Cannoli are Italian pastries made of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta—a staple of Sicilian cuisine. Try your hand at making chocolate hazelnut, citron and amaretti or pistachio limoncello cannoli.
Ingredients
2 cups (300g) plain flour, sifted
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ cup marsala
40g unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Dried cannelloni pastas shells
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Vegetable oil, to deep fry
Ricotta cream
3 cups firm ricotta
2 cups double thick cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup icing sugar
Chocolate Hazelnut
¼ cup chocolate hazelnut spread
2 tbsp finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
Citron and amaretti
1 tbsp amaretto
2 amaretti biscuits, crushed
1 tbsp candied citrus peel, finely chopped
Pistachio limoncello
2 tsp limoncello
1 tbsp finely chopped pistachio kernels
Method
- Combine flour, sugar and pinch of table salt in a large bowl; mix to combine. In a separate bowl combine marsala, butter and eggs; whisk to combine. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until a dough starts to form.
- Turn out onto a bench and knead for 5-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Wrap and refrigerate to rest for 1 hour.
- Divide dough in half. Dusting with flour as you go, roll each half through a pasta machine, starting at the widest setting, and continuing to roll, reducing settings notch by notch, until 1mm to 1.5mm thick. Place pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut into 9cm squares.
- Working with one square at a time (keeping the remaining pastry covered with a damp tea towel), wrap a square around each shell, brushing the edges with egg white and press to seal.
- Fill a large saucepan two thirds full with oil, place over medium heat until it reaches 180°C on a deep frying thermometer. Deep-fry cannoli in batches, turning occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until golden and crisp. Transfer to absorbent kitchen paper and cool slightly, then slide cannoli shells off tubes. Repeat with remaining pastry.
- For the filling, place ricotta, cream, vanilla and sugar in bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until smooth.
- Divide into 3 bowls. For the chocolate hazelnut, mix the chocolate hazelnut spread into the ricotta. For the citron and amaretti, add the amaretto to the ricotta mixture. For the pistachio limoncello, add limoncello to the ricotta.
- Spoon into 3 piping bags fitted with 1.5cm star nozzle. Pipe the mixtures into each cannoli shell.
- Sprinkle chocolate hazelnut with chopped hazelnuts; sprinkle the citron and amaretti with crushed amaretti biscuits and candied citrus peel; sprinkle the pistachio limoncello with pistachio kernels, to serve.
