How to Make Cannoli Filling and Cannoli Shells

March 19, 2011 0

What is cannoli? It’s a delicious Italian pastry dessert, believed to have originated from Sicily. This “tube-like’ dessert is filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and it’s very popular in Italian American cuisine. We have never met anyone who doesn’t like cannoli! Be creative, once you make these cannoli shells, you can fill it with the traditional ricotta filling, or jazz it up with chocolate custard or ice-cream. Here are some easy steps on how to make cannoli shells with pistachio-chocolate filling!

Step 1: Make the Shells. Get Ingredients
You’ll need flour, salt, sugar, eggs, butter, wine and oil for frying. Click here for full Cannoli shells recipe.

Step 2: Mix Ingredient to Form a Dough
Beat 1 egg with butter. Then add flour. Add wine, 1 tablespoon at a time till the dough forms into a ball. Wrap dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Step 3: Roll Out Dough
Roll out dough on a floured surface to about 1/16″ (0.2cm) thick. Then cut into either 2″ circles (for petite cannoli shells) or 3.5″ circles.

Step 4: Roll out Each Circle Dough and Wrap Around Cannoli Tube
For each cut out dough, roll it out more till it becomes really thin. Then wrap thin dough around each cannoli tube. Seal the edges with egg white.

Step 5: Fry Cannoli
Heat oil to 350F. Fry 2-3 cannoli form at a time till golden brown, about one minute.

Step 6: Make Pistachio-Chocolate Filling. Get Ingredients
You’ll need unsalted pistachios, bittersweet chocolate chips, ricotta cheese, heavy whipping cream , sugar, vanilla essence or baileys. Click here for full Cannoli With Pistachio And Chocolate Filling Recipe.

Pistachio And Chocolate Filling for Cannoli

Step 7: Grind Ingredients
Add pistachios and chocolate chips into food processor. Grind till fine.

Cannoli filling- grind chocolate chips and pistachio

Step 8: Beat Heavy Cream till Stiff
Beat whipping cream, sugar and vanilla (or baileys) till stiff and peaks form. Then gently fold in ricotta cheese and 2/3 of the pistachios and chocolate chips mixture.

Step 9: Pipe Cannoli Filling into Cannoli Shells
Add mixture into a piping bag or ziploc bag. Pipe filling into cannoli shells. Dip each end of cannoli fillings into remaining 1/3 pistachios/chocolate chips mixture. Serve immediately.