← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 120 ml Water
• 120 ml Milk
• 100 g Butter, cubed
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 150 g plain flour, sifted
• 4 Eggs, beaten
• 500 ml whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 100 g Sugar
• 35 g Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 lemon, a strip of zest
• 10 amarena or morello cherries in syrup
• 2 tbsp Icing sugar

Method

1. Make the custard: heat the milk with the lemon zest until steaming. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl, pour in the hot milk while whisking, then return it all to the pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking, for 2–3 min, until thick and bubbling. Stir in the vanilla, discard the zest, press cling film onto the surface and chill for 1 hour.
2. For the choux, bring the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to the boil. Tip in the flour all at once and stir hard over medium heat for 1–2 min, until the dough forms a smooth ball and leaves a film on the pan.
3. Transfer to a bowl and cool for 5 min. Beat in the eggs a little at a time until the dough is glossy and falls from the spoon in a thick V shape; you may not need all the egg.
4. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, 400°F) and line two trays. With a large star nozzle, pipe 7 cm rings, then pipe a second ring on top of each.
5. Bake for 20 min without opening the door, then lower to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F) and bake for 10–15 min more, until deep golden and dry. Cool on a rack.
6. Pipe a generous swirl of custard into the centre of each ring, top with a cherry and a drop of its syrup, and dust with icing sugar.

Tips

• For the traditional fried version, pipe the rings onto squares of baking paper and fry them at 170°C (340°F) until golden.
• Fill them shortly before serving so the pastry stays crisp.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Sip and Feast Inside The Rustic Kitchen GialloZafferano