Two recipes of the choicest Italian dessert pastry you need to try

Beyond the classic pudding-like desserts in Italy like panna cotta and rich chocolate cakes like the torta caprese, Italy has more desserts to its name, and no we aren’t talking about gelato. Presenting Italian donuts with a delightful name – Bomboloni, which comes with a stuffing of sweet pastry cream. Another dessert is the classic apple strudel but made Italian-style. It is quite famous in the Trentino-Alto Adige region famed for its dairy and apple orchards. So, presenting two of the best Italian desserts to make beyond the average cake, ice creams and puddings.

1. Bomboloni(Makes 6 donuts)

Ingredients

• 105 ml milk, lukewarm (60 ml + 3 tablespoons)
• 1¼ tsp active dry yeast
• 2 ½ tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 275 gm all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 280 gm pastry cream, for filling
• Granulated sugar, for coating

Instructions

1. Pour the lukewarm milk into a bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let it rest undisturbed for 5 minutes for the yeast to activate. After 5 minutes, stir to mix.
2. To the yeast mixture, add sugar, vegetable oil, egg, orange zest, and vanilla extract and whisk until cohesive.
3. Gradually add flour and salt into this bowl and mix until the dough forms. Keep kneading for 5-7 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead a few times, and shape into a ball.
5. Grease a big bowl with a little oil and place the dough in it. Roll to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for two to three hours for it to rise.
6. Once the dough has risen, punch it down, and on a floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 6-8 mm. Use a 2½ inch round cookie cutter to cut out six circles. Arrange these on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.
7. Let the shaped bomboloni rise for 1 hour.
8. Pour 2 inches of cooking oil into a medium-sized pot. Once the oil reaches a range of 170-175°C, carefully lower the bomboloni into the hot oil, 2-3 at a time.
9. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, turning them over halfway through, until golden brown.
10. Remove the fried bomboloni with a slotted spoon and let the oil drain off, then immediately roll them in granulated sugar.
11. Once the bombolonis cool a bit, use the end of a spoon, to make an indentation in the side or top of each donut. Twist the spoon to create a small cavity.
12. Fill a piping bag with the pastry cream and pipe it into the cavities you just made. Serve them fresh for an indulgent breakfast treat.

2. Apple strudel or Strudel di mele(Serves 8)

Ingredients

• For the pastry
• 130 gm all-purpose flour, extra for dusting
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• Caster sugar, for dusting
• Cream, for serving

For the filling

• 50 gm raisins
• 2 tbsp spiced rum
• 30 gm pine nuts
• 50 gm unsalted butter
• 70 gm fresh breadcrumbs
• 5 green apples
• 60 gm caster sugar
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
• Specialist kit: mandoline (optional)

Instructions

1. Sift flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the oil, egg, and water and mix with your fingers until it forms a dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
2. Shape the kneaded dough into a ball. Put it back in the bowl. Cover it with a clean damp tea towel and let it rest at cool room temperature for 1 hour.
3. Soak the raisins in the spiced rum in a bowl. Set aside.
4. Dry roast the pine nuts over medium heat in a nonstick pan, for about 3 minutes, until golden. Set aside.
5. In the same pan, melt 30 gm of butter and fry the breadcrumbs for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly. Once golden, transfer to a bowl to cool.
6. Remove the core and finely slice the apples, use a mandoline if you have one. Add them to a big bowl with pine nuts, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest.
7. Drain the rum-soaked raisins, squeezing out excess liquid, and add to the bowl. Stir to mix.
8. Set your oven to 180°C fan and melt the remaining butter in a small pan, over low heat.
9. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a 35x45 cm rectangle. Leave a 2 cm border all around, and brush the center of the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the toasted breadcrumbs over it. Then add the apple mixture on top.
10. Starting from one of the longer sides, carefully roll up the strudel. Roll it as tightly as possible without squeezing out the filling. Place the rolled strudel on a baking paper-lined tray.
11. Brush the entire strudel with the remaining melted butter.
12. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.
13. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then dust generously with icing sugar. Slice and serve warm with a side of cream.