Sfoglio delle Madonie or sfuogghiu delle Madonie, the Sicilian grandmother’s dessert made with fresh tuma cheese. The sweet sfoglio of the Madonie is a baked dessert typical of Polizzi Generosa, which competes for its paternity with Petralia Soprana, both towns of the Madonie area. Thought and created by the nuns of the Convent of Santa Margherita in the 1600s, the sfoglio of the Madonie is a Sicilian shortcrust pastry, whose shape and structure recall the baked cassata (Sicilian recipe), but with a filling based on tuma. Tuma is a very fresh Sicilian pecorino, which typically has not yet been salted (or only slightly — but for the sfoglio it must be unsalted) and is usually used for savory recipes, such as Scacciata di tuma. But let’s get back to our sfoglio of the Madonie, which despite its name is not made with puff pastry, but with a particularly crumbly shortcrust pastry made with lard — a preparation that is not just a simple dessert, but a celebration of tradition and typical ingredients that bring you back to the Sicilian territory they come from: the Madonie mountain range itself.
Let’s go to the kitchen, discover the recipe for the “sfuogghiu delle Madonie”, but before rolling up our sleeves I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here)!

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Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Inexpensive
Preparation time: 1 Hour
Portions: 12
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All seasons

Ingredients to make Sfoglio delle Madonie

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
7 oz lard
2 eggs (medium)
2 egg yolks
pinch salt
2 tbsp Marsala wine
1 packet vanilla powder (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
to taste lemon zest
to taste powdered sugar (for dusting)
1 lb 7 oz cheese (tuma, fresh)
7/8 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup candied pumpkin (zuccata)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
to taste lemon zest

Tools

Bowl
Blender
Baking pan 10 1/4 in
Oven
Pastry board
Rolling pin
Parchment paper
Whisk

Preparation

To make the Sicilian sweet sfoglio, start with the shortcrust pastry. Pour the flour onto the pastry board, make a well, add the lard and work it into the flour thoroughly. Lard cannot be substituted; it’s the ingredient that makes the pastry especially crumbly and makes it melt in the mouth.
Recreate the well, add the eggs and the two yolks, keeping the egg whites aside. Add the sugar to the eggs, then the lemon zest, a pinch of salt and the vanilla powder.
Work the eggs with the sugar, dissolving it as much as possible, then begin to knead quickly to form a smooth, homogeneous dough. Avoid warming the dough; wrap it in cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Gather the tuma, which should be at room temperature, into the bowl of the blender and chop it, or grate it with a medium-holed grater. Whisk the reserved egg whites with the whisk until they become white and foamy,
add the sugar, whisk a little more and incorporate the tuma little by little. Add the cinnamon, chocolate chips, candied pumpkin, lemon zest and the vanilla powder or vanilla extract.
Mix until combined. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, divide the pastry in half, dust a sheet of parchment with a little flour and, using the rolling pin, roll out a sheet just over 1/4 inch thick.
Place the sheet in the pan, covering the edges well. Fill with the tuma mixture and level it.
Roll out the remaining sheet and use it to cover the filling.
Place a sheet of parchment on the tart and press the edges and center with your hand to seal the sfoglio well. Remove any excess pastry from the edges and trim (with the scraps you can make a couple of cookies). Bake in a preheated oven, static mode, at 356°F for 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let rest for at least two hours before unmolding, then let cool completely. Once cold, dust the sfoglio delle Madonie with powdered sugar and serve.