Holy Cannoli, Batman!

Every Thursday at our place is Italian Night.  I learned how to make my own Pizza bases, so we have a Meat Lover's Pizza at least once or twice a month.  To vary our Italian Night, I alternate meals.  One Thursday I serve Pizza, another Spaghetti and Meatballs, yet another I serve baked manicotti and then pizza again.  Next Thursday it will be Chicken Caccitore.  For dessert tonight I made cannoli. I am out of ricotta so I'm just filling it with Chantilly Creme.  I will add some chocolate chips and sprinkles to decorate the cannolis.

Cannolis

Ingredients

For the cannoli shells

2 cups all purpose flour

2 TBS icing sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 egg whites (you can reserve the yolks for another recipe)

1/2 cup Marsala wine or a good red or white wine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 TBS butter, unflavoured

extra flour for dusting 

Canola oil for frying

For the Filling

 8 ounce container of good quality Ricotta cheese or Mascapone

8 ounces whipped cream

1/3 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For decoration: 

Chocolate chips
Sprinkles
icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Make the Cannoli shells.  In a bowl, mix the egg whites,  butter and Masala.  Beat until well combined.
2. Add the dry ingredients into the liquid and give everything a stir until the mixture forms a ball.
3. Wrap the dough in a few layers of food wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
4. Have everything you need on hand before cooking:  Oil the cannoli forms and place them on a platter ready to use.  Dust the countertop and a rolling pin with flour. Heat the oil to 350 degrees in a large pot or deep fat fryer. Have a small bowl of water and a pastry brush at hand.    Cut the dough into four parts.  One portion makes 12 cannolis.  You can wrap the rest of the dough and freeze for later use.  Roll the portion of the dough into a thickness of about a quarter inch in diametre. The dough must be thin or it won't blister when frying.  Cut with a round cookie cutter.  Wrap the dough around the cannoli form.  Secure the ends with a bit of water.
5.   Fry the cannoli shells in the deep fat fryer until they blister and become a beautiful golden brown...but not too brown.  Remove from the fryer with tongues making sure not to burn yourself.  Drain on a dish lined with a  paper towel.  Once the forms are cool, remove the cannoli shell off the form.  Place the cannoli shells in an air-tight container until ready to fill.  Before filling preheat an oven to 350 F and re-heat the shells for a few minutes (5 Minutes) until they are crispy again.
6. Make the filling:  Into a large bowl, add the ricotta or mascapone cheese.  Add the sugar.  Beat the whipped cream in a seperate bowl until stiff peaks form.  Add the whipped cream to the cheese mixture.  
7. Fill a piping bag with the filling.  Pipe filling into each cannoli shell.  Dip the cannolis into a bowl containing the chocolate chips.  You can also dip the cannolis into a bowl of sprinkles.  Another alternative is to dip one end of the cannoli into melted chocolate.  Dust icing sugar over the cannolis.  Serve.

Tip:  Fill your cannolis before serving.  Otherwise you end up with a soggy, sorry-looking cannoli which is very unappetizing.  

You can find Cannoli forms in speciality kitchen stores or online.  I got mine at Lakeshore   You can also find them on Amazon

Cannoli moulds