Jade: Bitemycannoncini

I remember my first cannoncino...warm buttery pastry so feathery light....rich, silky cream bursting with the flavour of vanilla...i was astounded..how could something so seemingly simple taste so good..At that very moment, my mind went into overdrive, thinking up ways to recreate it in my own kitchen.

I took a few shortcuts just because I'm in a lazy mood [ but itching to play with my new cream horn moulds!]...Although I will probably never use ready made puff pastry for this again...not unless it's all butter and comes with some form of celebrity chef endorsement. In retrospect, it is actually blindingly obvious that the quality of the pastry would make or break a dessert that is nothing more than a pastry horn filled with cream......Highsight is always so much clearer..Having said that, on days when the cravings strike and Princi's isn't a 5-minute walk away, my way will do ;)

Cheats' Cannoncini~Little cannons

1 tube ready made puff pastry [ do get a good quality tube...I'll post up the recipe for proper cannoncini pastry once I get the time to measure flour and grate butter]

1 egg lightly beaten

1/4 cup sugar

Crema Pasticcera~gives about 2 cups so feel

free to halve the recipe

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/3 cup single cream

2 egg yolks

2 whole eggs

2 tsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 2oo degrees C.

2. Leave puff pastry for about 20 minutes to come to room temperature.

3. In the meantime, dissolve 2 tbsp sugar in cream over LOW heat, and bring some water to boil in a separate pot, preferably one that's big enough to hold a metal mixing bowl. The idea is to replicate a double boiler..if you have one on hand, lucky you. Once the water boils, lower the heat and let it simmer.

4. Beat eggs, cornstarch, salt and the rest of the sugar in your metal mixing bowl/ top half of your double boiler

5. Place it over the pot of simmering water and vigorously beat in the scalded cream from step 3 until the mixture thickens.

6. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla; let cool and chill.

7. Once the cream is done, grease your baking tray and cream horn moulds.

8. Unroll the pastry sheet and cut into 1'' wide strips

9. Wrap each strip around a cream horn mould, leaving a margin of about 1/4 of an inch with each wrap.

10. When that's done, give the pastry a light egg wash, and roll gently in sugar

11. Pop in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes

12. Remove the moulds, let cool and fill with pastry cream.- The trick is to push the nozzle of your piping bag right into the narrow end of the pastry so you dont get any creamless gaps..which frankly is just cruel.

Bon appetit ;)