Today while I visited the Daring Baker’s group page, I was shocked to learn about the demise of DB’s co founder Lisa who blogged at La Mia Cucina. Dearly called as Lis, she used to introduce us to the host every month. I am one of the silent admirer of Lis. I think Daring Bakers group is the first group to do monthly challenges. Nowadays there are so many groups among bloggers but Daring Bakers remain on top. I am proud to be part of Daring Kitchen for the past three years and this month’s challenge post is a tribute to Lis for bringing so many wonderful cooks from all over the world together. I am extremely sad that every month I am doing a tribute post. First it was for my mom, then for my beloved chef Tarla Dalal and now for Lis. I hope this stops this year. I really don’t want to lose anybody next year…
This month’s challenge was hosted by Sandie of Crumbs of Love. The recipe she chose for the challenge is an Italian Pastry Sfogliatelle. She has given three variations of the recipe and I tried two. One I left out because it was so tough doing the eggless version. Today I will be talking about my adventures with Sfogliatelle Ricci. This is a very very flaky pastry with a delicious semolina ricotta filling. The trickiest part is making the flaky pastry. Sandie made it with the help of a pasta roller. But with out a pasta roller, I struggled very hard. My back and hand were aching for three days after I made the pastry. So I have decided to stay away from it until I own a pasta roller. But still it was so much fun and when I looked at the finished pastry, I forgot all those pains I went through. It was so crunchy and I think the layers are a bit thick. It will take a lot of practice to get very very thin layers but I didn’t mind. This post is a bit lengthy and please bear with me.
Eggless Semolina Ricotta Filling
Ingredients:
Milk-1 cup
Granulated Sugar-1/2 cup
Semolina/ Sooji-2/3 cup
Home Made Ricotta-1 1/2 cups
Cream-1/4 cup
Vanilla Essence-2 tsp
Zest of One Orange
Chocolate Chips-1/4 cup
Tutti Frutti-1/3 cup
Heat milk and sugar.
When it boils, switch flame to medium and add semolina in a continuous stream while stirring it continuously.
Cook until thick.
Pour it on a plate and allow it to cool completely.
In a food processor jar, add ricotta, orange zest and vanilla.
Add cream.
Add the cooked semolina.
Run the processor until it makes a smooth mixture.
Remove the blade, add the chocolate chips and tutti frutti. Mix well.
Transfer to a jar and refrigerate until use.
The Dough:
Ingredients:
Flour-3 cups
Salt-1 tsp
Warm Water-3/4 cup
Vanaspathi/ Shortening-1/2 cup
Butter-1/2 cup
Mix flour and salt.
Add warm water and mix together. It will be very crumbly. Do not add extra water.
Take the dough to the counter and knead it until it comes together. This is the toughest part which gave me ache all over my body.
Then instead of kneading, I folded it and rolled it as a pasta roller will do. This will make the dough soft.
This was after 15 times of folding. Look at the difference the folding and rolling has made.
I think I should have done it five more times. But I was exhausted at this point. SO I just wrapped it up and refrigerated it.
The next day, remove from fridge, and let it sit on counter until it returns back to normal temperature. Divide into 4 equal portions.
Roll a portion into a rectangle which is 4″ wide. The length doesn’t matter.
Keep on rolling it lengthwise, regularly shifting the rectangle to avoid sticking. When it starts sticking dust it with flour and continue rolling.
Mine came up to 80cm in length and was little transparent. But I think I should have rolled it to 1 mt. But it was quite impossible while rolling with hand.
Dust the rectangle and roll it on a roller as shown. As you have dusted it, it will not stick.
Roll the second portion and roll it on top of the previous roll. Finish off the remaining portions. I rolled it on a separate ladle as I thought four strips rolled together may stick and I will be in trouble.
You just can’t keep the rolled out layers on counter. I placed two bowls and placed the roller as shown.
Take vanaspathi and butter in a bowl.
Mix it well.
Now stretch the rectangle on your work surface as shown.
Apply butter mixture and start pulling the rectangle to enlarge it. The rectangle will also become thin.
Some thing was wrong and when I started stretching the rectangle, it started breaking. So very carefully I stretched it but I couldn’t make it very thin. Apply butter, stretch and roll.
Keep on stretching and rolling until you finish with all the rectangles. You will get one giant roll.
ALl the four rectangles rolled together.
Wrap it in a cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.
This is the fun part. I was longing to take a look on the layers and here they are. How cute is this. I forgot all my aches when I saw the layers. I was so excited to see this.
Slice the roll into 1/3″ slices. I got 10 slices but you could get more if you have properly stretched the dough.
Press the slice on all the sides to relieve the layers.
Now shape it into a cone. Make the cone deep and lengthy.
Shape it like this.
Fill it with the semolina ricotta filling.
Now close the cone like this.
Arrange all the prepared shells on the baking tray.
Brush with butter.
Bake in a 200C preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
When out of oven, dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Loved it so much.
This one is for you for patiently going through my adventure.
And here is another one!!!!!!
Tail Piece: I have seen this on Fox Traveler’s Food Safari. I thought it was impossible for me to recreate it. But Thanks to Daring Bakers and Sandie I made it in my kitchen!!!!
it looks amazing.. clear step wise clicks… perfect post.. 🙂
ohhhh such a difficult task its… u r really a amazing blogger akka…
Oh Gayathri you are great! !! The final bake looks awesome! !!! Hats off to you!!!:-)
oh my god, you really got patience, congrats
Gayathri, you are simply too much! Such an awesome post and so much hard work..I wish I was close by to taste this delicious looking dessert..must say this beats everything…
Beautiful sfogliatelle – you got SO many thin, flaky layeres – they look very professional. They are a wonderful tribute to Lis, who will be missed very, very much.
Wowwww!!! that is the only word I have for now… Awesome Gayathri, just loved gazing at those beauties..and what an effort!! Hats off….
wow what an effort,? Chance ye illa,,, if i would have faced the challenged without knowing anyone i will come out of the group.. u are brave enough to give an attempt… Good gayathiri.. lovely cute sfogliatelle.
Beautiful job Gayathri! I agree, the dough was so hard to knead by hand – like a full body workout! But your finished pastries look perfect 🙂
I have no words to say on this recipe.. It is just amazing…
WOW Gayathri, Your baking is amazing. Looks very tempting.
Wow, done by hand. What a terrific job. I too made the eggless version. I have only recently joine Daring Bakers and did not really know Lis, but it was sad news indeed. Yes let us hope the rest of the year does not bring any such news.
Great job, your sflogliatelle look perfect!
Wow… I couldn’t get other word at this time by seeing ur awesome effort.. Superb
wow, really gr8 and a terrific job, amazing and mindblowing Gayathri, no wonder your hand was hurting…
Simply amazing Gayathri , there are no other words dear… hats off to you….
Most of us would have not even attempted to prepare those yummies for the mere reason of not owning a pasta roller. Hats off to you. I bet you forgot every pain as they shaped up. The first bite was the well earned self reward. Wonderful tribute.
Thanks for sharing.
Wow. Really beautiful
Amazing!!!