Cream-filled pastry tubes: A timeless delight rediscovered
For years, cream-filled pastry tubes have enjoyed unwavering popularity and can be found in many places, from large bakeries to unassuming stalls on the promenades of tourist towns. Few people know that making them is not difficult at all. You can successfully make them at home; you just need to buy the right moulds.
Initially, the tubes were only covered with whipped cream, but soon, they began to be placed inside the pastries. Later, different fillings became popular, including fruit spreads and various creams. At the beginning of the 20th century, Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa, a well-known culinary guide author, recommended making the tubes from puff pastry.
The prototype might be Sicilian cannoli
Cream-filled pastry tubes are not just a Canadian specialty. In Sicily, as early as the 10th century, cannoli were baked, crunchy pastries filled with cream made from ricotta cheese. In the Czech Republic, hořické trubičky, filled with cream of various flavours, has been popular for 200 years.
Traditional whipped cream is a great filling for the tubes. The best result is chilled heavy cream whipped with vanilla sugar. Alternatively, you can fill the tubes with custard cream, whipped cream with mascarpone, or lemon curd.
Recipe for homemade cream-filled pastry tubes
Various types of dough can be used to make the tubes. At home, the best result is achieved by kneading semi-shortcrust dough based on wheat flour, cold butter, and sour cream. Below is a recipe for traditional tubes with whipped cream.
Ingredients:
- 625 mL of cake flour,
- 200 g cold butter,
- 200 g sour cream (18%),
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar,
- a pinch of salt,
- 200 mL heavy cream,
- 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar.
Instructions:
- Sift the flour into a bowl.
- Add cold, chopped butter, chilled sour cream, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt.
- Knead the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Then, roll the dough into a thin sheet and cut into strips about 1.5 cm wide.
- Wrap the dough strips around buttered metal moulds, brushing the edges with egg white.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius. When golden brown, remove and let cool.
- Whip the cream with vanilla sugar. Fill the baked tubes.
