For Carnival this year I decided to make filled chiacchiere with lemon cream and then glaze them with white chocolate… a real treat!!
I prepared the base dough of my classic airy chiacchiere and then filled them with a fragrant heart of lemon cream only, a cream made without milk.
Delicious little bites one after another, a variation that will be appreciated by everyone who tastes them, the perfect dessert to finish Fat Tuesday lunch.
I fried the filled chiacchiere with lemon cream, but if you prefer a lighter version you can bake them in the oven.
If you don’t love the intense citrus flavor of lemons, you can vary with classic pastry cream, jam, or Nutella; and if you’re organizing a Carnival party it would be nice to prepare them assorted.
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (350 g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 g)
- 2 eggs
- 3.5 tbsp milk (50 ml)
- 2.5 tbsp Strega liqueur (40 ml)
- 2 tbsp lard (30 g)
- pinch salt
- as needed sunflower oil for frying
- 5.3 oz white chocolate for decorating (150 g)
- 1/4 cup milk (espresso cup, ~60 ml)
- 1 cup water (250 ml)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (160 g)
- 1/3 cup lemon juice (100 ml)
- zest of 3 organic lemons
- 1/2 cup cornstarch (60 g)
- 2 egg yolks
Tools
- Pasta machine
- Serrated pastry wheel
Steps
Let’s start by preparing the cream.
Put the sugar and the egg yolks into a small saucepan and roughly combine the two ingredients.
Add the lemon juice with the zest previously prepared, mix and gradually add the cornstarch, working carefully with a whisk to avoid lumps.
Finish by adding the water, turn on the stove and cook over low heat, stirring continuously until the cream becomes glossy and nicely thick.
Turn off and let cool.
Continue with the chiacchiere preparation by pouring the flour onto the work surface and placing all the ingredients in the center; the lard must be soft — if you forgot to take it out of the fridge, heat it for a few seconds in the microwave.
Mix first with a fork, then continue to knead with your hands.
You will obtain a soft dough which you will let rest on the work surface for 30 minutes.
After the time, cut the dough into portions and run it through the pasta machine to obtain thin strips.
With a fluted pastry wheel cut first a large rectangle and then divide it into three.
In the center of each rectangle place a teaspoon of lemon cream, moisten the edges with a little water and seal by folding the dough onto itself forming rectangles or triangles.
Place a skillet on the stove with sunflower oil and heat.
When it is hot, immerse the chiacchiere and cook them on both sides.
Let the chiacchiere rest on kitchen paper to drain excess oil.
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie with a small cup of milk and drizzle the melted chocolate over the chiacchiere to decorate.
Filled chiacchiere with lemon cream glazed with white chocolate will bring joy and indulgence to your table.
