These cute little domes covered in powdered sugar harbor a light and fluffy ricotta filling with a delicate suggestion of vanilla.
Ingredients
- Manitoba flour 2 cups (250 g)
- Flour 00 2 ¼ cups (250 g)
- Sugar ⅓ cup (80 g)
- Whole milk 1 ¼ cup (300 g) – at room temperature
- Fresh brewer’s yeast 1 tbsp (10 g)
- Butter 2 tbsp (30 g) – at room temperature
- Fine salt ½ tsp (4 g)
- Vanilla bean ½
- Egg yolks 1
- Whole milk 1 tbsp (15 g)
Ricotta filling
- Cow’s milk ricotta cheese ⅔ cup (150 g)
- Fresh liquid cream ⅔ cup (150 g)
- Powdered sugar 3 tbsp (25 g)
- Lemon peel ½
Milk filling
- Whole milk ¾ cup (200 g)
- Sugar ⅓ cup (60 g)
- Cornstarch 2 ½ tbsp (20 g)
- Wildflower honey ½ tbsp (10 g)
- Vanilla bean ½
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in the milk at room temperature then combine both flours,the milk containing the dissolved yeast,sugar and the seeds taken from half a vanilla bean in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Knead everything at medium speed for a couple of minutes to form a smooth mixture. When the dough starts to stick to the dough hook, add the soft butter a little at a time.
- Start the mixer again. When the butter is nicely absorbed, add the salt and carry on working the dough until it’s well-blended, which will take about five minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it into a ball with your hands. Transfer back to the bowl of the stand mixer, cover with plastic wrap and leave to leaven for about one and a half hours at room temperature (about 77°-79°F (25-26°C)).
- The dough will not double in volume during this time, but it will grow a little.Transfer to a work surface, take a portion, and cut it into 1 oz (30 g) pieces. You should have 28 pieces in total by the time you’ve used up all the dough.
- Shape each portion by rolling it on the work surface to make a perfect ball. Gradually place the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them well apart to leave room for them to expand a little more.Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for another hour and a half, again at room temperature.
- Prepare the ricotta filling. Pour the whipping cream into a bowl and whip with a hand mixer until stiff, then place in the fridge. In another bowl, soften the ricotta using a spatula (or whisk)
- Add the powdered sugar and the grated lemon peel and carry on beating until the mixture is smooth and even.
- Add the ricotta to the whipped cream that cooled in the refrigerator and fold into the mixture using the spatula, working from the bottom up. When the ricotta filling is ready, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator.
- Now make the milk filling. Pull the milk and sugar into a small saucepan. Place on the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the honey and the seeds from the vanilla bean.
- Add the cornstarch, stirring with a spatula to dissolve and beating continuously with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming.Cook the sauce for a few minutes until it thickens enough to coat the spatula.
- Transfer to a wide, shallow bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave to cool, first at room temperature, then in the fridge. When the balls have risen, beat the egg with the milk for the wash in a small bowl and gently brush the surface of the balls with the resulting mixture. Bake in a conventional oven preheated to 350°F (180°C) for about 18 minutes, until the balls are golden brown. In the meantime, take the milk filling, which will now be cold, and beat with a whisk until smooth.
- Add to the ricotta filling and stir gently from the bottom upwards to ensure it does not separate. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a long soft plain piping tip. Place back in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- As soon as the snowflakes are golden brown, take them out of the oven and let them cool down.Then use a plain piping tip to gently pierce the base and squirt in the filling, squeezing the pastry bag continuously.
- Transfer one by one to a baking sheet then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
