Sporcamuss Italian Cream Filled Pastries
Sporcamuss, a delicious flakey Pastry filled with a tasty Italian Cream then dusted with powdered sugar. A fast and easy dessert everyone will love.
If you love Italian Pastry Cream especially a Cream made with a little milk and cream, instead of just milk, you are going to love this Amazing Italian Dessert.
Recipe Ingredients
- Puff pastry – either store bought or homemade puff pastry
- Milk – whole or heavy milk
- Cream – heavy, whipping or whole cream with at least 30% fat content
- Egg yolks
- Sugar – granulated sugar
- Vanilla – vanilla extract
- Flour – all purpose flour
A couple of months ago I made a very Traditional and Special Italian Dessert with Pastry Cream and since I made a lot more pastry cream then I needed, I certainly didn’t want to throw it out. So I asked a friend of ours, who is a terrific cook if he had any good ideas. He told me about these fast and easy squares called Sporcamuss.
I decided they would be perfect for my extra Pastry Cream, and they were. All I had to do was buy some pre-made puff pastry, roll it out and cut it into 12 equal or almost equal squares.
I then punctured the squares with a fork, sprinkled each square with some sugar and baked them until they were puffy and lightly golden.
I let them cool, then each square I sliced down the middle to make two parts, top and bottom. I filled them, ok maybe I over filled them with the delicious pastry cream. You know you can never get enough of this tasty Cream. I then placed the top square on the cream and gave them a good dusting of Icing Sugar.
Substitutions
Rather then using the classic pastry cream you could use coffee pastry cream, lemon pastry cream or even chocolate pastry cream!
What are Sporcamuss?
So now I guess you are wondering what region Sporcamuss comes from and what it actually means. Well it is a dessert from the South of Italy, in Puglia. Sporcamuss means dirty your mouth. So therefore, I am betting you can’t eat one of these without getting some on your face! Of course don’t forget a napkin or two!
In Puglia just before serving they heat the squares up in a moderate oven for about three to five minutes (without the filling). They say they taste better. I don’t know mine were gone before I had a chance to even turn the oven on.
How to store Sporcumuss
Once the pastries are filled they really should be eaten immediately. The unfilled baked puff pastry can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. To recrisp the puff pastry reheat them in a 375F/190C oven for a few minutes. The pastry cream will keep for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
More Recipes to Enjoy with Italian Pastry Cream
I will have to try that next time, I’m wondering how the Pastry Cream will hold up. If you happen to try them warmed up, let me know. Enjoy!
Sporcamuss Italian Cream Filled Pastries
Ingredients
- 1 roll pre-made puff pastry (thawed if frozen)
PASTRY CREAM
- ¾ cup whole or heavy milk
- ¾ cup cream heavy, whipping or whole cream with at least 30% fat content
- 4 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½ tablespoons all purpose flour
Instructions
PASTRY CREAM make it first
- In a medium pot, heat over low the milk and cream, do not boil. Remove from heat and let cool to warm.
- In a medium pot add yolks and sugar, whisk together until combined, then add flour and vanilla, place pot over low heat, add warm milk/cream, whisking continuously until thickened. Remove to a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap (make sure wrap touches the cream mixture)let sit for approximately 20 minutes then refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours.
PUFF PASTRY SQUARES
- Pre-heat oven to 375F (190C)
- Cut puff pastry into 12 equal squares, puncture each square with a fork a few times, sprinkle with sugar and bake for approximately 20 minutes until puffy and lightly golden. Cool, then carefully, cut each square through the centre to make two parts (top and bottom).
- Remove Pastry Cream from the refrigerator, place in pastry bag or use a spoon to fill 12 squares and then top with remaining squares, dust with powdered sugar and serve. If you would like to eat them warm then pre-heat oven to 350F and heat the puff pastry for approximately 2-4 minutes. We ate them unheated and they were delicious. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Updated from August 4, 2016.
I recently returned from Sicily where they served delicious vanilla filled pastries at breakfast. I make my own creme patisserie filling but wondered if mascarpone is ever used in the fillings as they were slightly thicker in texture but very creamy in a lovely crisp shell. I have just purched sfogliatelle here in the UK from a deli but very dry exterior and so disappointing 😣
Hi Kaye, I don’t know of any recipe that Italians I know that make it with mascarpone, it could have been an Italian Chantilly Cream, which is the pastry cream recipe on this post then folded into a firmly whipped cream on this recipe https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/filled-pandoro/ .As far as a puff pastry (sfogliatelle) goes this easy puff pastry recipe https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/puff-pastry/ is very popular. Hope that helps. Let me know.
Thank you for this recipe and all the recipes on the site. I was lucky enough to spend some time in Italy years ago and I adore the food. These days I am housebound and spend my days hoping to recreate the deliciousness that I’ve experienced in my various travels. Your instructions are perfect for me and I had such a success with the Italian pastry cream! I didn’t have double cream available so made it with whole milk and cornflour. There’s a custard brand here in the UK called Ambrosia, which I normally use and with the whole milk, mine tasted almost exactly the same. As my partner loves ambrosia, he was very impressed.
I am hoping to make these pastries for my brother’s birthday, but I found my pastry cream wasn’t quite thick enough. Would the double cream and all purpose flour instead of cornflour fix this?
Hi Tina, thanks so much, so glad you had success, and yes nothing like the food in Italy. To make the pastry cream you will definitely need to add double cream and plain flour. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
Hi Rosemary – thank you so much for getting back to me. I tried the recipe again yesterday with all the right ingredients and it worked like a dream! I am still a bit ‘gob-smacked’ (amazed) that I managed to create something so delicious and reminiscent of Italy in my own kitchen. I gave them to my extended family last night and they were very impressed and happy.
Thank you for giving me some confidence in my own abilities – I’ve always been a nervous cook and I was so proud of my sporcamuss.
Hi Tina, thanks so much, so glad you and your family enjoyed it. And good for you, it just takes practice. Take care!
I just made a custard, so I’m sure I can make this! Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to make this! Your site has a lot of yummy recipes!! ❤️
Hi June, thanks so much, I hope you enjoy them. Take care and have a wonderful weekend!
Hi. How far ahead can I make the pastry cream? Can I make it tonight and fill the pastries tomorrow?
Thanks.
I have made these several times already, but not on different days.
Hi Donna, yes you can make it ahead of time. It can last 3-5 days in the fridge. Hope that helps. Take care!
I made a lot of vol-au-vent cases and saved the centre cut-outs. They cooked up as small puffs, so I am going to try piping this cream into them. Sounds so yummy 😋
Hi Jenny, thanks let me know how it goes. Take care, have a great week.