Cannoli

Name: Cannoli
Cook time: 155 min
Total time: 155 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Italiana
Ingredients: 250 g Wheat flour; 1 u Egg; 1 pinch Salt; 25 g Sugar; 1 l Sunflower Oil; 1 pinch Cinnamon; 120 g Icing Sugar; 1 u Egg White; 500 g Ricotta; 1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar; 30 g Lard; 1 teaspoon Cocoa Powder; 60 g Chocolate Chips; 40 g Candied Peel; 40 g Pistachios picado; 80 ml Marsala wine

Hard

Contains allergens

Cereales con glutenHuevosFrutos de cáscara

Incomplete allergen information: some ingredients have not been reviewed yet. Always check the labels before cooking.

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 3 hr
Servings: 12

Summary

Sicily's most famous pastry: fried tubes of Marsala dough, crisp and covered in blisters, filled with sweetened sheep's ricotta, chocolate and candied orange, with the ends dipped in pistachio. Fill them just before serving.

Ingredients

12 servings

Add to Bring!

250 g Wheat flour
1 u Egg
1 pinch Salt
25 g Sugar
1 l Sunflower Oil (for frying)
1 pinch Cinnamon
120 g Icing Sugar (plus a little more for dusting)
1 u Egg White (to seal)
500 g Ricotta (sheep's milk, if possible)
1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar (helps the shells blister)
30 g Lard (or butter, at room temperature)
1 teaspoon Cocoa Powder (for a darker colour) (optional)
60 g Chocolate Chips (dark, or finely chopped chocolate)
40 g Candied Peel (orange, finely diced)
40 g Pistachios picado (unsalted)
80 ml Marsala wine (dry or medium, a little more if the dough needs it)

Instructions

The night before, put the ricotta in a sieve lined with muslin or kitchen paper over a bowl, set a light weight on top and leave it to drain in the fridge.
For the dough, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Rub in the lard with your fingertips until no lumps remain, add the egg, Marsala and vinegar and knead into a smooth, firm, fairly stiff dough. If it cracks, add a few more drops of Marsala.
10 min
Wrap it in cling film and leave it to rest for an hour at room temperature so the gluten relaxes and the dough can be rolled without shrinking back.
60 min
Roll the dough out very thinly, 1 to 2 mm, with a rolling pin or on one of the last settings of a pasta machine. Cut out discs of about 10 cm and roll them a little more so they become oval.
20 min
Lightly grease the tubes. Wrap each oval around a tube, brush egg white where the dough overlaps and press firmly so it does not open during frying.
10 min
Heat the oil in a deep pan to 170-175 °C. Fry the cannoli two or three at a time, still on their tubes, turning them, until golden and covered in blisters. Lift them out with tongs and drain on kitchen paper.
20 min
As soon as you can handle them, hold each shell in a cloth and carefully slide the tube out, as they are fragile. Leave the shells to cool completely. If you only have a few tubes, let them cool before wrapping more dough around them.
15 min
For the filling, push the drained ricotta through a fine sieve so it is silky and mix in the icing sugar. Stir in the chocolate chips and half the candied orange, spoon the cream into a piping bag and keep it in the fridge.
10 min
Just before serving, pipe the filling into each cannolo from both ends, dip the ends in the chopped pistachios, top with a few pieces of candied orange and dust with icing sugar.
10 min

Notes

Cannoli were born around Palermo as a Carnival treat and are now eaten all year round. The name comes from the river canes (canne) the dough was once wrapped around for frying. At home, use metal tubes about 2 cm across, sold in kitchen shops; grease them lightly and never wrap raw dough around a hot tube. The key to the filling is draining the ricotta well: any whey it releases will soften the shell. Sheep's milk ricotta is traditional; cow's milk ricotta works but is milder and needs even more draining. Fill the cannoli no more than an hour before serving, as the shells lose their crunch quickly. Empty shells keep for a week in an airtight tin and the filling for 2 days in the fridge. If the shells come out smooth with no blisters, the dough was too thick or the oil was not hot enough. Fry with care: never leave hot oil unattended and lift the tubes out with tongs, as the metal gets very hot. The dough uses lard, as in Sicily; butter works well too.