The Messina Lulu with cream and chocolate

Traditional and Bimby recipe.

These delicious “mushrooms” of choux pastry are filled with cream or chocolate pastry cream.

They are the Messina response to the Neapolitan baked zeppole. They are made in baba cup molds or alternatively in cupcake forms.

They are then dusted with powdered sugar for the white filling, and with bitter cocoa for the chocolate filled ones.

I’ll give you the quantities to make 3 Lulus with cream and 3 with chocolate, so if you want to double the quantities of one or the other, you’ll need to adjust accordingly.

We’ll bake our Lulus in the oven and also in an air fryer.

Ingredients

The Messina Lulu with cream and chocolate

4.2 oz water
2.1 oz butter
0.5 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs (medium at room temperature)
1 pinch salt
10.6 oz pastry cream (chocolate, see recipe)
1.1 cups whipping cream, 35% fat
2.6 oz vanilla powdered sugar
as needed powdered sugar
as needed unsweetened cocoa powder

The Messina Lulu with cream and chocolate

Tools

What we need to make

2 Pots
2 Piping bags
6 Cups baba type
1 Electric whisk or the Bimby
2 Bowls

Steps

The Messina Lulu with cream and chocolate

Let’s start by preparing the choux pastry: in a saucepan, place the water, butter, and salt and bring to a boil,
add all the flour, lower the heat and
stir vigorously
This will result in a smooth and creamy dough. Let it cool.
At this point, it is important to add the eggs one at a time, not adding the next until the previous one is well mixed and incorporated. Mix the dough well until you obtain a smooth cream.
Meanwhile, spray some butter inside the cups or cupcake molds. Fill them 3/4 full with the obtained mixture.
It’s important not to fill them more because during baking the mixture will puff up like a mushroom, and if too full it could overflow and burn.
Place in a preheated oven at 392°F for 25 minutes, then lower to 356°F for another 5 minutes. Take them out and let them cool.
For cooking in an air fryer
Place the basket in the air fryer and cook in two stages: first at 356°F for 10 minutes, then at 392°F for another 10 minutes
Place the water, butter, salt, and sugar in the container and cook with the basket instead of the measuring cup: 5 min./212°F/speed 1.
Add the all-purpose flour and mix: 20 sec./speed 4. Remove the container from its housing and let its contents cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 392°F. and spray butter on the molds you will use, setting them aside.
Position the container and, with blades moving at speed 5, add the eggs one at a time through the lid hole.
After adding the last egg, mix again: 30 sec./speed 5.
Fill the obtained mixture into baba or cupcake cups, filling them 3/4 full.
It’s important not to fill them more because during baking the mixture will puff up like a mushroom, and if too full it could overflow and burn.
Place in a preheated oven at 392°F for 25 minutes, then lower to 356°F for another 5 minutes. Take them out and let them cool
for cooking in an air fryer
Place the basket in the air fryer and cook in two stages: first at 356°F for 10 minutes, then at 392°F for another 10 minutes
Prepare the pastry cream following my traditional and Bimby recipe, click here.
For the whipped cream, place it in the freezer 20 minutes before along with the container you will whip it with.
Once it’s nicely chilled, if whipping with beaters, combine cream, sugar, and vanilla and whip until stiff peaks form.
If using the Bimby, insert the butterfly and whip at speed 3.5, checking through the hole until it’s sufficiently whipped. Be careful not to over-whip, or it will turn into butter.
Now that all preparations are ready, you’ll need 2 piping bags with a wide and smooth nozzle; place cream in one and chocolate cream in the other.
With the help of a small knife, pierce the base of the Lulu and insert the piping bag nozzle to completely fill the Lulus.
Now dust the cream ones with powdered sugar and the chocolate ones with cocoa.
Serve and enjoy.