Third time’s a charm, right? So here I am with the Sweet Befana Stocking with Chocolate made with Puff Pastry. Again, we’ll need two rectangular puff pastry rolls, some hazelnut cream or another spreadable cream of your choice, some cutters for decoration, and small colorful chocolates. I still had some Smarties from the Sweet Christmas Tree in my pantry, so I used them to add color to this sweet chocolate recipe for Befana! This time, also, following some of your tips, I didn’t bake the Smarties with the puff pastry so that they wouldn’t melt and lose their bright color that these children’s chocolates have.
I must admit, it’s true, this year I’ve focused on Recipes for Children or recipes dedicated to kids. Perhaps it’s because of the many moms I know, the many missed opportunities over the years when my nieces and nephews were little and I didn’t have the same time for cooking that I have now, or because of the simplicity these recipes need to have to be made together with them, perhaps for all these reasons I’ve chosen to make many small desserts with puff pastry for the little ones.
We started with the Halloween Treant then moved on to the Puff Pastry Christmas Tree up to the Sweet Befana Stocking I’m presenting to you today. Three winter holidays, three sweet preparations with hazelnut cream that children love, three symbols of the occasion we were celebrating. Each time thinking of the little ones, their fun in cooking with mom or dad, being able to participate in the various steps of the recipe. Decorating and spreading the cream, in short, making these recipes as simple and quick as possible so that after baking they could immediately enjoy the dessert they just prepared.
The twins were jumping with joy after seeing the Sweet Befana Stocking all nicely decorated and filled with chocolate cream. The first question was, indeed: “Auntie, is there Nutella inside?” How can you say no to four little eyes looking at you, already guessing the answer from my smile? Happy with so little, first homework and then snack, that was the agreement with grandma Laura.
I recommend preparing the Sweet Befana Stocking with Chocolate on the evening of January 5th so that the kids can make it with you and start the day on January 6th, the day Epiphany falls in 2025, enjoying it for breakfast all together. How nice family breakfasts are, everyone sitting around the kitchen table. Prepare the milk or cappuccino, this time I’m giving you the breakfast idea!
If you’re curious to read more recipes you can make using puff pastry, I’ll leave links to my favorites. Every blue writing below is clickable and will take you directly to the recipe you’ve chosen to read! Remember that I look forward to seeing you every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day, an essential and unmissable appointment of the day with all of you! Thank you for being there every day, with your comments and support!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Epiphany, Christmas
- Energy 672.84 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 49.83 (g) of which sugars 8.53 (g)
- Proteins 10.08 (g)
- Fat 47.89 (g) of which saturated 4.72 (g)of which unsaturated 26.04 (g)
- Fibers 3.28 (g)
- Sodium 218.58 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 110 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 a Sweet Befana Stocking
- 2 rolls puff pastry (rectangular)
- 5.3 oz hazelnut cream (or other spreadable cream of your choice)
- 1 egg (to brush the surface)
- as needed smarties (or other type of colorful chocolates)
- as needed powdered sugar
Tools to prepare the Sweet Befana Stocking with Puff Pastry Chocolate
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Brush
- 1 Knife
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Oven
- 4 Cutters
- 1 Fork
- 1 Cooling rack
I included a cutting board which will serve as a wooden base to work on the puff pastry, if your board is too small, opt for a pastry board, which is surely wider and more convenient. It will allow you to keep all the puff pastry spread out in front of you and cut it easily with the tip of the knife.
Steps for the Sweet Befana Stocking Recipe with Puff Pastry and Hazelnut Cream
Take the two rectangular puff pastry rolls from the fridge and place them, unwrapped, on the work surface letting them come to room temperature for at least 10 minutes. After this time, we can proceed with the preparation of this Befana dessert. Preheat the oven to 356°F in static mode and position the rack where we will place the baking sheet with the Befana stocking in the middle of the oven.
Place a puff pastry on a pastry board or a large wooden cutting board, and use the tip of a knife to cut out the shape of the Befana Stocking. With a spoon or a spatula, spread the hazelnut cream leaving about a half-inch border. You can see this clearly in the video recipe under the first photo a bit higher up. Place this stocking on a sheet of parchment paper and proceed with cutting the second puff pastry sheet.
If you think you won’t be able to cut an identical shape to the first, don’t worry. Lay the second puff pastry sheet over the first where we spread the hazelnut cream. Now cut, again with the tip of a knife, the stocking. Seal the edges of the stocking with the tines of a fork.
In the video recipe, you’ll see I also used a fluted pastry wheel or ravioli cutter, I love that kind of cut which I often use for making strips for tarts.
Now, cut out many small cutters with leftover puff pastry with a Christmas theme to decorate the stocking. I chose the star shape, Christmas tree, candy cane, bell, gingerbread and snowman. Basically, the whole merry company of Christmas characters. Place all the cutouts we made on the stocking, then crack the egg into a small bowl. We’ll use it to brush the surface of the dessert with the help of a kitchen brush.
Place the Sweet Befana Stocking in the oven and let it bake for about 20-25 minutes max, it should become beautifully golden and puffy. Don’t worry because once it cools, it will deflate. Allow the dessert to cool on a cooling rack so it doesn’t keep receiving heat from the baking sheet.
Before serving, you can choose to dust the Puff Pastry Stocking with some powdered sugar or add some Smarties or both, as I ended up doing for the photos to show you here on the blog.
All that’s left is to wish you a good appetite and remind you that I look forward to seeing you every day here on my blog with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one!
Variations of the Sweet Befana Stocking:
As you might imagine, you can replace the hazelnut spread with another type, from pistachio cream to custard to coconut cream if you like it. Another variation you can make is with the Smarties, decorate the surface as you prefer with this sweet puff pastry stocking. And as I always say, you can choose whether to dust with powdered sugar or not the dessert. As you know, I don’t like powdered sugar very much, but for the sake of record and for photography, I shot both versions of this Befana dessert.
