Cannoli

Cannoli

It's Daring Bakers time again and this month we made Cannoli!

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

These were so much fun to make and the recipe is pretty straight forward. I will be tweaking the recipe just a little the next time I make these. I think I'll eliminate the cocoa powder from the dough and will also use a sweet white wine instead of the Marsala wine. I think this will result in a lighter coloured cannoli tube.

I dipped the ends of the cannoli tubes in some melted dark chocolate and rolled them in chopped almonds. So pretty!

For the filling I chose to make it simple and just added some strong coffee to the ricotta and confectioner's sugar. The final touch was a dusting of confectioner's sugar on top. I called these Cappuccino Cannoli. Enjoy!

Lidisano’s Cannoli

Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners' sugar

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons leftover strong coffee, cold

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:
1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer's directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

6. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

7. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Cannoli shell preparation, cutting out the dough circles, sealing the dough around the form, frying the shells, finished shells ready to fill

Pasta Machine method:
1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:
1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 - 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:

1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, coffee and blend until smooth. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:
1. When ready to serve, fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

28 comments:

Wic said...

oh I would love to have one, this look so delicious. and you should always have a little coffee with them.

Audax said...

Cappuccino Cannoli!!!! What a lovely idea and your photographs are perfect wonderful work, you got the blistering spot-on on the cannoli shells. And the filling is wonderful well done on this challenge. Cheers from Audax in Australia.

Karen | Citrus and Candy said...

Coffee, chocolate and almonds. Perfect combo!

sweetakery said...

they look so delicious and perfect! love the filling! great work!

Trissa said...

i like how you call them cappucino cannoli - that would really be great with a cup of one! beautiful pics and great job!

Nanita said...

Mммм....как вкусно изглеждат!Поздрави!

Amanda said...

Those are beautiful!
I love cannoli so much, but I can't get them where I live. I guess I should make my own!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

My last stop was Jamie's blog Life's a Feast and she had cannoli also. I'm not a baker, but now I'm seriously thinking I'm missing something because these are gorgeous and very impressive.
Sam

strawberriesinparis said...

Awesome looking cannolis they look damn professional!

Peter M said...

It's breakfast time and I don't think there's a law against cannolis for brekkie. I'll take a box.

NKP said...

Beautiful! Cappuccino cannoli sounds divine!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

They look perfect. And I know they must have tasted good, because I made some of mine with coffee in them. :)

Anna said...

Deliciously looking cannoli! And what a great idea - cappucion!!! Great job :) Cheers.

Sara said...

Oooh, these look gorgeous! Yum. :)

veggievixen said...

ack, freaking fantastic!!! these look soooo sinfully delicious.

syrupandhoney said...

Great job it looks like yours came out perfectly! Speaking of the color of the dough, my dough looked maroon because I didn't have quite enough wine leftover from the night before and added cranberry juice. Oh well!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Those cannoli are so perfect and tempting!

Cheers,

Rosa

Linda@eatshowandtell said...

oh yum!! Coffee ricotta filling drools. Your cannoli does look really pretty with the final dusting of icing sugar.

Pontch said...

Yummy
your cannoli looks so delicious
lovely job!

Barbara Bakes said...

Your cannoli stack is so pretty! I agree with not using Marsala if I make them again.

glamah16 said...

Beautiful job Girl! I was curious about the addition of cocoa powder as the cannili that is sold, always seems to be lighter in color.

Sue said...

Your cannoli looks amazing!

Lisa said...

WOw..your cannoli are textbook perfect and beautiful. Are you suuuure you don't moonlight in an Italian Pastry Shop? :) Thank you so much for deep frying with me this month, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! love the coffee infused into the ricotta filling..even though I'm not a coffee person. I'd eat those! :)

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Really Beautiful! Love the addition of coffee!

Shirley said...

Your shells look great, almost red!

Bunny said...

Your cannoli look beautiful, I'v never had one before.

Ana Powell said...

Awesome work.
Perfect and delicious. Great photos x

Hyperion said...

I can't believe Cannoli is the plural! Don't people say "I want a cannoli" and "Would you like some Cannolis?"

Arrghh! My whole world is falling apart.

 
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