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Canutillos de Bergara
Custard-filled puff pastry horns
Canutillos de Bergara: Gipuzkoa's crisp puff pastry horns filled with lemon-scented custard
SpanishIn Bergara, a market town in the Deba valley of Gipuzkoa, pastry shops have sold canutillos since the nineteenth century, and locals buy them by the tray for saints' days and family visits. Puff pastry is wound around metal cones, baked until crisp and caramelised, then piped full of custard scented with lemon and cinnamon. A common mistake is filling them too early: the pastry softens within a few hours, so fill them close to serving. Chef's tip: overlap the pastry strip by a third as you wind it, so the horns don't unravel in the oven.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the custard
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 ½ oz caster sugar
- 1 ⅜ oz cornflour
For the horns
- 11 ½ oz all-butter puff pastryone sheet, chilled
- ⅓ oz buttermelted, for the cones
- 1 eggbeaten
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
To finish
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat 2 cups whole milk with 1 strip of lemon peel and 1 cinnamon stick until steaming, then leave to infuse for 10 minutes and remove them. Whisk 4 egg yolks, 3 ½ oz caster sugar and 1 ⅜ oz cornflour, whisk in the warm milk, return to the pan and stir over a medium heat until thick and bubbling, about 4 minutes. Cover the surface and chill.
20 minStep 2: Heat the oven to 400°F. Brush 12 metal cream-horn moulds with ⅓ oz butter.
3 minStep 3: Unroll the 11 ½ oz all-butter puff pastry and cut it lengthways into 12 strips about 2 cm wide. Starting at the tip, wind a strip around each mould, overlapping by a third, and press the end underneath.
12 minStep 4: Lay them on a lined tray, brush with 1 egg and sprinkle with 2 tbsp caster sugar. Bake for 18–20 minutes, until puffed, deep golden and shiny with caramelised sugar.
20 minStep 5: While still warm, twist the moulds out gently. Leave the horns to cool completely on a rack.
15 minStep 6: Beat the cold custard smooth, spoon it into a piping bag and fill each horn from the wide end. Dust with 2 tbsp icing sugar, and a little cinnamon if you like, and serve within 2–3 hours.
8 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 210 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 23 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does canutillos de Bergara take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of cinnamon stick?
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon per stick.
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