Cannoli (By Kat)

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book. Of course, no recipe out of my kitchen is EVER verbatim.

This challenge was exceptionally fun because Bet and I were able to collaborate on the project. We also involved her husband, his tools, and their totally cool kids.

As neither of us had ever had a cannoli, the first challenge was to find a bakery that made these delectables. In Kat-burg, there are none to be found, but in Portland, near Bet-land, we were directed to Martinotti's. Here we found cannoli shells for sale in a box, and the proprietors highly recommended not trying to make these yourself. The gauntlet was thrown, and as for the cannoli, I can just say YUM!

Second challenge was to find a store that stocked cannoli forms. In all of the sodden Pearl District of Portland, there was not a form to be found. Apparently, there was a run on them. I wasn't fast enough to buy my forms before all of Portland's Daring Bakers bought theirs.

We arrived back at Bet's house, totally soaked. I mean, absolutely freaking fracking wet to the core, without a cannoli form to our combined names. Her husband pulled through for us in the most wondrous fashion. He brought in a square bar of stainless steel picked up from the floor of the garage. He asked if it would work. We shrugged, he went to work, and magic, absolute magic occurred.

Traditional forms are round, but ours were square. This time, it was truly hip to be square. Leave the round forms to the boring old squares, we say...

Whilst Mr. Magic made the forms, we made the dough. We followed the recipe for the most part, but substituted Marsala cooking wine for the Marsala wine. This is the stuff you find on the shelf next to the cooking sherry, the cooking vermouth, and other poor wines that have been salted and put into little jars to be sold inexpensively next to the Worcestershire and soy sauces in the grocery store. We also added about 1/2 cup of water to get a pliable dough.

Because the forms were so heavy, they sank to the bottom of the pot of hot oil. A canning ring on the bottom of the pot solved that problem.

One by one, the circles of dough were wrapped around the forms, lowered into the oil, and cooked to a crispy, blistered, crackly golden brown.

Here they are, fresh from the oil and sprinkled with a bit of powdered sugar.

Served up with spiced whipped cream...

We called it a perfect introduction to cannoli making!

Then, on the way back from Bet-land, I stopped at an outlet store and found real cannoli forms...

I wanted to compare our square forms to the traditional round shapes.

I also wanted to experiment with the dough just a little bit.

After mixing the ingredients in the bowl, I could see that the dough was again too dry.

I dumped the dough onto the counter and began to knead it out. The dough was more supple than

our previous attempt, but I knew more liquid needed to be added.

I flattened the dough out, and sprinkled about one more tablespoon of Marsala wine on top.

That did the trick, as you can see.

Marsala and olive oil, presenting their spicy little ball of dough.

They're a very happy family.

The dough was rolled out, the forms wrapped, and hallelujah, check these out!

The spiced whipped cream was so good last time, that I was leaning toward just repeating that filling.
However, when company showed up with little warning in the middle of the deep-frying process, I knew that whipped cream was the only way to go. Easy, safe, done.
Yeah, not very Daring Baker. A lot more like Done Baker....

Overall, these are really fun to make, and I'll definitely be doing them again.

The Recipe, from the Daring Bakers Forum:

Lidisano’s Cannoli

Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli

Prep time:

Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.

Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)

Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli

Assemble – 20–30 minutes



RECIPE NOTE: THE EQUIVALENTS FROM THIS RECIPE WERE PREPARED USING THIS CONVERSION SITE: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/index.asp.



CANNOLI SHELLS

2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar

1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt

3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil

1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar

Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand

1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)

Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)

1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish

Confectioners' sugar



Note - If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).



CANNOLI FILLING

2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained

1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted

1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean

3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice

2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange

3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios



Note - If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.



DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.



2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.



3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.



4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer's directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.



5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.



8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.



9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.





Cannoli shell preparation, cutting out the dough circles, sealing the dough around the form, frying the shells, finished shells ready to fill



Pasta Machine method:

1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through



2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.



3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.



For stacked cannoli:

1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 - 190 °C).



2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.



DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:

1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.



2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).



ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:

1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.



2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.