View Large Image Cannoli Recipe The night before Get ingredients: 800 g (3 cups) ricotta cheese digital scale large bowl large strainer 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. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight) to allow the liquid to drain from the ricotta. Dough Get ingredients: 250 g (1 1/2 cups) flour (00 or all-purpose) 20 g (1 1/2 tbsp) sugar (white, granulated) 2 g (1 tsp) cocoa powder 3 g (1 pinch) sea salt 31.25 g (1 tbsp + 1/4 tbsp) butter (unsalted, room temperature, around 65° F / 18° C) or 25 g (1 tbsp) lard 1 egg (large, room temperature) 8 g (2 tsp) white wine vinegar 50 g (1/4 cup) marsala wine digital scale sifter large mixing bowl pastry blender small whisk plastic wrap Make sure the rolling surface is clean and dry. Sift into large mixing bowl: 250 g (1 1/2 cups) flour 2 g (1 tsp) cocoa powder 20 g (1 1/2 tbsp) sugar 3 g (1 pinch) sea salt Add to large mixing bowl: 31.25 g (1 tbsp + 1/4 tbsp) butter (chopped into small pieces) Using the pastry blender, mash until combined. Crack into a separate bowl: 1 egg Whisk until consistent (about 10 seconds). Add to large mixing bowl: whisked egg Whisk until combined (about 30 seconds). Add to large mixing bowl: 8 g (2 tsp) white wine vinegar 50 g (1/4 cup) marsala wine Using your hands, mix together until combined. Do not overmix. 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. Roll the dough into a ball and then flatten slightly into a disc shape. Using your hands, flatten the dough into an elongated disc shape. Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap. Place the dough in the fridge for 1 hour. Cutting and rolling Get ingredients: flour 1 egg (room temperature) rolling pin cannoli forms (5 inches long) circle cutter (3.5 to 4.5-inch diameter) (or a small bowl) 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. parchment paper small towel small bowl small whisk glazing brush Make sure the rolling surface is clean and dry. Place a sheet of parchment paper and a clean dry towel near the rolling surface. When the timer is done, remove the dough from the fridge. Remove the plastic wrap from the dough. Lightly flour the rolling surface. Put flour on your hands. Sprinkle the dough with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is about 1/16 inch thick. Brush any excess flour off the dough. Crack into the small bowl: 1 egg Whisk until consistent (about 10 seconds). Set aside. Cut out circles from the dough. If you are using a small bowl rather than a circle cutter to make the circles, cut around the bowl with a butter knife. Place the cut circles onto the parchment paper and cover the dough with the towel (to prevent the dough drying out). It's okay if the circles overlap; this is just to keep them out of the way. After the circles have been cut, prepare the oil for frying, because it will take a while to heat up. For each circle: Wrap the circle around a cannoli form. Make sure the dough does not hang over the edges 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 glazing 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: pot (4+ inches deep) 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) baking pan paper towel wire rack thermometer tongs Place pot on stove. Place the baking pan near the stove. Cover the baking pan with paper towel. Place the wire rack over the baking pan. 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 on single burner quick boil). 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 stand mixer 300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar (white, granulated) piping bag spatula 250 g (1/2 cup) chocolate chips (semi-sweet) powdered sugar 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 mixer. Add to mixer mixing bowl: ricotta Whip on low speed. Slowly add to mixer mixing bowl: 300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar Whip until it resembles whipped cream. Using a spatula, scoop the filling into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip or no tip. Tie off the piping bag (so the batter doesn't spill out the top). Assembly Once 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 powdered sugar.
