Sicilian Cannoli Recipes

Steps:

• Beat ricotta cheese and 1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar together in a bowl until smooth. Stir in mixed peel and chocolate. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.
• Mix flour, Marsala wine, butter, sugar, and vinegar together in a bowl to make cannoli dough. Wrap in plastic wrap; let rest for 30 minutes.
• Knead dough on a lightly floured work surface until smooth. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into twenty 4-inch squares. Wrap each square around a metal tubular mold, overlapping ends and dabbing with warm water to seal.
• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Lower some cannoli molds into the hot oil; cook until shells are golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining cannoli molds. Cool briefly; twist molds carefully to remove shells. Let shells cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• Fill cooled cannoli shells with ricotta filling using a spoon or piping bag. Arrange cannoli on a serving platter. Garnish with pistachios; sprinkle 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar on top.

Steps:

• To make the cannoli shells: In large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt and cut in the margarine until evenly blended. Then gradually work in the wine and water to form a compact dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for an hour. On a lightly-floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out 5-inch-wide circles and cover. Re-roll the scrap dough to form more circles. In a deep-fat fryer or heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Wrap each circle onto a mold, sealing the two edges that overlap with a dab of water and by pressing together. Carefully immerse a few shells at a time, into the hot oil and fry until golden and crisp. Drain the shells on paper towels, let cool and remove the molds from the cannoli.
• To make the filling: In a bowl, whip up the ricotta and sugar until creamy. Add the grated chocolate. Mix thoroughly. Using a piping bag, pipe the filling into each shell, starting at the middle and working out towards each end. Garnish the ends of each cannoli with sliced candied fruit and then dust the cannoli with icing sugar.

Steps:

• For the dough: Mix together all the ingredients except the marsala. Add the marsala, as needed, to form a stiff dough. Run the dough through a dough sheeter. Cut the dough into ovals, roughly 3 by 5 inches. Wrap the dough around a wooden stick. Seal well with egg sealer. Let rest overnight.
• Preheat the deep fryer filled with soybean oil to 375 degrees F.
• Fry the shells until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes, and cool down on paper towel-lined sheet pan. Once cool, remove the metal or wooden sticks and store in an airtight container until ready for use.
• For the ricotta cream: Mix the ricotta cheese with the sugar. Add the cream as needed. Add the vanilla extract, cinnamon oil, citron, and chocolate chips. Refrigerate until needed.
• Fill each cannoli with the ricotta cream with a pastry bag or spoon.

Steps:

• SHELLS: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
• Add butter and marsala.
• Knead dough on lightly floured surface until well mixed.
• Wrap dough in Saran wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
• Roll out dough very thin.
• Cut dough into rounds using a 4 inch cookie cutter.
• Roll each round again until very thin.
• Roll each round around a cannoli tube, tightly, and seal with egg white.
• Fry in hot oil, turning, until golden.
• Drain on paper towels and let cool.
• Gently twist cannoli tube to remove shell.
• Cool COMPLETELY.
• FILLING: Mix together (by hand with wooden spoon) ALL filling ingredients.
• Keep covered in the refrigerator until your shells are cooled and ready to fill.
• Fill pastry bag with filling.
• Use a plain or open star tip.
• Insert tip to center of shell and fill to one end and then repeat this step on the other end.
• Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Tip the flour, sugar, bicarb, cinnamon and cocoa (if using) into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients until there are no more lumps. Mix the egg yolk and marsala and add this to the bowl, then mix the whole lot together and knead to a smooth dough. Wrap and rest in the fridge. (Can be made ahead and fried the next day.)
• Fill a deep-fat fryer, wok or deep saucepan a third of the way up with oil. Cut the dough into pieces and, working one piece at a time, roll them out as thinly as you can - use a pasta machine if you have one. Heat the oil and keep an eye on it until it reaches 180C. Lay the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut out circles about 11cm across. Wrap each one around a cannoli mould, using some of the egg white to stick the top edge down and they're ready for frying.It's important to take care when cooking with hot oil. Read our guide on how to deep-fry safely to avoid accidents in the kitchen.
• Deep-fry the cannoli (with their moulds) one at a time, making sure they cook all over. They should take about 45-60 seconds in all and should be visibly golden brown (keep cooking a little longer if they aren't) and the dough will bubble and blister. Carefully take each one out of the oil using the tongs and shake the cannoli off the mould very carefully onto kitchen paper. As you fry each one, make sure the oil stays at 180C at all times and doesn't get any hotter. These will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
• When the cannoli are cold, dip the end of each one into chocolate, then dip some of those into the pistachios. Leave to cool and harden. Beat the ricotta and mascarpone together, then stir in the candied peel and sugar. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a wide star nozzle and pipe it into the cannoli. Serve soon after filling.