Creamy Homemade Baked Cannoli Food

CREAMY HOMEMADE BAKED CANNOLI

Steps:

• Place Ricotta cheese in cheese cloth or in a sieve over a bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours. It has to drain as long as possible to remove excess moisture.Remove from fridge and with a spatula over a clean bowl push the ricotta through the sieve (remove from cheesecloth and place in a sieve). This will make it nice and creamy, add sugar a little at a time and taste until desired sweetness (I used 1/2 cup of sugar you may want more or less). Fold in chocolate chips. Place filling in a pastry bag with a large tip and fill tarts, make sure to fill tarts just before serving. You could also fill tarts using a spoon. Top with powdered/icing sugar or extra chips if desired. Enjoy!
• In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa and cinnamon, make a well in the middle and add butter (start with 1 tablespoon if too dry add the remaining tablespoon), egg and wine mixing with a fork. Bring it together to form a dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes.Pre-heat oven to 350°, lightly grease and flour 15 cannoli tubes or even mini tarts. Or make your own tubes with rolled up pieces of foil.Roll dough out very thin** and cut with a round cookie cutter (medium size) to fill muffin tins, prick the bottom of the tarts with a fork a couple of times, then top each tart with a square of parchment paper and fill with dry beans. If using cannoli tubs, wrap the pastry so that it overlaps and seal by brushing with a little egg white (beat slightly).Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until pastry is golden. Let cool completely before coating or dipping with chocolate and nuts.
• Break chocolate into pieces and melt (either microwave or place chocolate in a small bowl and place over a small pot of boiling water make sure water does not touch bowl with chocolate).Let cool a little then coat each tart with chocolate. Set aside to harden.

HOMEMADE CANNOLI

Steps:

• For the shell dough: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Work the butter pieces into the flour with your fingers until the mixture becomes coarse and sandy. Add the egg yolk and the white wine and mix until it becomes a smooth dough. Spread a piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface and place the dough in the center. Wrap the plastic loosely around it and press the dough to fill the gap. Flattening the dough will mean less rolling later. Let it rest in the fridge for a few minutes while you make the filling.
• For the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the ricotta until smooth. Sift in the powdered sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Mix to blend. In a separate bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat the heavy cream until fairly stiff. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the cream into the ricotta mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Lightly zest the exterior of the lemon and stir it into the ricotta. Refrigerate for a half hour to an hour.
• To roll and fry the shells: In a medium pot with a heavy bottom, heat the canola oil to 360 degrees F. Meanwhile, sift an even layer of flour on a flat surface. Flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough until it is very thin (about 1/8-inch thick). Cut the dough into fourths and work in small batches. Use any glass or small bowl that has a 3-to-4-inch diameter. Cut rounds, tracing around each one to assure the dough has been fully cut. You should have about 24 circles. Wrap each circle around a cannoli mold. Use a little of the egg wash on the edge of each round to seal it shut and to assure it won't slide or fall off the mold before pressing it closed over the mold. Flare the edges out slightly from the mold. Flaring will allow the oil to penetrate each cannoli shell as they fry. Use a pair of tongs to hold the edge of the mold as you submerge and fry the shell in the oil until crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the oil, and holding the mold in one had with your tongs, gently grip the shell in your other hand with a kitchen towel and carefully slide it off the mold. Set aside to cool. Repeat with all of the circles.
• To fill the cannolis: Just before serving, use a pastry bag without a tip to pipe the ricotta into the cannoli molds. Fill the cannoli shells from both ends so the cream runs through the whole shell. Dust with powdered sugar. Powdered sugar gives that little extra sweetness and added texture to the exterior. It also makes me feel like I have a professional bakery touch in my own home. Serve immediately.

CAKE AND CANNOLI CUSTARD CREAM FILLING

Steps:

• Combine sugar, flour and salt in a pot.
• Whisk to combine well.
• Add milk gradually to get no lumps.
• Stir over medium heat until it thickens and comes to a low boil, about 10 minutes.
• Beat yolks in a bowl.
• Add some hot mixture into the bowl just a little to bring to a warm temperature.
• Add all back into the pot of mixture on the stove and continue to low cook until thick, do not boil.
• Remove and blend in the vanilla and pkg of dry pudding mix.
• Stir well until blended.
• Cool two hours, covered with saran (not to get a skin on top) or until cold.
• Beat nutri whip and then fold into the cold custard.
• Blending well, the cold mixture is hard to fold in( as it has set to a thick custard) so using beaters low speed is also good results.
• Fill cannoli-- or filling and topping for cakes.this should be stored in the refrigerator, because of the Nutri whip topping.
• I have never made this with reg. whipping cream, always Nurti Whip.