Cannoli

Cannoli - Vitantonio Mfg Co

Yes you can make your own! This recipe requires quite a bit of time especially make them the first time. Call a friend or a family member to give you a hand and then you can reward them with some fresh homemade cannoli :) 

Following this recipe is my own "touched up" version which I found a little more helpful. I do this often after always following first the original recipe.

Cannoli Shells

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups flour 

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons shortening

1/2 cup white wine

Instructions 

Mix flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and baking powder. Work in the shortening, then add wine a little at a time, knead well. Take a piece of the dough the size of a nickel and roll it very thin, then put this loosely around a cannoli tube, overlap opposite ends on top of the tube and pinch ends together.

Deep fry in shortening and when nicely browned, removed carefully and place on paper towels to cool. Carefully remove tubes from shells by pushing gently though so as not to break shells. Cool before filling.

Cannoli Filling

Ingredients

3 lbs of ricotta cheese

2 1/2 cups milk

8 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, ground

2 1/2 cups sugar 

Pistachio nuts, ground

Directions

Bring milk to a boil over a slow flame. Pre-mix cornstarch and sugar and add to the boiling milk. Allow to cook for 30 minutes, then set aside to cool.

Beat or strain the cheese until creamy, add the cooled cornstarch and milk mixture,vanilla and ground chocolate. Beat till fluffy. Fill pastry shells from both ends dip ends in ground pistachio nuts and top with powdered sugar. Cannoli shells can be kept indefinitely in a cool place and filled as needed.

Foodie Fran's Version

For the cannoli shells use the exact same ingredients, only I shape the dough in a log a cut small pieces. Instead of rolling each piece, I put he dough In pasta machine starting a the widest size working my way to the finest size. This way all you shells end up the same thickness. Keep a damp cloth over the pastry dough so it doesn't dry up. 

For frying, I mix half shortening, half vegetable oil.

For the filling I added miniature chocolate chips instead of ground. Although grounds pistachio nuts are delicious, I place half or quartered maraschino cherries on the ends of the cannoli. This depends on a what I have on hand.

And finally only fill the shells when the cannoli will be consumed that day otherwise the shell will soften. 

#cannoli #italianpasties #Ricotta