to the mixture of egg yolks and sugar.
2. In a pot with a thick bottom, pour the milk and cream (if you prefer, you can use all milk). Add the vanilla bean pod and bring everything close to a boil.
3. In a bowl, add the yolks (reserve the whites in a small Tupperware for another baking project), the seeds of the vanilla, and the sugar. Whisk everything quickly and well (if you leave the sugar in contact with the egg yolks it absorbs the watery part, crystallizing the proteins and making them insoluble).
4. Sift the cornstarch directly into the bowl with the egg mixture. Stir to incorporate.
5. Remove the vanilla bean pod from the pot. Add a ladle of warm milk to the egg mixture to temper the eggs and blend with a whisk. Then, pour the mixture into the pot with the rest of the milk.
6. Let it thicken over low heat, stirring constantly with the whisk.
7. Pour it immediately into a bowl. The ideal would be to have a larger bowl with ice in which to place the smaller bowl with cream inside to cool it quickly, mixing with the whisk. At this point, the custard is ready to be used; otherwise, cover the top with plastic wrap ensuring that the plastic wrap is in contact with the surface of the cream. Let it cool at room temperature first, then in the fridge.
8. Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
9. Unroll the puff pastry and you will have a rectangle. Running parallel along the long side of the rectangle, with a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 strips, about 2 (two) centimeters wide.
10. Brush the lightly beaten egg along the strips.
11. Roll each strip on a metal cannoli cone greased with butter and flour starting from the pointed side. Slightly overlap each turn of dough, keeping the egg wash side up so it will be the glue to hold the cannoncini layers together.
12. Press the dough a little at the two ends to fix the dough on the cannoli cone. Sprinkle the top with granulated (or raw cane) sugar.
13. Arrange all the cannoncini sugar side up on a wire rack lined with parchment paper, and place it on a baking sheet.
14. Bake the cannoncini in the preheated oven in the middle rack for about 18-20 minutes, checking them often. Look for that nice golden color and puffed texture.
15. Take out of the oven, let cool on wire rack, then gently release the cannoncini squeezing the mold a bit to decrease its circumference with one hand while gently holding the puff pastry with the other hand.
16. Once cooled, fill them with the pastry cream with a piping bag with a star tip.
17. Dust with icing sugar (optional), arrange on a tray and serve.