Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 250 glard or butter
- 200 mlsour cream
- 1egg yolk
- 2 tbspsugar
- 1 tspbaking powder
- a pinch of salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 50 mlrum
Filling
- 300 gthick plum or apricot jam
- or 200 g ground walnuts with 100 g sugar and 2 tbsp milk
To finish
- icing sugar
- vanilla sugar
Directions
- Rub the fat into the flour with the sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest.
- Add the sour cream, egg yolk and rum and bring it together into a soft dough, working it as little as you can.
- Chill for at least 2 hours, and overnight is better. Cold dough is the only way these hold their shape, and warm dough spreads and leaks in the oven.
- Divide into three and roll each piece into a circle about 3 mm thick.
- Cut each circle into 12 or 16 wedges, the way you would slice a pizza.
- Put a small amount of filling at the wide end of each wedge, well short of the edges.
- Use a thick jam rather than a runny one. Loose jam boils out and welds the biscuits to the tray, and it is worth cooking yours down first if it is soft.
- Roll each wedge up from the wide end towards the point, then curve the two ends inwards into a crescent.
- Set them point-down on lined trays and chill for 20 minutes before baking.
- Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 18 to 20 minutes, until pale golden rather than brown.
- Roll them in icing sugar while still warm, then again once they are completely cool.
- Store in a tin, where they keep for a fortnight and are put out for guests at Christmas and Easter.
Technique
- Two coats of icing sugar. The first melts into the warm pastry and the second stays white on the outside.
- The sour cream and rum in the dough both work against gluten, which is why the pastry stays short and crumbly.
- They are a household biscuit rather than a bakery one, made in enormous batches and kept in tins.
Substitutions
- Thick Greek yoghurt in place of sour cream.
- Brandy or even orange juice in place of rum.
Variations
- Filled with ground walnuts and sugar rather than jam.
- With Turkish delight cut small as a filling.
- Rolled in vanilla sugar alone, without the icing sugar.
History
A Romanian household biscuit baked for Christmas and Easter and kept in tins for guests.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cornulete?
Cornulete is a dessert from Romania: small pastry crescents rolled around jam or walnut, dusted with sugar. A Romanian household biscuit baked for Christmas and Easter and kept in tins for guests.
How long does Cornulete take to make?
Cornulete takes 40 min plus 2 hr chilling of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 60 crescents. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Cornulete?
Yes, within limits. Thick Greek yoghurt in place of sour cream. Brandy or even orange juice in place of rum.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cornulete?
Chill for at least 2 hours, and overnight is better. Cold dough is the only way these hold their shape, and warm dough spreads and leaks in the oven.
