INGREDIENTS
CANNOLI DOUGH,
- 2cups Maiorca flour (If you can’t find it all-purpose flour)
- ¼ tsp of cocoa powder
- 2 TBSP of confectioners sugar (you can use granulated also)
- 1 egg
- Pinch of salt
- ⅛cup of cold butter (cut in cubes)
- ¼cup of Marsala wine (more if required)
- 8 cups of canola oil, for frying (Or another vegetable oil)
- 1 egg, for egg wash for sealing the dough on cannoli (well beaten) CANNOLI FILLING
- 3 cups of ricotta cheese, well stained (without liquid)
- ¾ cups of powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- ½ cup of chocolate chips TOPPINGS
- candied slices of orange
- pistachios, crushed
- chocolate chips
INSTRUCTIONS
CANNOLI SHELLS
- Mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt in a large bowl. Mix in butter and egg. Mix until the butter is crumbly. Mix in marsala wine in smaller amouns at a time until the dough is formed. To make a soft doughy mixture, you may need to add some more wine.
- The dough should be taken out of the bowl. Knead the dough for 10 minutes on a floured surface. Form the dough into a ball. Transfer to a bowl. Let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours. Be sure to cover it.
- To heat a large saucepan with vegetable oil, heat it to 340 – 355. Half of the dough should be used at the time. Keep the other half in the bowl. Roll the dough thinly onto a floured surface. A pasta machine or a rolling pin can be used to make the dough thin.
- Cut the dough into rounds using a 4-inch cookie cutter or a shape of a cup. You can wrap individual dough circles around to form cannoli shape. Brush about 1 inch or less of the one end with beaten eggs (use your fingertip or pastry brush). To seal the dough around the cannoli mold, press the edge on the opposite side.
- Use metal tongs to carefully place the shell into the oil. Fry until crisp and golden brown, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to monitor oil temperature so that oil doesn’t burn shells. You can fry as many as 5-6 shells at once.
- Use metal tongs to remove the cannoli shells from the oil. Once you have removed the shell, let it drain into the pot. Then move to paper towels and drain. Wrap a paper towel around the cannoli shell and slide it off.
- Allow cannoli shells to cool, then continue the process with the remaining dough circles. Use the flour scraps to shake off any excess flour, then press together, place in a bowl, and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before reusing.
- Let cool on a wire rack, then fill with cannoli filling. Decorate as desired with melted chocolate, chopped pistachios, or mini chocolate chips. CANNOLI FILLING
- The ricotta can be whipped with a mixer or by hand. It should take about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar to the ricotta. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold the powdered sugar into the ricotta. Continue this process until it is smooth and well combined. If desired, add the chocolate chips.
- Move the filling to a piping bag with a large, round tip. Pipe in the filling into the cooled cannoli shells. You can also use a spoon, an ordinary plastic bag, and then cut the tip.
- Place the ricotta mixture in a pastry bag. Squeeze the fillings into each cannoli shell from both sides. Enjoy! NOTES
- To make the best Sicilian Cannoli, let the ricotta mixture rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours, or at least overnight.
- It is easier to make the Ricotta mixture for Sicilian Cannoli using an electric mixer, but don’t! Use your hands, otherwise, it could turn out watery, and you’ll need to add more sugar to thicken it.