Cannoli is a Sicilian pastry dessert. They are tube-shaped shells made of pastry dough, filled with a sweet and creamy filling usually containing ricotta cheese blended with some flavor of vanilla, chocolate, pistachio or other.
Ingredients:
For the shells-
150gms flour,
50gms butter; melted,
A pinch of salt,
1 tsp vinegar,
1/4 cup Marsala wine,
1 egg white; beaten,
100ml water,
Vegetable oil for frying,
For the filling-
300gms Ricotta cheese,
75gms sugar,
1 tsp vanilla extract,
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips/candied fruit,
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting.
Method:
To prepare the shells-
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add melted butter, vinegar and wine. Mix together, knead a dough by adding little water as required. Wrap the dough in a plastic/cling film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Later roll out the dough until thin. Use a cookie cutter or rim of a bowl and cut around 3-4 inch rounds. Roll each round around a cannoli tube or bamboo sticks. Seal with the egg white. Similarly prepare all the cannoli tubes/shells. Heat oil for deep frying. Fry the cannoli until golden brown for 2-3 minutes on medium flame. Drain on paper towels. Let them cool down and later gently remove the tubes/sticks from each shell.
In another bowl combine cheese, sugar and vanilla extract and whip till smooth. Then stir in the chocolate chips or candied fruit. Fill this mixture into a pastry bag with a large opening. Fill each cannoli shell with the creamy Riccota filling, dust with confectioners sugar, top with chocolate sauce if you like and serve immediately.