Sfogliatelle Frolle (Daring Bakers - Nov 2013)

Ok, so I am incredibly late in posting my DB challenges. But I am still going to post them, right now!

Sandie of the lovely blog, Crumbs of Love, was our November 2013 hostess. Sandie challenged us to make a traditional Italian dessert, along with its American version – Sfogliatelle (or better known in the US – lobster tails). The flakey, 1000 layers of super thin dough, shaped into a horn and filled with a scrumptious filling. Così buono!

As much as I wanted to make the Sfogliatelle Ricci, with its many, intricate layers, the fact that I didn't have a pasta maker AND was working with a minimal amount of kitchen space turned me away. So I made the Frolle version.

The neat part of this challenge was that I learned to make my own ricotta cheese! Although ricotta is not something I use very often, I found it more economical to make my own organic ricotta than to buy it. And it was so easy, and thrilling to make my own!

I decided to the follow the recipe as-is rather than make a gluten free version, as I felt that the gluten would be essential to the development of the dough. Because of this, I cannot say exactly how good it turned out since had to rely on others to tell me (and I can never be sure if they have the same picky taste as me!). the texture seems very flaky and crunchy though (which I noticed as I watched others try it). 

I did, however, cheat a little and taste the Ricotta-Semolina filling, which was so delicious before it even went into the oven! To add more flavor, I diced up some candied orange peel my mother had made and added it to the filling. Sandie encouraged us to be creative with our flavor variation, but my mother's candied orange peel is so delicious, I couldn't think of anything better.

I do wish that the look of the Sfogliatelle Ricci was more beautiful, and I did try to make them bit cuter than instructed, but the dough was a bit tough to handle so I didn't achieve very much (other than making them my favorite shape - a circle). I guess not every dessert can be as visually appealing as a macaron. :)

The below recipes are directly from Crumbs of Love, with the exception of the ricotta cheese, which I have adapted from her recipe. 

Sfogliatelle Frolle 
Servings: 12 pastries

Dough

2 1/3 cups (560 ml) (11-1/2 oz) (325 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour
1/3 cup (80 ml) (2-2/3 oz)(75 gm) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon (3/4 gm) salt
8 tablespoons (4 oz) (115 gm) unsalted butter, cold
2 large eggs, beaten

Filling
See below. The filling recipe makes about 2x the amount needed for the amount of dough, and since there is raw egg in it, I am not sure how well the filling will keep, so I would suggest either halving the filling or doubling the dough. 

Egg Wash 
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
pinch salt

1. By hand: combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Remove the butter from the fridge and pound it a few times with a rolling pin to make it pliable. Add it to the flour and start rubbing it into the flour mixture with your fingertips, working from the bottom of the bowl upwards. Work quickly so the butter doesn't get warm from your hands. This only takes a minute or two to complete. Add the eggs and stir into the dough with a fork until it starts to hold together. Empty it out onto your workspace and knead it a few times. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill until firm. The dough can be made up to 3 days in advance.

2. Prepare the filling and chill it. Whisk the egg yolk, egg and salt together for the egg wash.

3. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into 5 inch (12-1/2 cm) rectangle . Place a hefty tablespoon amount of filling on the lower half of the dough and pull the top half over this. Use your hands to press down around the filling and seal the edges together (like making ravioli). Use a 3 inch (75 mm) round cookie cutter (or glass) and cut away any excess dough.

4. Place the formed frolle on a prepared baking sheet and chill for 2 hours

5. Preheat your oven to moderately hot 375°F/190°C/gas mark 5 

6. Brush the frolle with the egg wash and bake approximately 20 minutes, just until the frolle are baked through.

7. Cool briefly on a rack.

Semolina-Ricotta Filling  

1 cup (250 ml) milk
1/2 cup (120 ml) (4 oz) (115 gm) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (4 oz) (115 gm) fine semolina or cream of wheat (I tried the semolina version and it was great)
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (13-1/4 oz) (375 gm) whole milk ricotta, preferably fresh (see below)
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of one pod and 1 teaspoon of extract)
1/4 teaspoon (1 gm) ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (80 ml) (2 oz) (60 gm) candied orange peel (commercial or home-made)
zest of 1 lemon

Combine the milk and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and slowly add the semolina (or cream of wheat), whisking quickly as to avoid any lumps. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Spread the mixture onto a lined baking sheet, about 1/2 inch (15 mm), to cool. When cool, break into pieces and place into the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or a food processor), and add the ricotta cheese, egg yolks, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until very smooth and creamy. Stir in the candied orange peel and lemon zest.
Scrape into a container, place plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until needed (up to 3 days).

Fresh Ricotta Cheese (makes 2 cups)

Adapted from Crumbs of Love

8 cups (2 litres) whole milk (or goats milk)
1 cup (250 ml) heavy whipping cream (about 35%)
1/2 teaspoon (3 gm) salt
3 tablespoons (45 ml) fresh lemon juice

1. Line a large colander or strainer with 2 layers of lightly dampened cheesecloth over a large glass; set aside.

2. Pour the whole milk, heavy cream and salt into a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in the fresh lemon juice and let sit, 30-60 minutes. The mixture will curdle, which is exactly what you want it to do. Pour this into the cheesecloth lined strainer and let it drain for about 1 hour or until it comes to room temperature. At this point you can scrape the ricotta from the cheesecloth into a container and refrigerate for up to 2 days. 

3. The liquid in the bowl is the whey, a very nutritious and tasty leftover byproduct from making cheese. Don't throw it out - drink it or find another use for it!

Whey is usually a cloudy light yellow-ish color. When I made the ricotta, my "whey" wasn't as cloudy and yellow as I expected. I deduced it was because a lot of my milk solids didn't curdle, meaning it wasn't real whey (the first time I did it, I followed a different process, but after some research, came up with the above adapted process). So after the first batch of ricotta, I followed the process again and was able to get almost an equal amount of ricotta again. This is because ricotta is not traditionally made with milk; it's made with whey as a way (heehee) to use up this cheese-making byproduct, so you can get more out of your efforts by running through the process twice! How satisfying and resourceful!. :)