Cannoli from scratch

[beergut]

Recipe:



Pastry shell:



2 cups AP flour

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup marsala wine (can use up to a full cup)

1 egg



I use a stand mixer and whisk, but you can literally mix this with your hands. Cut butter into flour mix, start mixer on low. Add in sugar, cinnamon, egg, and wine. I added up to a full cup of wine because as the dough started to come together, it became too grainy, and the extra wine hydrated it and gave me the consistency I wanted. Once dough it made, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for an hour to two hours.



Filling:



2 cups ricotta cheese (well drained)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream



I wrapped the ricotta in some cheescloth, flattened it out in a bowl, put another bowl on it, and put a can into that bowl to weight it down and drain out the moisture. You want to squeeze as much moisture out of the ricotta as you can. Pour heavy whipping cream into the mixing bowl. Mix on high until it stiffens into a whipped cream, fold in powdered sugar, chocolate chips, cinnamon, and ricotta cheese. Whisk until well mixed and you have a smooth consistency outside of the chocolate chips. Place mixture in fridge for 30 minutes. No need to take filling out until you are ready to serve the cannoli.



Take dough out of fridge after 1-2 hours, and divide into quarters. On a floured surface, roll out dough as thin as possible. (I used a manual pasta machine on setting #2, but you want it about the thickness of a dime.) Use a bowl or a glass 3-4 inches in diameter, and cut a circle around the glass. This should give you roughly 24 circles.



Wrap the circle around the cannoli mold, using egg wash or milk to seal the edge shut do it won't slip open while frying. Set a large pot of canola oil on the oven on low until it gets to a temperature of 360 degrees. Drop the molds into the oil for up to 2 minutes until they turn a golden brown. Remove molds from oil and let shells cool on paper towels. Grip mold with one hand towel, grip the shell with a paper towel, and remove shell from mold. Shells can keep up to 2 months.



When ready to serve, remove filling from fridge, and put in a pastry bag or a plastic bag where you've cut off an edge. Pipe filling into the shells from both ends so they are stuffed. Decorate filling with more mini-chocolate chips, and dust with powdered sugar.



Enjoy.



Dough wrapped around cannoli molds




Fried cannoli shells





The finished product. 

[kittensaver]

Awesome. Congrats and happy eating!

(PS: do you ever decorate the ends with chopped pistachios? My Sicilian grandparents used to make them that way - chocolate and pistachio)

[Tennesseer]

Nov 22, 2017 15:37:15 GMT -5 beergut said:

Recipe...:

I miss living in New Haven, Ct. The city had quite a few Italian bakeries which made their own cannoli. The same with pizza. Excellent pizza in New Haven.

I went to a new pizza place in suburban Memphis and noticed one of their specialty pizzas was a 'white' pizza (mozz. cheese, garlic, olive oil). I mentioned to the store owner if they had chopped clams they could put it on the white pizza like I used to eat in New Haven. The store owner then said, "You mean the clam pizza from Pepe's Pizza?" I said "Yes!". The store owner and I then went over the names of some of the other better known pizza joints in New Haven.

After I was done eating the pizza I had ordered, the owner asked me how it compared to New Haven pizza. I told him, "Not bad. Not bad at all."

[beergut]

Nov 22, 2017 16:04:11 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Awesome. Congrats and happy eating!

(PS: do you ever decorate the ends with chopped pistachios? My Sicilian grandparents used to make them that way - chocolate and pistachio)

 You can definitely use pistachio nuts. The molds came with a small recipe book, and they recommend using dried fruit, chocolate chips, or chopped pistachio nuts as a topping. The first time I had a cannoli years and years ago, it had pistachio slivers as a topping. 

[beergut]

Nov 22, 2017 16:15:47 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Nov 22, 2017 15:37:15 GMT -5 beergut said:

Recipe...:

I miss living in New Haven, Ct. The city had quite a few Italian bakeries which made their own cannoli. The same with pizza. Excellent pizza in New Haven.

I went to a new pizza place in suburban Memphis and noticed one of their specialty pizzas was a 'white' pizza (mozz. cheese, garlic, olive oil). I mentioned to the store owner if they had chopped clams they could put it on the white pizza like I used to eat in New Haven. The store owner then said, "You mean the clam pizza from Pepe's Pizza?" I said "Yes!". The store owner and I then went over the names of some of the other better known pizza joints in New Haven.

After I was done eating the pizza I had ordered, the owner asked me how it compared to New Haven pizza. I told him, "Not bad. Not bad at all."

 I know many people call that a 'white pizza', but that is the exact recipe for my cheesy garlic bread.