Cannoli Recipe
Adapted from Sicilian Food Tours by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 60 minutes plus 30 minutes resting time
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 16 (depending on how big you make them)
Start this the day before by straining ricotta
Ingredients Needed
For Cannoli Shells
- 170g/6oz Tipo 00 flour
- 20g/0.7oz caster or superfine sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 20g/0.7oz lard
- 80-90ml/2.8-3oz of dry white wine or marsala wine
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- Oil for frying
- Egg to seal
Ricotta Filling
- 375g/13oz ricotta
- 150g/5oz mascarpone
- 60g/2oz icing or powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Chocolate Pastry Cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 60g/2oz caster or superfine sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1.5 tablespoons cornflour/fine cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- Pinch salt
- 90g/3oz dark chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 100g/3.5oz mascarpone
To Decorate
- Crushed pistachios
- Mini dark chocolate chips
- Glace orange rind strips
- Glace cherries, halved
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 DAY BEFORE: RICOTTA - First strain the ricotta (375g/13oz). Place ricotta in a nut bag or on top of a clean Chux or double layer of paper towels on a sieve above a bowl (bottom of sieve not touching base of bowl). Weigh down the ricotta with a plate or bowl and strain in the fridge overnight or for 6 hours. I also recommend doing the chocolate cream in step 4 the day before too just to give it time to cool.
Step 2 CANNOLI DOUGH - Whisk the flour (170g/6oz), sugar (20g/0.7oz) and salt (1/2 teaspoon) together in a bowl. Melt and rub the lard (20g/0.7oz) into the flour with your fingers until there are no lumps. Add the vinegar (1 teaspoon) and then the wine (80-90ml/2.8-3oz) - don't add all of the wine, hold back a couple of teaspoons and only add them if the dough is dry. Transfer to a floured work bench and knead for 10 minutes until elastic and smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or overnight). During this time you can prepare the filling.
Step 3 RICOTTA FILLING - Beat the mascarpone (150g/5oz) until smooth and then beat in the strained ricotta, sieved icing sugar (60g/2oz), lemon zest (1/2 teaspoon), cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon) and nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon) until smooth. Set aside in the fridge.
Step 4 CHOCOLATE CREAM - Place milk (1 cup) and vanilla (1 teaspoon) in a small saucepan and heat over medium to high heat and bring to a boil. While it is heating, whisk the sugar (60g/2oz), eggs (2 eggs), yolk (1 egg yolk), cornflour (1.5 tablespoons), cocoa powder (1 tablespoon) and salt (a pinch) in another bowl until smooth. As soon as milk starts to boil, pour half of it into the egg mixture in a thin stream whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Then add the tempered egg mixture back to the hot milk in saucepan. Heat this over low medium heat while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken (around 2-5 minutes depending on heat). Thermomix directions: add milk, vanilla, sugar, eggs, egg yolk. cornflour, cocoa powder and salt in TM bowl and set to 7 minutes, 90C/ Speed #3.5.
Stir in chocolate chips (90g/3oz) and whisk until completely melted. Remove from heat and add butter (1 tablespoon). Cover with cling film and chill completely. Then whisk in the mascarpone (100g/3.5oz). Your chocolate cream should be able to hold its shape now.
Step 5 ROLL - Flour a tray to hold your cannoli and have your cannoli tubes and a 10cm/4inch round cutter ready. I recommend rolling these out using a pasta machine but it can also be done using a rolling pin provided you roll it thin enough. Divide the dough into 3 portions and take one piece and cover the rest. Flour it lightly and shape it into a small square. Pass it through the thickest setting on pasta machine (7 for my machine) and then lower the thickness to 5 and then 3 and then 2. If the pastry is too long to easily handle, cut it in half so that it is easier to manage. 1 is the thinnest on my machine so we take it to 2 or 1/16 of an inch or 1.5mm. You should be able to see a little through it (see pic).
Step 6 SHAPE - Cut out 10cm/4inch circles and allow to rest for 5 minutes. The dough may spring back slightly (that's the gluten in the dough) so you will roll it out again just to form a perfect 10cm/4inch circle. Wrap each circle of dough around a cannoli rod and seal with egg on the inside and then on the outside pressing down so that the seal is tight and won't come apart when frying. Repeat with the rest of the dough placing them apart on the floured tray.
Step 7 FRY - Heat 2 inches of oil in a deep fryer or cast iron pot to 180C/350F and fry 2 cannoli at a time for 1.5-2 minutes or until golden and blistered. Drain on paper towels and repeat with rest of the molds. Cool completely and then remove the metal rods.
Step 8 FILL - Place each filling in a piping bag and fill generously from one end starting in the middle and then the other end. Spoon crushed pistachio on one end and chocolate chips on another. Then add half a glace cherry or a strip of candied orange zest on top of the pistachio and chocolate. Serve straight away for maximum pleasure guaranteed!
Personal Note
I usually like to take it easy on the weekend but things get so busy especially towards the end of the year that I spent the Saturday afternoon on Halloween making these cannoli. I was exhausted by the end of it and I had to quickly rush to get ready. Mr NQN and I were having dinner with The Wizard and Witchy Woman and then going to a prison themed bar for Halloween.
This year Halloween was on a Saturday so there was a lot going on but we thought that the prison bar would be fun. We didn't quite know what would be happening there but it got great reviews.
After dinner we joined the queue outside the venue and entered. We donned orange prison themed jump suits and were served cocktails from our own little cells. It was something in between an escape room, a theatre show and a bar. The two hours flew by as we enjoyed cocktails (or mocktails for me) and plead our case for early parole with the warden and watched the actors interact with all of the fellow prisoner guests!
So tell me Dear Reader, what did you do for Halloween this year? And have you ever made cannoli?
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