Okay, so I got the urge to mess around with dessert calzone fillings the other day. It’s not something I do often, but the idea sounded fun. You know, making those little pockets of sweet goodness. The dough part is pretty straightforward if you buy it or have a go-to recipe, but the inside? That’s where the real game is.
Getting Started – The Apple Idea
First thing that popped into my head was apple. Like a mini apple pie, but folded over. So, I went to the fridge and found a few apples that needed using up. Nothing fancy, just regular eating apples.
I washed them, peeled them, and then got to chopping. I diced them up pretty small. You gotta think about how it’ll cook inside the dough, right? Big chunks are a no-go. They stay hard, or they make the calzone weirdly lumpy.
Once they were all chopped, I threw them in a bowl. Added a scoop of brown sugar – didn’t measure, just eyeballed it – and a good shake of cinnamon. Maybe a tiny pinch of nutmeg, too. Stirred it all up. Some folks like to pre-cook the apples a bit. I decided to do that just slightly this time. Dumped the mix into a small pan, medium heat, just for like, 5 minutes? Stirring it so it wouldn’t burn. The goal was just to soften them a little, get the sugar melty, but definitely not make apple soup. That’s the killer for calzones, fillings that are too wet. It makes the dough soggy or leaks out everywhere. Looked okay, smelled amazing. Set that aside to cool down.
Trying Something Richer – Chocolate Hazelnut
Then I thought, gotta have a chocolate option. That’s usually a crowd-pleaser. I rummaged through the pantry. Found a jar of that chocolate hazelnut spread, you know the one. And a bag of chocolate chips, the mini kind.
This one was way simpler. Scooped a good amount of the spread into another bowl. Dumped in a handful of the mini chocolate chips. Gave it a good stir. That’s it. Seriously. Some people add ricotta or mascarpone to this kind of filling, but I wanted to keep it simple today. Just pure chocolate hazelnut goodness. Maybe some chopped nuts would have been nice, like hazelnuts or pecans, for texture? Didn’t have any on hand, so skipped it. This mixture was plenty thick already, no worries about it being too runny.
Other Thoughts & Finishing Up The Fillings
While I was at it, my mind wandered to other possibilities.
- Berries and cream cheese? Always a good combo. Just gotta make sure the cream cheese is softened and maybe beat it with a little sugar and vanilla extract. Mix in berries gently at the end. Maybe use frozen berries but thaw and drain them first? Wetness is the enemy!
- Ricotta, sugar, lemon zest, maybe mini chocolate chips? Like a cannoli filling. Need to drain the ricotta really well though. Like, really well. Maybe even press it.
But for today, I stuck with the two I made. The apple cinnamon mix had cooled down nicely. The chocolate hazelnut stuff was ready to go. Both looked like they had the right consistency – thick enough to scoop, not so wet they’d cause a disaster in the oven.
So there they were, two bowls of potential deliciousness, sitting on my counter. The actual filling part of the dessert calzone adventure was done. Now for the assembly and baking… but that’s a story for another time. For now, mission accomplished on the fillings front.
