Sourdough Cornetti

Cornetti (meaning little horns in Italian) are Italian version of French croissants. They have a very similar taste but contain eggs which makes them less flaky and less puffy. To me cornetti are a symbol of what makes Italy special.

And it’s not the cuisine I have in mind here.

The main reason why Italy got so deeply under my skin when we lived there was not the food, breathtaking art or natural beauty of sea, mountains or lovely Tuscan hills. Even though this would be more than enough to make one fall in love.

But what really turned me into a dyed in the wool Italian lover was the ever-present humanity and friendliness of the warmhearted Italian people. It’s found in the small talk in your neighbourhood or anywhere you go. Without this, Italy wouldn’t be the same.

Cornetti belong to a typical morning routine: a quick breakfast at the corner bar on your way to work, where you have a ‘stand-up’ coffee and pastry, most commonly a cornetto which can be plain or filled with jam, cream or chocolate. You devour it quickly and slurp your coffee in one go while exchanging some affable words with people around. It’s a perfect way to start your day and more than any psychotherapy would do: this keeps you on the sunny side of life.

Typically, one cornetto costs only about 80 cents despite the fact that it is very elaborate and rich in butter. Trying to figure out the complicated chemical process behind the cornetti/croissants creation, I quickly gave up. But simply put, the key is to patiently develop many thin layers by folding the dough repeatedly and incorporating the butter in the right way. One has to be very determined in the beginning before mastering the process that takes several days. Sourdough cornetti are even more elaborate but the reward is worth it. They remain fresh for days and carry the very special sourdough taste. I love the way they puff up in the oven and develop flaky layers around hollows inside. It’s one of the baker’s masterpieces to me, a beautiful architectural jewel made out of dough.

Ingredients

Make a stiff starter. You will need:

25 g sourdough starter
90 g white bread flour
20 g brown sugar
40 g water

Mix it well, make a ball from the ingredients with your hands and leave it for about 10 – 12 hours in a container covered with plastic in a room temperature.

Make the dough. You will need:

all of the stiff starter
500 g strong bread flour (Manitoba)
75 g brown sugar
90 g butter
5 g salt
2 eggs
grated orange and lemon skin
100 g milk
100 g water
250 g butter for lamination
one whisked egg with a spoon of milk for the final egg wash

Method

Mix all ingredients together except the 250 g butter for lamination. Make a homogenous and smooth dough. Let it rest for one hour in a room temperature and then place the dough in the fridge for 24 hours, covered in plastic.
Prepare the butter for lamination. Take two baking sheets of paper, cut the butter in rectangles approximately 1 cm thick and set it on the baking paper. Cover it with the second sheet of baking paper and roll the butter out with a roller to make it a bit flatter and homogenous. Try to create a regular square of about 18 to 20 cm. Cut the protruding edges and put the butter in the fridge.
Cut the butter in little rectangles and set them on one sheet of baking paper.

Cover it with another sheet of baking paper and roll it out with a roller.

Make a square of about 18 am. Cut protruding edges out.

3. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a square. Unwrap the butter carefully from the baking paper and place it on the dough (see the picture below). Wrap it in the dough like into an envelope.
Roll the dough out again in a rectangle and fold it according to the picture below. Then put it back in the fridge wrapped in plastic for 45 minutes.

Roll the dough out.

Fold it. First fold the bottom third over the central third of the dough.

Then fold the upper third over the rest.

Cut protruding edges to make it regular.
Take the dough out of the fridge and turn it by 90 ° regarding to the position of the last folding. Roll it out according to the picture below and fold it again the same way as before. Stick it back in the fridge covered in plastic for 45 minutes.

Turn the dough by 90 degrees and roll it out.

Fold it again, the same way as previously.
Repeat again: turn the dough by 90 °, roll it out and fold it. Stick the dough back in the fridge covered in plastic and leave it there for at least a couple of hours.
Take the dough out of the fridge, roll it out into a rectangle and cut triangles out of the dough (see the picture).
Roll the triangle out with a roller to make it longer and flatter. The dough is quite stretchy and resistant at this point. Stretch it out as much as possible. Make a little cut on the base of the triangle, and start rolling it down, starting at the base. Keep stretching the dough.
Set the cornetti in a baking pan, cover the pan with plastic so the cornetti don’t dry out and leave them to proof. It might take 4 or more hours depending on the room temperature. When proofed, cornetti are remarkably bigger, and puffier.
Once proofed, heat up the oven for 220 °C, apply the egg wash and place them on the centre rack in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature for 200 °C and bake the cornetti for another 5 to 10 minutes until they are brown. You can brush them with sugar syrup to make them shinier and sweeter right after you take them out of the oven. I use my dandelion honey instead of the sugar syrup.