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Puff pastry horns with Italian meringue
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Puff pastry horns with Italian meringue

Crunchy puff pastry and fluffy Italian meringue make a heavenly delicious combination that is guaranteed to be hard to resist. And that's exactly what the sweet puff pastry horns with Italian meringue are made of, which were very popular in the Soviet Union and were offered in many pastry shops. According to this recipe you can make this Soviet taste highlight yourself, which is also a hit on the outside.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Russian
Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 20 pieces

Equipment

  • stainless steel spiral croissants molds
  • piping bag with star nozzle

Ingredients

  • 1200 g puff pastry (bought or homemade)
  • vegetable oil (to grease the baking pans)

for the filling

  • egg whites of 4 eggs (weigh, for me 140 g of eggs size L)
  • approx. 280 g sugar (twice as much as egg white)
  • approx. 93 ml water (1/3 of the sugar quantity)
  • 1/4 tsp citric acid powder

for dusting

  • powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Roll out the puff pastry to a square about 0.3 cm thick if you are using homemade, or let the purchased pastry thaw. Cut the dough into strips about 5 cm wide and 35 cm long (or depending on the length of your baking pan).
  • Brush the steel spiral croissants molds with vegetable oil and wrap them in a spiral with the dough strips, spread them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake them in a preheated oven at 210 °C for about 15 minutes until they turn golden brown. Let the puff pastry horns cool down afterwards and remove the baking pans from the horns.

Preparation of the Italian meringue

  • Take egg whites from 4 eggs and weigh them. Now weigh out twice as much sugar as egg whites. Divide the amount of sugar by 3 and weigh out as much water in ml.
  • Put the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, making sure the sugar has dissolved before boiling.
  • Once the sugar syrup boils, add citric acid, stir briefly and simmer over low heat (stop stirring) until the syrup reaches 118 - 120 °C.
  • In parallel, start whipping egg whites with food processor at medium speed.
  • Once the sugar syrup reaches 118 - 120 °C, take it off the heat and immediately add it slowly in a thin stream to the whipped egg whites, continuing to whip the egg whites. Just before the sugar syrup reaches the necessary temperature, you can check if the egg whites already have a foamy consistency. If it is not, you can briefly turn the food processor on maximum speed. However, the egg whites must not be whipped into a solid mass when you add the sugar syrup. After adding the sugar syrup to the egg whites, continue to beat the mixture at maximum speed for about 15 minutes, until the cream is firm and the mixing bowl with the cream is barely warm when you stir it from the outside.

Filling the puff pastry horns

  • Put the Italian meringue in a piping bag and fill the puff pastry horns with it. Then dust them with powdered sugar.

Notes

  • Both purchased and homemade puff pastry is suitable.
  • Accurately weigh all the ingredients for the Italian meringue.
  • Measure the temperature of the sugar syrup accurately. It must not be lower than 118 °C and must not exceed 120 °C.
  • Add the hot sugar syrup to the egg whites slowly, in a thin stream.
  • The egg whites must be foamy when the sugar syrup is added. It should not be too little, so that it has not yet become foamy, but it should not be too firmly whipped either.
  • After adding the sugar syrup to the egg whites, whip the cream really well.
  • The time to cool the puff pastry horns after baking is not included in the preparation time.
  • Note the detailed tips and tricks for baking the puff pastry horns with Italian meringue at the top of the post.