Cannoli – the best italian desert
I’ve made these a few times now and I always get rave reviews each time I make them. The recipe itself is very simple and allows for a lot of creativity, experimentation and variety. So here goes.
Cannoli shells.
The most important part of this is to buy the proper aluminum cannolli rings. We bought our pack of 4 for $5. So really cheap.
Ingredients:
Flour
Icing sugar
Spices
Buttermilk
Egg white
The basic recipe for this is 2 parts flour for 1part icing sugar with the proper amount of liquid added. I use buttermilk but milk or water would work just as well. Buttermilk does add the extra fluffiness that I like. I also add some other spice in the mix such as cinnamon or cloves. Figure that 1 ½ cups of flour with ¾ cup of sugar will yield about 20 rings.
Mix all the dry ingredients together and then slowly add liquid until the desired texture is reached. Aim for pizza dough texture. Knead for 5 minutes and then let it rest for ½ hour. Separate into golf ball size pieces and roll out until very, very thin. Now, cut out the proper sized pieces to wrap around the cannoli rings. Join each end with egg white. Ensure that the dough is shorter than the metal because as they cook the dough expands and it may expand past and around the ring, trapping it inside.
Now for the long part. A bit of wine does make time go by faster. You will have to deep fry these so if you have a deep fryer, this is easy. If not, put oil into a pot or pan (3/4 to 1 inch) and heat it on the stove top at low to medium-low. As the oil heats, put in a piece of dough to test the oil temperature. It should fry the dough and brown it in around 20 seconds. Once it is hot enough, one at a time, fry each ring. Once browned on every side (2-3 minutes), remove it from the oil and gently tap the end of the ring on a plate to loosen the ring and then using thongs, gently, gently, pull off the cannoli shell. I made twenty and I have 4 rings so it took me a little over an hour.
With a bit of patience and some experimentation you’ll get it. Since you are deep frying stuff, be smart and be safe. When the oil is not is use turn off the burner and remove the pot. Keep the lid handy to cut off the oxygen should the oil start to smoke. And keep the fan running.
Cannoli filling
This is the fun part! Whip ricotta (or mascarpone) with a generous amount of icing sugar and any flavouring you want. One kilogram of ricotta (2 conventional containers) will fill 20 rings. Flavouring suggestions:
Rum, Vanilla, Orange pulp
Cinnamon, Almond flour, Limoncello
Pomegranate syrup, Cloves, Lemon zest
Now, fill the shells using a cake icing decorator, and serve. These do keep well when separated but once the icing is inside the shells, they become soggy in a few hours. So it is best to combine just before serving.
