Unleash your inner baker: Homemade cream-filled pastries without special molds

For the dough, you'll need:

• 1 pound of wheat flour (preferably cake flour),
• 0.55 pounds of butter (it should be cold),
• 1 egg,
• 0.45 pounds of sour cream,
• tablespoon of powdered sugar.

For the cream, you'll need:

• About 1 cup of whipping cream,
• 0.55 pounds of mascarpone cheese,
• Four tablespoons of powdered sugar,
• Fruit syrup for color (optional).

• Begin by making the shortcrust pastry. Sift the flour onto the countertop, and add the butter (previously cut into smaller pieces), the egg, sour cream, and powdered sugar. Combine the ingredients using a sharp knife, then knead the dough vigorously once they've relatively combined.
• Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film, and refrigerate for an hour. Afterward, divide the dough into parts, roll each part thinly, and cut it into strips around 0.6 inches wide.
• The next step is to prepare foil molds. Fold a sheet of aluminum foil several times until it's firm. Once you have a rectangle with a longer side of around 2.4-2.8 inches, shape a cone from it and wind the dough strips onto the cones (lightly greasing the foil with melted butter before this can be helpful).
• Arrange the molds on a baking sheet and place them in an oven preheated to 392 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Allow the pastries to cool down fully after that.
• While the pastries are in the oven, prepare the cream. Whip the thoroughly chilled cream until stiff, gradually adding mascarpone and sugar. Split the cream mixture into two parts, add fruit syrup (like raspberry) to one portion, and blend to get two shades of cream.
• Once the pastries have cooled, fill them with the cream (using a pastry or foil bag with a cut corner would be best for this).

And there you go! Finish by dusting the pastries with powdered sugar.