Pastry cream dumplings

Yes, you read it right! Pastry cream and dumplings together in the same preparation. A divine bite that is hard to beat. Especially if they are homemade. Which can be prepared with wafers from the supermarket, a passable solution for a moment of trouble. But incomparable with some homemade dough dumplings. With its butter, a little sweet wine and a lot of pampering.

This is a recipe my grandmother used to make. Well, I don't know if your dumpling dough is exactly the same. But the fact is that he made some exquisite cream pies that made the whole family lose their senses. He lived a block from my parents' house and when he made them he would call us to come pick up a tray. Once at home the cream pies lasted a newscast. The same as they have lasted in mine and they will in yours if you prepare them.

Every Le Creuset cast iron pan and Cocotte

Ingredients

For the mass:

• 110 g sweet white wine (also water or milk)
• 110 g melted lard (also olive oil)
• 350 g of wheat flour
• 40g sugar

• 500 ml of milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 85g sugar
• 50 g of refined corn flour (maizena)
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick

• Plenty of vegetable oil for frying
• Icing sugar for dusting

You will get 25 to 30 dumplings.

Every Le Creuset Cocotte Iron and Doughnut Mold

Preparation

1. For the pastry cream, place the milk and the cinnamon stick in a saucepan .
2. With a very sharp knife, peel the lemon half very carefully and very finely, we only want the yellow part of the skin, and add it to the milk (a curved knife is ideal for this).
3. Place the milk on the stove and heat over low heat for a couple of minutes without letting it boil.
4. Separate the whites from the yolks . In a deep bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar and fine cornmeal. When the milk is hot, remove the cinnamon stick and lemon peel, pour half over the previous mixture and stir with a whisk until incorporated.
5. Pour into the saucepan and return to the heat.
6. Heat over low heat for about five minutes, stirring gently with a few rods.
7. When the cream thickens, pour it into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, touching the surface so that a crust does not form. Once tempered, we put it in the fridge where we let it cool completely before using.
8. To make the dough for the dumplings, put the sweet wine and melted butter in a deep bowl and add the sugar. We beat with some rods until the latter has dissolved.
9. Add the flour little by little and mix well until smooth. We must obtain a soft dough that does not stick to the hands. If it sticks a lot, add a little more flour.
10. Wrap in cling film and let rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
11. To assemble the empanada, we take portions of dough and stretch them with the help of a rolling pin. The thinner they are, the better. But be careful not to go too far.
12. Cut the dough with the bottom of a mold to make empanadas (better use one of the small ones). Place the cut disk on the surface, fill with a teaspoon of pastry cream, brush the edges with a little water and close with the help of the mold.
13. We repeat the operation as many times as necessary until we finish the dough and/or the pastry cream.
14. Heat plenty of oil in a deep pot (I have used the Every cocotte , which is perfect for this task) and fry the dumplings two by two at a high temperature.
15. Remove when they are golden and let the excess oil drain on a dish covered with absorbent paper.
16. When serving, sprinkle with icing sugar. They are delicious hot or cold, but always on the day they are made.