Cannoli

I have been wanting to make cannoli's since an Aunt left me her cannoli tubes and they are metal which is even better. When a friend of mine made them this summer and I saw that it was not as time comsuming as I thought, I then dove in and made them.  They are easy and the shells can stay for a few weeks in a closed container.

I even made my own ricotta cheese, although this time with the chaos of Christmas, I went the easy route and bought really good ricotta.

You will need a thermometer for the oil, 9 cm round rings to cut the dough and the metal tubes for the dough. 

You will need, 9 cm rings to cut the dough

Also, metal tubes for the dough

Dough Recipe:

250 g all purpose flour
5 g      cacao powder
1 tsp   Italian coffee, fine ground
30 ml  Marsala wine
30 g    confectioner sugar (powder sugar)
1 tsp   salt
1 large egg (50g) 
50 g    crisco (lard)
1 tsp   cinnamon
30 ml  white wine
Peanut oil is best, you can use vegetable oil if you wish

Candy thermometer

You will also need metal molds for the shells and a 9 cm round to cut the dough

Method:

Mix the flour, cacao powder, Italian coffee, Marsala wine, salt, crisco, cinnamon, white wine and egg.  Mix until it forms a soft ball, I did this by hand it was fast and easy.  Once the dough is formed, wrap in plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator for an hour or overnight.

Once the dough has rested, remove from the refrigerator and cut a piece off and roll it out, you can do this with a pasta machine.

Cut the dough into 9 cm rounds and wrap around the mold securing with an egg wash.  Once you have these done you are ready to fry them. 

In a heavy bottom pan or you could use a fryer if you have one, fill halfway with the oil and heat the oil, once the temperature reaches 170-180 C, you are ready to go.  Put two in at a time.. this will only take a few minutes, move them with tongs and once they have color remove and let cool completely before removing the shells.

You can store the shells in a container for a few weeks if you wish.

To make the filling:

750 g Ricotta cheese
300g Confectioner sugar

Mix this well and place into a pipping bag and then the refrigerator till you are ready to fill the shells.

It's best to fill these just before you serve them…  Thanks Joanne for your help.