Classic Cannoli Alla Siciliana Food

CANNOLI ALLA SICILIANA (SICILIAN CANNOLI)

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.

CLASSIC CANNOLI ALLA SICILIANA

Steps:

• 1 Combine the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, espresso and salt in a food processor; pulse until thoroughly combined
• 2 Add the butter and pulse to incorporate
• 3 Add 6 tablespoons of Marsala and pulse until the mixture begins to come together
• 4 If necessary, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of Marsala to make a firm yet tender dough
• 5 Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead for a few minutes, until it is mostly smooth and elastic
• 6 Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 2 days
• 7 The easiest way to roll out the dough is with a pasta machine
• 8 Divide the dough in half
• 9 Re-wrap one half and flatten the other with your palm
• 10 Feed the piece of dough through the widest setting, fold it in half and repeat
• 11 Adjust the roller to the next narrower setting and pass the dough through once
• 12 Adjust to the next narrower setting and repeat
• 13 Continue to roll until the dough is stretched to about 1/16-inch thick
• 14 Lay the strip of dough on the work surface - although it will be slightly tacky there is no need to flour the surface
• 15 Using a 3 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut as many rounds as you can
• 16 Gather up the scraps and wrap them in plastic wrap to re-roll later
• 17 Roll out the second piece of dough into a 1/16-inch-thick strip and use the cookie cutter to cut out 3 3/4-inch rounds
• 18 Gather up the scraps and knead them together with the reserved scraps
• 19 Roll this piece of dough through the pasta machine, stretching it as with the other pieces, and cut the strip into rounds
• 20 You should end up with a total of 20 to 24 rounds
• 21 Pour the oil to a depth of at least 2 inches into a heavy pot (such as a 9-inch enameled cast-iron pot)
• 22 Place over medium-high heat and heat the oil to about 375 degrees
• 23 Set a wire cooling rack on a rimmed baking sheet
• 24 Wrap a round of dough around one of the cannoli molds, overlapping the edges and sealing them with a little egg white
• 25 (Don't roll the dough too tightly around the tube or it will be difficult to slide the shell off once it's fried
• 26 ) Press the edges with your fingers to make sure they are well sealed
• 27 Carefully slide one or two cannoli tubes into the hot oil and fry 45 to 60 seconds, until nicely browned
• 28 Use metal tongs to move the tubes around as they fry to prevent the cannoli from scorching on the bottom
• 29 Lift the cannoli tubes out of the oil with the tongs and set them on the cooling rack
• 30 Use the tongs to carefully slide the fried shells off the tubes and let the tubes cool briefly before using again
• 31 Continue until you have fried all the cannoli shells
• 32 Let cool completely before filling
• 33 To fill, fit a pastry bag with a wide tip and fill with Ricotta Cream (see related recipe)
• 34 Pipe into both ends of the cannoli shells, taking care to fill the interior
• 35 Or use a small spoon to spoon the filling into both ends of the shells, pushing the cream inside as you go
• 36 To serve, dust the filled cannoli with confectioners' sugar
• 37 Garnish the ends with an optional sprinkle of mini chocolate chips, cacao nibs, chopped pistachios and/or or chopped candied orange peel
• 38 Serve right away to keep the cannoli from turning soggy

CANNOLI ALLA SICILIANA

Steps:

• Combine the flour, cinnamon, shortening, sugar and salt, and wetting gradually with the wine, knead together with fingers until rather hard dough or paste is formed. Form into a ball, cover with a cloth and let stand for about 1 hour. Cut dough in half and roll half of the dough into a thin sheet about 1/4-inch thick or less and cut into 4-inch ovals.
• Place a metal tube diagonally across each oval lengthwise. Wrap dough around tube by overlapping the 2 sides, sealing the overlapping sides with a little egg white. Meanwhile heat vegetable oil in a large deep pan for deep frying. Drop 1 or 2 of the tubes at a time into the hot oil, fry gently on all sides until dough turns a golden brown color. Remove from pan, let cool a little, gently remove shell from the metal tube. Set shells aside to become cold. Repeat procedure until shells are all made.
• Mix the ricotta thoroughly with sifted dry ingredients. Add two drops of vanilla and chopped fruit peel. Mix and blend well. Chill mixture before filling shells. Fill cold shells and smooth filling evenly at each end of the shell. Sprinkle the shells with confectioners' sugar.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.

CANNOLI SICILIANI: SICILIAN CANNOLI

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.

TRADITIONAL SICILIAN CANNOLI

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.