Ingredients
Shells
- 250 gplain flour
- 25 gcaster sugar
- 1 tspcocoa powder
- ½ tspground cinnamon
- ¼ tspsalt
- 25 glard or butter
- 1egg yolk
- 80 mlMarsala
- 1 tspwhite wine vinegar
Filling
- 750 gsheep’s milk ricotta
- 200 gicing sugar
- 100 gcandied orange peel, or chocolate chips
To finish
- 1egg white, for sealing
- 1.5 litresoil, for frying
- icing sugar
- chopped pistachios
- candied cherries
Equipment
- metal cannoli tubes
Directions
- Drain the ricotta first, and drain it properly: in a sieve lined with muslin, in the refrigerator, with a weight on top, for 12 to 24 hours.
- Wet ricotta is the single commonest failure with cannoli. It makes a filling that runs out of the shells and softens them from the inside within minutes.
- Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and salt, rub in the lard, then add the egg yolk, Marsala and vinegar and bring it together into a firm dough.
- Knead for a full 10 minutes until completely smooth, then wrap it and rest it for an hour. This dough wants to be worked hard, because the blisters on a good shell come from a well-developed, tightly rolled dough.
- Roll the dough as thin as you possibly can, ideally through a pasta machine on its second-thinnest setting. You should be able to read print through it.
- Cut it into ovals about 10 cm across, wrap each one around a metal tube, and seal the overlap with egg white, pressing firmly. Seal it properly: a shell that opens in the oil unrolls into a flat crisp.
- Heat the oil to 180°C (355°F) and fry two or three at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, until deep golden and covered in blisters.
- Lift them out, let them cool for a minute, then slide the tubes out carefully using a cloth to protect your hands.
- Cool the shells completely. Unfilled, they keep for a week in a tin.
- Beat the drained ricotta with the icing sugar until smooth, then fold in the candied peel or the chocolate.
- Fill the shells only at the moment of serving, piping from both ends towards the middle so that no air pocket is left in the centre.
- Never fill them in advance. A cannolo filled an hour early is a soft cannolo, and in Palermo that is the whole of the argument.
- Dip the exposed ends in chopped pistachios, set a candied cherry in each end if you like, and dust with icing sugar.
Technique
- Drain the ricotta, roll it paper-thin, fill at the last second. Everything else is detail.
- Sheep’s milk ricotta is sweeter, firmer and more fragrant than cow’s, and it is what a Sicilian cannolo is built on.
- They are tied to Carnival, and to the Arab-era sugar and citrus of Palermo that made the filling possible in the first place.
Substitutions
- Cow’s milk ricotta, drained even harder and for longer.
- White wine or grape juice with an extra splash of vinegar in place of Marsala.
- Butter instead of lard, which is slightly less short but perfectly good.
Variations
- With the inside of the shell brushed with melted chocolate, which waterproofs it for an hour or two.
- The small Catanese size, eaten two or three at a time.
- With chopped pistachio through the filling rather than only on the ends.
History
Sicilian fried tubes filled with sweetened ricotta, tied to Carnival and to the Arab-era sugar and citrus of Palermo.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cannoli?
Cannoli is a dessert from Italy: crisp Sicilian shells piped with sweet ricotta. Sicilian fried tubes filled with sweetened ricotta, tied to Carnival and to the Arab-era sugar and citrus of Palermo.
How long does Cannoli take to make?
Cannoli takes 1 hr plus 12 hr draining of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 20 cannoli. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Cannoli?
Yes, within limits. Cow’s milk ricotta, drained even harder and for longer. White wine or grape juice with an extra splash of vinegar in place of Marsala. Butter instead of lard, which is slightly less short but perfectly good.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cannoli?
Never fill them in advance. A cannolo filled an hour early is a soft cannolo, and in Palermo that is the whole of the argument.
