View Large Image Cannoli Recipe The night before Get ingredients: 800 g (3 cups) ricotta cheese bowl (large) strainer (large) cheesecloth Place the strainer over the bowl. Wrap the ricotta in cheesecloth. Squeeze out as much liquid from the ricotta as possible into the bowl. Place the wrapped ricotta on the strainer. Chill the ricotta in the fridge for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight) (to allow the liquid to drain). Shells Get ingredients: 25 g (1 3/4 tbsp) butter (unsalted, room temperature, around 65° F / 18° C) or: 1 egg (50 g) (large, room temperature) 2 g (1 tsp) cocoa powder 250 g (2 cups) flour (all-purpose or 00) 3 g (1/2 tsp) sea salt 19 g (1 1/2 tbsp) sugar (white, granulated) 7 g (1 1/2 tsp) vinegar (white) 50 g (1/4 cup) marsala wine mixing bowl (large) pastry blender sifter whisk (small) plastic wrap If the eggs are not room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Clear some space in the fridge (for chilling the dough later). Ensure the work surface is clean and dry. Sift into large mixing bowl: 250 g (2 cups) flour 2 g (1 tsp) cocoa powder 19 g (1 1/2 tbsp) sugar 3 g (1/2 tsp) sea salt Add to large mixing bowl: 25 g (1 3/4 tbsp) butter (chopped into about 2 pieces) Using the pastry blender, mash until combined. Add to large mixing bowl: 1 egg (50 g) Whisk until combined (about 30 seconds). Add to large mixing bowl: 7 g (1 1/2 tsp) vinegar 50 g (1/4 cup) marsala wine Using your hands, mix together until combined. Do not over-mix. The dough will be very dry and crumbly, and it won't all come together yet. This is okay. Do not add more liquid. Place the dough on the rolling surface. Knead the dough until smooth and consistent (about 10 minutes). When kneading, you want to stretch the dough, not just push down on it. When it's done, the dough shouldn't be too sticky or have any unincorporated flour. You should be able to push the dough with your finger, and the dough should bounce back slowly. Stop kneading if the dough becomes firm and hard to fold. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Cut a piece of plastic wrap (about 2 feet long). Lay the plastic wrap on a flat surface. Using your hands, roll the dough into a cylinder/log shape. Place the dough on top of the plastic wrap. Using your hands, flatten the dough slightly into an elongated disc shape. Wrap the plastic wrap around the edges of the dough until the dough is covered. Chill the wrapped dough in the fridge for 1 hour. Cutting and rolling Get tools: 1 egg (room temperature) flour bowl (small) cannoli forms (5 inches long) round cookie cutter (10-cm diameter) If you don't have a circle cutter or bowl the same length as the cannoli forms, you'll need to roll the dough out thicker and then re-roll each circle after it is cut. pastry brush rolling pin whisk (small) parchment paper Place a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper and a clean dry towel near the work surface. Ensure the work surface is clean and dry. Prepare a lightly floured surface for rolling the dough. Unwrap the dough, but leave the plastic wrap on top. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is about 1/16 inch thick. Remove the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Crack into the small bowl: 1 egg Whisk until consistent (about 10 seconds). Set aside. Cut out the cannoli shells: Dip the bottom of the cookie cutter in flour. Press the cookie cutter down into the dough firmly. Try not to wiggle the cookie cutter too much, because it will distort the shape. Lift the cookie cutter out of the dough. If the dough sticks to the cookie cutter, push the dough out using a butter knife. Place the cannoli shells on the parchment paper. Cover with the towel (to prevent the dough drying out). After the cannoli shells have been cut out, prepare the oil for frying (since it will take a while to heat up). For each cannoli shell: Wrap the dough around a cannoli form. Make sure the dough does not hang over the ends of the cannoli form, or you won't be able to remove the shell from the cannoli form after it is fried. Wrap the dough slightly loosely to make it easier to remove the fried dough from the cannoli form later. Using the pastry brush, brush a generous amount of the egg mixture on one end of the circle (where the ends overlap). Gently but firmly press the two overlapping ends together. Set aside. Frying Get tools: peanut oil (or lard, or shortening, or sunflower oil, or canola oil, or coconut oil) for a 9-inch diameter pot, about 1.63 litres (7 cups) thermometer pot (4+ inches deep) baking tray tongs wire rack paper towel Place the pot on the stove. Place the baking tray near the stove. Cover the baking tray with a paper towel. Place the wire rack over the baking tray. This is where the shells will go after they have been fried so the oil will drain. Fill the pot with oil until it is about 2 inches deep. Set heat to medium until the oil reaches 350° F (177° C) (about 20 minutes). When it reaches about 325° F (163° C), set heat to medium-low. Gently place each shell in the oil until golden brown (about 1-2 minutes). Do one test shell first, and if it turns out well, then start frying 2-3 shells at the same time. Keep an eye on the temperature. When adding the shells, the temperature will drop. If the shells are floating or they aren't turning, use the tongs to push them down or turn them. Using the tongs, gently remove the shell from the oil. Tip it to make sure the oil drains out of the cannoli form. Place the shell on the wire rack until cool. (It's okay to stack the shells on top of each other.) Filling Get ingredients: ricotta cheese 260 g (1 1/2 cups) mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet, ~60% cacao) 300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar (white, granulated) stand mixer piping bag 1/2-inch round piping tip (eg. Wilton 1A) (or no tip) spatula Fit the piping bag with the piping tip. Set aside. Remove the drained ricotta from the fridge. Squeeze any excess liquid from the ricotta into the bowl. Discard the liquid in the bowl. Remove the cheesecloth from the ricotta. Attach the paddle to the stand mixer. Add to stand mixer bowl: ricotta cheese Whip on low speed. Slowly add to stand mixer bowl: 300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar Whip until it resembles whipped cream. Using a spatula, scoop the filling into the piping bag. Assembly After the shells are cool, gently remove the shells from the cannoli forms. Use two clean dry towels. Hold the shell with one towel, and hold the cannoli form with the other towel. Gently wiggle the shell until you can slide it off the cannoli form. Tapping the cannoli form against a hard surface may help to loosen the shell. If the cannoli form has a slit in the middle, you may be able to squeeze the cannoli form to help loosen the shell. Fill the shells just before serving. Store unused shells in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. (Thaw the shells in the fridge for 1 day after freezing.) Store filling in the fridge for 4-5 days. Get enough filling for however many cannoli you are going to serve. Optionally, using a spatula, fold some chocolate chips or chopped pistachios or chopped glacée fruit into the filling. Add the extras just before filling the shells so that the colour doesn't bleed into the filling. Generously pipe the filling into both ends of each shell. Hold the shell in one hand and the piping bag in the other hand. Position the shell so you can see inside it. Squeeze the piping bag from near the top of the bag (rather than near the tip). Dip both ends of each cannoli into a bowl of chocolate chips or pistachios, or add small pieces of glacée fruit to both ends. Generously dust the cannoli with icing sugar.
