Tiramisu cream horns

What is a cream horn you may ask? Well, it’s like an ice cream cone made out of puff pastry and usually filled with sweetened cream and jam or fruit. Cream horns are the cousin of the Italian cannoli and used to be the staple of the old-fashioned family-run European bakeries found all over South Africa in the fifties and sixties.
Using this nifty cream horn tool, this recipe pays homage to retro pastry treats and is also inspired by that other quintessential Italian dessert: tiramisu. The result is a light, crispy cone encasing the rich, boozy filling, and the perfect accompaniment to a strong cup of afternoon coffee. Download print-friendly version.

Ingredients for the cream horns (makes 6):
Plain flour (for dusting)
200g ready-rolled defrosted puff pastry
Vegetable oil (for greasing)
1 egg
Splash of milk
Dark chocolate, to decorate
Icing sugar, to decorate

For the filling:
125g mascarpone
80ml Kahlua
125ml cream
125ml (half cup) strong coffee
6 Savoiardi or Boudoir biscuits

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Gently roll the defrosted puff pastry rectangle out onto a lightly-floured work surface to half its original thickness. The longest edge should be roughly 60cm long.
3. Cut the pastry into 2cm strips (a pizza cutter works well here).
4. Lightly grease each of the cream horn moulds with vegetable oil.
5. Wind each pastry strip around the prepared horn moulds, starting at the tip. Overlap the edges as you wind the pastry strip around, finishing at the wider rim of the tin. You will have to play around with what method works best for you: either lay the cream horn mould on your work surface and roll it along the pastry strip, twisting it around, or hold the mould horizontally up in the air and wind the pastry strip up.
6. Beat the egg and milk together in a small bowl and brush the pastry all over with it.
7. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper and sprinkle a few drops of water on it before placing the cream horns on top and transferring to the oven.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
9. Remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack to cool.
10. When the pastry horns have cooled, carefully twist them free from the horn moulds and set aside.
11. For the filling, beat together the mascarpone and half the Kahlua until smooth.
12. Whisk the cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form, and then mix together with the mascarpone mixture and set aside.
13. Combine the remaining Kahlua and coffee in a small bowl, big enough to dip the biscuits in.
14. Briefly dip the savoiardi biscuits on each side in the coffee mixture, then crumble the damp biscuits onto a plate.
15. To assemble, spoon about half a biscuit’s worth of crumbs into the bottom of the pastry horn, then spoon or pipe some of the cream mixture in so it fills the horn to about halfway. Add another layer of boozy biscuits and cream.
16. Smooth the top layer of cream and grate some good quality chocolate on top, then dust the pastry with icing sugar to finish.
And there you have it. It’s not every day you get to eat a cream horn.