Cannoli Alla Siciliana
Submitted by Vixen007
Traditional Sicilian cannoli with wine-spiked fried shells and a chilled ricotta filling scented with cinnamon, vanilla, and candied citrus peel. Topped with glace cherries and powdered sugar.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
1 hrsCOOK
30 minREADY
2 hrsThis is cannoli the way Sicilian nonnas have been making them for generations, with a wine-laced dough, hand-rolled shells, and a filling that tastes like it belongs in a Palermo pasticceria.
The shells start as a stiff dough moistened with Marsala (or Burgundy or Chablis, depending on what’s in your pantry), rolled thin, wrapped around metal tubes, and fried to a shattering golden crisp.
The filling? Creamy ricotta blended with powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, grated chocolate, and a generous mix of candied citron and orange peel that gives each bite a jewel-like sweetness.
Glace cherries on each end and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar finish the look.
Kitchen Tips
- Knead the dough until it’s quite firm. Too soft and the shells will bubble and blister unevenly during frying.
- Let the dough rest a full hour under a cloth before rolling. This relaxes the gluten and makes it much easier to roll thin.
- Fill the shells just before guests arrive. A filled cannoli left sitting in the fridge goes from crispy to chewy in about an hour.
- If you don’t have cannoli tubes, old aluminum chair legs cut to size work surprisingly well (the recipe author’s own trick).
Ingredients
Directions
To make cannoli shells it is necessary to have 3 or 4 metal tubes, preferably made from very light tin, about 7-inches long and 1 ⅛ inches in diameter. The edges should not be soldered. (Old aluminum chairs cut up work great)
SHELLS: Combine flour, shortening, sugar and salt, and wetting gradually with wine, knead together with fingers until rather hard dough or paste is formed.
Form into ball, cover with cloth and let stand about 1 hour. Cut dough in half and roll half of dough into a thin sheet about ¼ inch thick.
Cut into 4 inch squares. Place a metal tube diagonally across each square from one point to another, wrapping dough around tube by overlapping the two points and sealing overlapping points with a little egg white.
Meanwhile heat vegetable oil in large deep pan for deep frying. Drop one or two tubes at a time into hot oil. Fry gently until dough is a golden brown color.
Remove from pan, let cool and gently remove shell from metal tube. Set shells aside to cool.
Repeat procedure until all shells are made.
FILLING: Mix ricotta thoroughly with sifted dry ingredients. Add vanilla and fruit peel.
Mix and blend well. (A little grated pistachio may be added if desired).
Chillin refrigerator before filling shells. Fill cold cannoli shells; smooth filling evenly at each end of shell.
Decorate each end with a piece of glace cherry and sprinkle shells with confectioners sugar.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. These are best if they are filled just before you company arrives.
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