Puff-pastry cylinders filled with dulce de leche and dusted with sugar. A staple factura of the Argentine bakery, eaten with mate at breakfast or afternoon merienda.
Cañoncitos de dulce de leche are a staple of the Argentine bakery counter, part of the factura tradition, the vast family of pastries eaten with mate at breakfast or the afternoon merienda. They are made from puff pastry, rolled thin, cut into rectangles, wrapped around metal tubes, baked until golden and crisp, then filled with dulce de leche and dusted with icing sugar. The contrast of the shatteringly crisp pastry and the smooth, sweet dulce de leche is the pleasure. Facturas were brought by European immigrants, but the Argentine addiction to dulce de leche made the filled versions the most popular. Every panadería has cañoncitos in the glass case, alongside medialunas and bizcochos.
A shatteringly crisp, golden pastry cylinder filled to overflowing with smooth, sweet dulce de leche, dusted with sugar. Bite carefully, the pastry shatters and the filling pushes out the other end.
The technique is a rough puff pastry wrapped around tubes and baked. The pastry is made with layers of dough and butter through repeated folding, then rolled thin and cut into long rectangles. Each rectangle is wrapped around a greased metal cannoli tube, the seam pressed to seal. Baked at 200 degrees C until golden and the pastry has puffed in layers around the tube. After cooling, the tube is gently slipped out, leaving a hollow cylinder. Dulce de leche is piped into both ends until full. The pastry must be baked very crisp, as it softens once filled, and the filling should be generous.
Variations
Some fill with pastry cream instead of dulce de leche. A chocolate-dipped version is modern.
On the Palate
Where Cañoncitos de Dulce de Leche sits in the Argentinian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
5 steps · 40 min
- 18 min
Make a rough puff pastry: fold butter into a flour-and-water dough 5 times with rests; roll to 2mm thick.
- 26 min
Cut into 12 rectangles about 8cm by 15cm; wrap each around a greased metal tube, seam-side down.
- 37 min
Bake at 200 degrees C for 18 to 20 minutes until deep golden and puffed.
Watch outBake the pastry very crisp and deep gold — it softens once filled, so under-baked tubes go soggy after piping.
- 44 min
Cool; gently slip out the tubes.
Watch outLet the tubes cool fully before slipping them out — pull them warm and the layers crush and the cylinder collapses.
- 54 min
Pipe dulce de leche into both ends until full; dust with icing sugar.
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