Cornetti Italiani

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour, around 13% protein
• 220ml cold whole milk
• 1 medium egg
• 80g caster sugar
• 10g fine salt
• 12g fresh yeast, or 5g instant dried yeast
• 1 tsp honey
• 50g soft unsalted butter, for the dough
• 250g cold unsalted butter, for laminating
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 egg plus 1 tbsp milk, to glaze
• 3 tbsp apricot jam, to finish

Before you cook

• Weigh the flour, sugar and salt into separate piles so the salt never sits directly on the yeast.
• Grate the orange and lemon zest into a small bowl.
• Take the 250g of laminating butter out of the fridge 15 minutes before you need it, so it bends without cracking.
• Line two large baking trays with baking paper.

Steps

1. Crumble the fresh yeast into the cold milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until it dissolves.
2. Add the flour, sugar, egg, honey and both zests, then mix on low speed with the dough hook for four minutes, until no dry flour remains.
3. Add the salt and mix on medium speed for eight minutes, until the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Add the 50g of soft butter one cube at a time, waiting for each piece to disappear before adding the next.
5. Mix for a final five minutes, until the dough is smooth and glossy and stretches into a thin translucent sheet without tearing.
6. Shape the dough into a tight ball, cover the bowl, and leave it at room temperature for 90 minutes.
7. Flatten the dough into a rough rectangle about 2cm thick, wrap it well, and refrigerate it overnight for at least ten hours.
8. The next morning, place the 250g of cold butter between two sheets of baking paper and beat it with a rolling pin into a 20cm square.
9. Chill the butter square for ten minutes, so it is cold but still pliable.
10. Roll the cold dough into a rectangle 20cm wide and 40cm long.
11. Lay the butter square over the bottom half of the dough, fold the top half down over it, and press the edges to seal the butter inside.
12. Roll the parcel out to a rectangle roughly 20cm by 60cm, working lengthways and keeping the edges straight.
13. Fold the rectangle in three like a letter, wrap it, and chill it for 30 minutes.
14. Roll the chilled dough out to 20cm by 60cm again and fold it in three like a letter.
15. Wrap the dough and chill it for another 30 minutes.
16. Roll and fold the dough in three one last time, then chill it for a final 30 minutes.
17. Roll the dough out to a rectangle about 4mm thick, 25cm wide and 60cm long.
18. Trim the edges square, then cut the sheet into triangles with a base of 10cm and a height of 25cm.
19. Cut a 1cm nick into the base of each triangle, then stretch the triangle gently to lengthen it.
20. Roll each triangle up from the base towards the tip and set it on a lined tray with the tip tucked underneath.
21. Cover the trays loosely and prove the cornetti somewhere warm, around 26 degrees, for three to four hours, until they wobble when the tray is shaken.
22. Heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
23. Beat the glazing egg with a tablespoon of milk and brush it very lightly over each cornetto, keeping it off the cut layered edges.
24. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until deep golden brown.
25. Warm the apricot jam with a splash of water and brush it over the hot cornetti for shine.
26. Cool the cornetti on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before eating.