Sfogliatella

Ingredients

• For the dough
• 500 g strong white flour (00 or bread flour)
• 200 ml water, cold
• 8 g fine salt
• 60 g strutto (rendered lard), softened, for laminating the cylinder
• For the semolina-ricotta cream
• 500 ml whole milk
• 120 g fine semolina
• 250 g fresh ricotta, well-drained
• 150 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 60 g candied cedro (citron) peel, finely diced
• 60 g candied orange peel (arancia), finely diced
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional
• To finish
• 30 g icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1. 1
   Combine the flour, salt, and water. Work the mass until a smooth, elastic dough forms — add the water gradually; the dough should be firm, not slack. Knead until the surface is perfectly smooth and the dough springs back when pressed. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it no longer resists handling and has a silken, uniform surface.
2. 2
   On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough as thin as practicable with a pin, then continue stretching by hand — working from the centre outward, lifting and draping over the backs of the hands — until the sheet is translucent, the grain of the worktop just legible through it. Tear or trim any thick edges. This is where the dish lives or dies: a sheet that is not translucent will produce heavy, doughy layers that neither separate nor shatter in the oven.
3. 3
   Spread the softened strutto across the entire surface of the stretched sheet in an even, thin film. Beginning at one long edge, roll the sheet into a very tight cylinder, applying additional strutto between each turn so that every layer is greased. The finished cylinder should be compact, with no air pockets visible at the cut ends. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight — cold lard stiffens the roll and allows clean slicing.
4. 4
   Bring the milk to a simmer in a heavy saucepan. Rain in the semolina in a steady stream, stirring constantly. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan in a single mass. Remove from the heat. Transfer to a wide bowl and cool completely. Once cold, beat in the ricotta, sugar, eggs, candied cedro, candied orange peel, cinnamon, and vanilla if using. The cream must be completely cold before use — warm cream will melt the lard layers and prevent sealing. Taste: it should be distinctly sweet, fragrant with citrus and cinnamon.
5. 5
   Remove the cylinder from the refrigerator. With a sharp knife, cut it into discs of approximately 1.5 cm. Take each disc and press it from the centre outward with your thumb, rotating it as you work, until it forms a small cone or shell shape — the layers visible at the rim as fine concentric rings. The walls should be thin and even; the base closed.
6. 6
   Place a modest spoonful of the cold semolina-ricotta cream into each cone — do not overfill; the pastry must be sealed without tension or it will split. Press the opening firmly closed, shaping the characteristic pointed end of the sfogliatella. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking tray.
7. 7
   Bake in an oven preheated to its highest practical setting — at least 200 °C, ideally 220 °C — until the exterior is deep amber-gold and the individual pastry leaves have visibly separated and shattered outward. The kitchen should smell of caramelised lard and warm citrus. The layers, when touched immediately from the oven, should be rigid and brittle, shattering at the slightest pressure.
8. 8
   Dust with icing sugar and serve within hours of baking. By the following day, atmospheric moisture will have softened the layers and the defining textural quality will be lost.