The baby Jesus cushions are a typical Christmas dessert from Apulia. This is an ancient simple dessert with very few ingredients without eggs, butter, or milk. According to tradition, these sweets represent many little pillows for the baby Jesus who is about to be born. The pastry that encloses the filling is very light and so “bubbly” but melts in your mouth.
You might be interested in these Apulian Christmas dessert recipes:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10 people
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
- Energy 589.74 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 74.18 (g) of which sugars 37.07 (g)
- Proteins 11.85 (g)
- Fat 25.61 (g) of which saturated 1.34 (g)of which unsaturated 0.02 (g)
- Fibers 4.44 (g)
- Sodium 79.78 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
INGREDIENTS FOR BABY JESUS CUSHIONS
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 7 oz dry white wine
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch sugar
- 2 cups blanched almonds (toasted)
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2.5 oz sambuca liqueur
- 1 lemon zest (grated)
Tools
- 1 Pasta machine
- 1 Mixer
PREPARATION OF BABY JESUS CUSHIONS
In a bowl, mix flour, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of sugar.
Now add the extra virgin olive oil and mix again.
Warm the dry white wine and add it slowly to the mixture, working it until you obtain a firm yet soft dough. Knead for a few minutes on the work surface. Let it rest for about ten minutes well covered.
In a blender, combine the almonds with the sugar and grated lemon zest, and blend until you obtain a fine powder.
Add the Sambuca liqueur and mix until you obtain a well-compacted mixture.
Divide the dough into pieces and roll out very thin sheets with each piece using the pasta machine, starting from the thickest setting down to the penultimate mark.
Place small mounds of filling onto the sheet, fold over with the same sheet, remove the trapped air, and press around the mounds to seal the edges. It’s the same process as making ravioli.
Cut everything with the pasta cutting wheel to form a small turnover shape, pressing the edges well to prevent the filling from leaking during cooking.
Let the cushions rest for 3-4 hours at room temperature well covered.
Heat the seed oil and fry a few pieces at a time. Once fried, place the baby Jesus cushions on absorbent paper to remove excess oil. Then decorate or better, dip them in powdered or granulated sugar.
Adriana’s Advice
In some areas of Apulia, you can find these sweets filled with ricotta, jam, chocolate, chestnuts. In short, each family has its own recipe.
