Sicilian Cannoli With Bittersweet Chocolate Filling 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.

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.

SICILIAN CANNOLI WITH BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE FILLING

Steps:

• Sift the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon together and place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. At a low speed, mix in the shortening, egg, marsala, and vinegar until just blended-do not overmix. The dough should be moist but not too wet (if it is too wet, mix in a bit more flour).
• Divide the dough into two equal portions, wrap in plastic, and chill in the refrigerator about 20 minutes. Take the dough portions out one at a time and roll out on a lightly floured surface until very thin. Cut into ovals approximately 3 inches by 4 1/2 inches. (I usually make a template out of cardboard or even parchment paper, but I have also done it freehand.) Place a cannoli form lengthwise on each oval and wrap the dough around the form, overlapping the long edges and pressing to seal. You may want to brush the seam with a little beaten egg white to ensure that it does not come unstuck.
• Pour 1 1/2 inches of vegetable oil into a skillet or pan deep and wide enough to hold 4 cannoli at once. Heat the oil to 350°F. Place the shells in the oil and fry, turning once, until deep golden brown, about 4 minutes. The shells should blister a little bit. Remove them from the oil, drain on paper towels, and when just cool enough to handle, remove them from the forms. Cool completely on wire racks before filling.
• Using a rubber spatula, combine the ricotta, chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and candied orange peel in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. Scrape the mixture into a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip and pipe into the cooled cannoli shells. Dip the ends in chopped pistachios. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

VANILLA/CHOCOLATE CUSTARD FILLING FOR CANNOLI

Steps:

• Prepare basic cream puff recipe as above. Let cool.
• Heat milk in large heavy saucepan until bubbles appear around edge. Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl with wire whisk or mixer until pale yellow and thick. Beat in flour until well mixed. Gradually beat in hot milk; pour all back into saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over moderately high heat until mixture thickens and comes to boiling, lower heat. Mixture will be lumpy in the beginning, but lumps disappear during cooking and stirring. Continue cooking 2 to 3 minutes, over low heat, stirring constantly. Mixture will be quite thick.
• Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Place a piece of wax paper directly on surface of filling to prevent skin from forming.
• Chill at least 2 hours. If filling becomes too stiff after it's chilled, gradually stir in 2 to 4 tablespoons cream or milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• To make chocolate filling following the directions for Vanilla Custard Filling, adding 1tbs + 1tsp chocolate coco powder stirring until combine. Continue with rest of recipe. Fill puffs just before serving.

CHOCOLATE EGGNOG CANNOLI

Steps:

• Chocolate Cannoli Shells:.
• In a medium bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, sugar cocoa powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• In a small bowl, stir together eggs, milk, and honey. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll each dough portion into a 16-inch square. Cut each square into sixteen 4-inch squares. Wrap each square lightly around one end of greased metal cannoli cylinders.
• In a small bowl, lightly beat 1 egg white. Moisten overlapping dough with egg white; press gently to seal.
• Fry cannoli shells, a few at a time, in deep, hot vegetable oil (350 degrees F) about 1 minute or until golden brown. Using tongs, carefully and gently lift shells from hot oil; drain any hot oil that is in metal cannoli cylinders back into pan. Drain on paper towels. Cool. Repeat with remaining squares.
• Egg Nog Filling:.
• Combine everything in a bowl and whip until medium-stiff peaks form. Place in freezer and ready your cannoli assembly line.
• Assembly:.
• Using a pastry bag loaded with your Eggnog Filling, pipe each cool cannoli shell full of filling. Then dip the ends into red and green sprinkles. Repeat until all shells have been filled. Serve immediately.

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.