ROSE AND PISTACHIO SHRIKHAND CREAM CONES
Inspiration for this recipe
I was recently watching a food and travel documentary on tv where a known British chef visited different cities in Italy. I learned there that Italians are really hot on pastries for breakfast! Sounds like I need another visit to Italy, pronto!!! He ordered Sicilian cannolis from a cafe which were filled with a sweet ricotta filling. I researched the recipe and found that there are many different versions of similar pastries. The issue with these recipes is that the fillings use eggs in the cream. One of my favourite creamy desserts is Shrikhand so I decided to fill my cones with that. Instead of the traditional Shrikhand flavourings, I thought rose and pistachio would make a spectacular combination and a unique flavouring for Shrikhand. To make these cream horns light work, I decided to use ready-made shop-bought puff pastry for ease and speed. I chose to make the cones in the air fryer as I’ve found the air fryer is a brilliant and quick way to cook puff pastry. We recently made our Vegan Curry Puffs, Air fryer Puff Pastry Chilli Cheese Pineapple Parcels, Tandoori Paneer Tarte au Soleil and Air Fryer Punjabi Samosa Puffs with brilliant results. The air fryer also works brilliantly for Kataifi pastry and Phyllo Pastry like in our Sutarfeni and Air fryer Baklava recipe. Have you tried baking a cheesecake in the air fryer? Have a look at my Vegan Burnt Basque Cheesecake recipe.
Puff Pastry
Cream horns or cones are made from puff or flaky pastry. The pastry is cut into thin strips and wound around a conical mould and then baked until lightly golden and flakey. The result is mini cones that can then be filled with a variety of creamy fillings. There are various versions from different cuisines around the world. In Italy, these particular cones are called cannoncini – different to Sicilian cannoli! In Austria, they are known as Shaumrollen. In Russia, there is a version called Trubochki. Love puff pastry recipes? Have a look at my Indian-French fusion Eggless Mille Feuille with White Chocolate Saffron Yogurt Cream and Cardamom Pistachio Palmiers.
What is Shrikhand?
Shrikhand is a divine South Asian dessert most commonly eaten in Gujarat, India. It is a lightly sweet summer dessert made from strained natural yogurt. This thickened yogurt is then sweetened with caster sugar and flavoured with saffron, nuts, and spices such as cardamom. Shrikhand can be eaten alone or with poori – deep-fried Indian bread. We love our Homemade Instant Shrikhand with cream as it is a quick alternative to shrikhand made with strained yogurt. This version uses Greek yogurt which is naturally thicker. Adding whipped cream gives the shrikhand a phenomenal silky finish. Modern cooking in India has now brought to light many different shrikhand flavours. A very popular version is Mango Shrikhand. Check out our Sugar-free Shrikhand with Saffron if you are avoiding refined sugar in your diet.
Ingredients
(exact measurements and method can be found in the recipe card below) Ready-made Puff Pastry – any good quality puff pastry will do here. Remember to take out the pastry from the fridge a little while before using otherwise it will crack when you unroll it. However, make sure it doesn’t warm too much otherwise it will be difficult to handle
For the cream/shrikhand
Natural full-fat yogurt – strain the yogurt – see method below Caster sugar – use either caster sugar or grind granulated sugar in a spice blender until fine. Double cream/whipping cream/heavy cream – the cream makes the filling super silky and keeps it light Rose essence – I prefer to use essence over rose syrup because I want the cream to remain white rather than become pink. Also rose essence is potent so only a few drops are required to flavour the cream. I used rose essence in this Turkish Delight Ice Cream. Pistachios – grind pistachios until they resemble a fine powder. Rose Petals – dried rose petals and/or rosebuds for garnishing.
Special Equipment/Tools
Tips for the best puff pastry cream cones:
Keep the pastry cold – it will be difficult to handle once it warms. However, too cold and it will crack, so balance here is key! If the pastry cracks a little you can try using a rolling pin to gently smooth some of the cracks. If it still looks a little cracked, keep the cracked side inside when twisting the strips onto the pastry cones. Overlap the pastry a little when twisting so that the cones are sealed all the way around. Once cooked, allow the pastry to cool a little before removing it from the metal cones – this prevents the pastry from collapsing when it is still warm. To save yourself from having to pipe the filling using a piping bag, you can alternatively use two spoons to push the filling in. Use a skewer to further push the filling in. The skewer can also be used to make a swirl pattern should you want. Keep the cream/shrikhand at room temperature. You will find it easier to fill the delicate pastries. Fill the cones just before serving to prevent them from going soggy. You can make the shrikhand up to a day in advance but make the pastry on the day of serving as they will go stale pretty quickly!
How to make Puff Pastry Cones in the Airfyer
My new air fryer hack which I’m loving recently is air fryer puff pastry! I get a more even finish with the air fryer and usually, the puff pastry tends to only need between 5-7 minutes! Making the cones is actually super simple, it just needs some patience. Roll out your puff pastry onto a chopping board or worktop. Using a ruler, cut the puff pastry into 2 cm strips. Wrap 1 strip around each metal cone, overlapping the pastry a little as you go. Preheat the air fryer for 5 mins at 190C. Place the cones on parchment paper in the air fryer basket. Ensure that the pastries do not touch each other and give them enough space to expand. Air fry for 6 minutes at 190C or until lightly golden – you can open the tray to keep a check! Allow cooling before removing the metal cones. See the recipe card for the oven method!
How to make Rose and Pistachio Cream/Shrikhand
You can see our Shrikhand recipe for the traditional flavour (link under What is Shrikhand? above)
- First, we have to strain the natural yogurt.
- Place 2 kitchen paper/towels in a colander. Keep a bowl under the colander to collect the liquid.
- Spoon the yogurt onto the kitchen paper and top with another kitchen towel.
- Place a weight such as a bowl onto the yogurt. Allow to strain for around 30 mins-1 hour whilst preparing the cones.
- Whisk double cream (I like to bring it close to room temperature as it whisks so much faster!) 6.Fold in the strained yogurt. 7.Add the caster sugar and rose essence and mix thoroughly. You will see that the cream becomes silky and glossy. It is now ready to be filled into the cones!
How to fill Cream horns?
Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle with shrikhand/cream and pipe into cool pastry/cream horns. However, we just spooned the shrikhand using a teaspoon, as we didn’t want to waste any cream/shrikhand. Use a skewer to push more cream into the pastry.
Some savoury fusion recipes we make again and again are Tandoori Paneer Galette, Hash Brown and Pineapple Chaat, Mogo Chips 65, Cardamom Potato Dauphinoise and Vegan Brussels Sprouts Korma
