Sicilian Cannoli


Before I start I want to wish all Muslim readers a very blessed Ramadhan month. We start fasting tomorrow..  Its quite exciting during Ramadhan month(that's the muslim fasting month), everyone is in good spirits and the shops are crowded and the shopkeepers stock up with loads of food.  Not just here but I have experienced this excitement and chaos even in Malaysia.
Have you ever come across a recipe where you are so curious about its taste that you would go to various lengths just to get the taste. Well, these Italian pastries caught my attention way back while I was living in Malaysia three years ago. I saw it on one of David Rocco's shows. They looked so interesting and delicious that I kept wondering how I could make it just to get a taste of it.  The problem I had was making the cannolis, I kept wondering how to make the tubes as I didn't have anything to keep the cylindrical shape.

Then I saw on one of the blogs, where someone had used some tin foil to make tubes for another desert or something. So I decided to try and make my cannoli tubes using tin foil rolled into cylindrical tubes wound the piece of pastry around it and then fried it.

Since I don't use wine in my cooking I wondered what I could use to make the dough,  as David had used white wine to make the dough, I replaced it with sparkling white grape juice although maybe next time I will try orange juice as orange and chocolate goes well together, what do you guys think? would it work as well?

After frying I had another problem, they did puff up and held the shape but were quite soft, not crispy, so I drained all the oil off on kitchen paper, removed the tin foil, and arranged the fried tubes on a wire rack over a baking tray and popped in a hot oven for 5-10 minutes, then removed it. They came out all nice and crispy  !!!.

Ricotta is quite expensive over here but cheaper than mascarpone, maybe next time I make this I will try and attempt to make my own ricotta as I have seen in some of the food websites and blogs.  But the taste !!! yummm .. it is a good treat to make when cooking for a special group of friends or loved ones.

Recipe : Sicilian Cannoli recipe adapted from David Rocco's Sicilian Cannoli from David Rocco's Dolce Vita Show

Makes about 10

1 cup flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch salt
1 tbsp margerine
1/4 cup sparkling white grape juice
a little water

Filling :
1 tub (250g) Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup castor sugar ( or grind regular sugar in a grinder )
about 50 grams dark chocolate, chopped finely

oil for deep frying ( olive oil or vegetable oil)
icing sugar to dust

Take a large sheet of aluminum foil, and using a ruler, cut about 8 inch x 4 inch rectangles 10 pieces in total. Roll each  , making sure each is about 1 inch wide, tubes.  Staple the loose end so the foil stays in place. Set aside
home made cannoli tubes

Prepare the dough by sifting flour and cocoa with pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.  Rub margarine into the flour, then add grape juice and start to mix with your fingers. Then add a little water, till the mixture comes together. Knead a few times wrap in cling film and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.

After 1  hour, dust your work surface with flour and roll your dough into a thin round or square ( it doesnt really matter what shape). Using about 6 inch wide round pastry cutter ( I used a bowl since I dont have a pastry cutter) and cut 10 circles.

Take a piece of prepared foil cylinder wound each circle around it and seal the ends together with a little water. Set aside and finish the rest.

make sure you seal with water as it might come apart while frying

Heat your fat fryer or saucepan filled with oil ( not really filled to the bring, just enough for deep frying).  Fry your tubes till they float to the top with little bubbles.  Fry in batches. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

If the tubes are soggy, drain well, remove the aluminium foil carefully and place on a wire rack placed over baking sheet and pop in a moderately hot oven ( about gas mark3-4) for 5- 10 minutes. ( keep on the middle shelf of the oven) Remove and cool .


While the tubes cool, make the filling by whisking the ricotta in a bowl with sugar ( taste to adjust the sweetness for your liking) . Stir in chopped chocolate. Fill a pipping bag, fitted with a wide nozzle and pipe the ricotta into the cooled cannoli tubes. Dust  the filled tubes with icing sugar. Serve and enjoy !!

The boys loved the ricotta filling so they helped to clean the bowl :).
 
Helping to clean the bowl






Comments

  1. You did a great job creating those delicious cannolis!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Yumm.. So crispy. Ramadan kareem dear Nammi

    ReplyDelete
  3. that looks really yumm... ramadan kareem, dear...

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are stunning Nammi! They turned out so good! Wish I could have one. :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for checking out my posts, please leave a comment or two....