Cannoli

Oh, this is a little treat. I think of baking as my hobby, and as with most hobbies, sometimes you get stuck in a rut. I think brownies are my rut – I’ve been known to make brownies and only brownies for weeks. They’re easy, delicious and altogether pleasing. But sometimes you want to get out of the rut. You gotta make something new, and something a little tricky.

Enter, cannoli.

I have enjoyed these little crunchy sweet morsels a lot in the last few years, I’ve gotten them from bakeries, markets and Italian delis. And Italy. So delicious. And too hard to make at home, or so I thought. The hardest bit was sourcing ingredients - I couldn't find any traditional (sweet) marsala wine, so I just used regular white wine and they tasted legit!

Like with most hobbies, you need equipment sometimes. I did have to buy these cannoli rings to enable me to make them, but they cost £7 and arrived via next day delivery. That’s the price of 2 costa coffees or one medium-fancy gin – well worth it because I’ll get my money’s worth. They will  be added to my niche kitchen equipment collection which includes donut pans and a sugar thermometer. Very useful gear.

I learned a lot by doing this. You need to roll the dough as thin as you can, with a second roll once you’ve cut it out. And then when sealing the ends together, seal the entirety of the dough where the two ends meet or else it’ll open up. Learn by my example!

makes 10-12

Ingredients for the shells

• 150g plain flour
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• Pinch bicarbonate of sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cocoa
• 30g butter
• 1 egg, separated
• 50ml white wine
• Oil for deep frying
• 100g dark chocolate, melted
• Various finishing touches  - dessicated coconut, chopped almonds, sprinkles

Ingredients for the filling

• 250g ricotta
• 100g mascarpone
• 2 tbsp finely chopped orange peel
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• Chocolate chips, optional

Method

To a bowl, add the flour, sugar, bicarbonate, cinnamon and cocoa and mix well.

Add in the butter and rub together.

Add in the egg yolk and wine and mix well. Kneed to a smooth dough.

Place in the fridge for an hour or so to rest.

Remove from the fridge, divide into four and roll out each piece of dough separately. Roll out as thin as possible, cut out with a large (11cm) circular cutter. I rolled mine extra once it was cut.

Wrap this around the cannoli ring and seal the ends together with the egg white.

Heat up the oil while you are rolling the rest of the dough. You want it at around 180 degrees Celsius.

Once to temperature, add a cannoli on the ring into the oil and let cook for 45-60 seconds. You want it to be golden and crispy and for the shells to bubble a little.

Remove carefully with tongs and place on a wire rack to cool.

Remove the cannoli rings when it is safe to do so.

When all of the cannoli are cooled, get a start on the decoration.

Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave, stirring every 15-30 seconds and decant the “toppings” into some small dishes.

Dip the ends of the cannoli in the chocolate and then in the toppings to get a nice even coating, then back on the wire rack to dry.

Once dried, they can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.

Fill them close to the time you’re planning to serve them.

For the fillng, make sure the ricotta is drained, and beat it until fluffy. Add to this the mascarpone and beat again.

Stir in the icing sugar.

Followed by the peel and choc chips (if using) and mix well.

Spoon into a piping bag and pipe into the cannoli shells.

Sprinkle some more peel and chocolate chips on the ends.

Serve!