Lamb of Lodi Easter cake

To prepare the Lodi Easter lamb, start with the puff pastry: in the bowl of the stand mixer equipped with a hook, pour the flour, fresh liquid cream 1 and salt 2, then turn on the machine until you obtain a soft and homogeneous dough 3.

Transfer it to the work surface 4 and knead it briefly to form a dough ball 5. Let it rest in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, take a sheet of parchment paper and place the butter in the center 6.

Cover with another sheet of parchment paper 7 and roll out the butter with a rolling pin to make it thinner 8, then transfer it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Once rested, roll out the dough on the floured work surface with the rolling pin 9.

Roll out the dough 10 to reach a size sufficient to insert the butter block diagonally 11, then fold the edges of the dough towards the center one over the other to perfectly enclose the butter 12.

Dust the surface with a little flour, put just a bit on top of the dough block as well, and using a rolling pin, roll only in the direction in front of you, to obtain a rectangle that extends only in length and not in width 13: Fold the two side edges of the short side towards the center 14 15.

Press the dough block with your index finger to mark the first rest 16. Place it on a tray, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator 17. Meanwhile, prepare the pastry cream: soak the gelatin in cold water 18.

Heat the milk with the vanilla bean, without the seeds, and lemon zest 19. Meanwhile, pour the eggs, the vanilla bean seeds removed earlier, and the sugar 20 into a bowl. Mix with a whisk to combine, then incorporate the starch 21.

Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture through a strainer to catch the lemon zest and vanilla bean 22, mix to combine 23, and return to the heat 34.

Thicken the cream, stirring constantly with the whisk, then turn off the heat and add the drained and squeezed gelatin 25. Stir to dissolve it, then transfer the cream to a baking dish. Let it cool, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to set 26. Take the dough block and make the second fold of the puff pastry in the direction of the folds 27.

You need to achieve a thickness of 0.4 inches 28, then refold the side edges as the first time 29 and mark with two fingers the second rest 30.

Let it rest again for another 30 minutes in the refrigerator, wrapping the dough block with plastic wrap 31. Meanwhile, take the cream and soften it with the whisk 32. In a separate bowl, whip the cream with the beaters 33.

The cream should be semi-whipped 34. Gradually fold the semi-whipped cream into the cream 35 stirring from bottom to top with a spatula until well incorporated 36.

Transfer the diplomatic cream into a piping bag without a nozzle 37 and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Take the dough block and roll it out to make the third fold 38: form a rectangular puff pastry again, 0.4 inches thick 39.

Fold the edges towards the center 40, then mark with 3 fingers the third and final rest 41. Always let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes covered with plastic wrap. After this time, take the dough block and roll it out with the rolling pin on the work surface 42.

Now you need to obtain a puff pastry approximately 0.3 inches thick. Place the cardboard shape of the lamb here, we created a 8x8 inches drawing. Use a craft knife to cut the puff pastry 43. Place the puff pastry shapes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, brush the surface with some egg yolk 44 and dust with granulated sugar 45.

Bake the puff pastry lambs in the preheated fan oven at 350°F for 20 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and let cool completely 46. Cut the lambs in half horizontally 47, so they can be filled 48.

Now fill the base of the lamb with cream by piping dollops with the piping bag 49. Close with the top half 50 and serve the Lodi Easter lamb immediately 51!