Eros Nests with Green & Black’s Chocolate

Last year , after my lay off, I interviewed for what sounded as my dream job, as a brand ambassador for a food  marketing project. I didn’t get the gig, but was happy when the agency reached out to me to see if I was willing to sample some Green & Blacks and enter their contest. Of course I said an enthusiastic yes. Who turns down chocolate? In addition to sampling a variety of amazing chocolates , I was asked to enter a contest. The deadline was looming quick, and I needed to put something together. I hesitate with contests, because I never win, and really don’t promote myself and pimp myself out  enough  to get the votes. This contest was great because the Green & Blacks Team would pick the semi finalists, and then the voting would begin. Unfortunately I didn’t make semi finals, but that doesn’t matter as I made a co workers smile and talk about this treat . And that’s really all that matters, isn’t it? Because as my catering slogan goes… “Coco Cooks Food That Makes You Happy”. If you’re wondering what happened to all the chocolate, Certain Someone ate the majority of it , before I could even take a photograph or enjoy them. From what I did partake of,I can conclude,it was that good.

The inspiration behind these  Eros Nests came from a coworker celebrating Ramadan. She was trying to make simple syrup for a dessert made with shredded phyllo to break her fast.  I saw the shredded phyllo in my grocery adventures calling my name and decided to play around with it incorporation the Green & Blacks. I also had plenty of honey on hand that I wanted to infuse with spice. Honey, spices, nuts, and chocolates are all aphrodisiacs , hence the name Eros Nests , as they look like tiny birds nests. On friend on Facebook described it as an amped up deconstructed Nutella Turnover. I lost my original notes on this, but its easy enough to remember without notes and makes a stunning presentation when entertaining.

Eros Nests with Green & Black's Chocolate
 
Miniature decadent desserts of chocolate, candied hazelnuts, chili infused honey, and shredded phyllo.
Author:
Recipe type: dessert
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • .5 lbs of Katafi dough/ shredded phyllo.
  • 4 oz of melted unsalted butter
  • ⅛ tsp of ground cinnamon
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 bar Green & Blacks Baking Chocolate with 72% Cocoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup honey
  • 1 dried Thai chili
  • 1 cup skinned hazelnuts
  • ½ cup brown sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Carefully break apart half a package of shredded phyllo and shred into a bowl.
  3. Add melted butter, cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
  4. Take a 12 cup muffin pan and carefully form nests with shredded phyllo. Bake until deep golden and crispy. Approximately 25 minutes.
  5. Remove the pan from oven and let cool on rack. Carefully remove after 15 minutes from pan and continue to cool on rack.
  6. In a pot add sugar . honey, water and dried Thai chili. Bring to a rapid boil and reduce. Simmer for 15 minutes until slightly reduced. Remove from heat and let cool.
  7. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler.
  8. Place a baking sheet under cooling rack, where nests are resting. Carefully brush the simple syrup over the nests to. You want the crunch to remain, but you want a good soaking. Let excess drip to pan beneath.
  9. Carefully brush the melted chocolate over the nests interior. Dribble some down the sides for artistic effect.
  10. Let cool until chocolate is completely set. To rush this you can place in the refrigerator until hardened a bit.
  11. In a sauce pan, toast the hazelnuts. Remove from pan and set aside.
  12. In the same sauce pan caramelize  the brown sugar gently over a med high heat. You don't want to burn the sugar. Add hazelnuts quickly when caramelized and bubbly, toss and coat in pan .
  13. Pour onto parchment lined baking sheet or a Silpat to cool and harden.
  14. Break apart pieces of the candied hazelnuts to place inside the nests.
  15. Serve for dessert, with cheese course, wines, cognac, and coffee.
Notes
You will need a Silpat 12 cup muffin tin

 Disclosure:

 I received free product from Green & Blacks in order to provide my honest opinions.

Classic Stracciatella for a Beautiful Spring Day

Certain Someone is a simple man in his dessert tastes. So naturally the divine duo of a rich vanilla based custard , with a semi sweet chocolate  ribbon stream  stracciato ( torn apart) while churning, is bound to be a favorite.  I decided to serve this up for the Easter holiday following a simple fresh slow grilled ham , pan fried leeks and potatoes, and a pea and carrot medley. Even stuffed , Certain Someone made room for two servings of ice cream.

I used to think Certain Someone would be a bit pretentious asking for Stracciatella in American Ice Cream parlors.It’s the European in him of course. But it’s more than differentiating between the naive assumption of  thinking this is something akin to the chunky American Chocolate Chip ice cream. Stracciatella was invented not to long ago, in 1962 by Enrico Panattoni at La Marianna, in the picturesque city of Bergamo in Northern Italy, not far from Milano.It’s based on the Italian egg drop soup of the same name, where beaten eggs are added to a hot broth. The chocolate is more interspersed into the ice cream and broken up into little bits, creating a alternating smooth and creamy yet crunchy sensation on the tongue. Stracciatella definitely has more finesse than the good ole chocolate chip from the USA.

You can find the recipe here. This was adapted from the renown David Lebovitz, who most definitely knows a thing or two about ice cream.

 

Sparkling New Home and A Sunny Recipe for Spring…Banana Mango Cream Pie

It’s been radio silent for a month or so here at Coco Cooks. Since the New Year , I haven’t been primarily busy with catering, but more holding down the day job, and moving into a new home. The catering  business is slow, but picking up for spring. Certain Someone has taken the plunge and purchased a fabulous town home for us. After a decade in my spacious yet cluttered condo, I should have known better. Moving is hard work and cleaning up afterwards to prep your home for rental even harder. It’s like erasing a decade. I purchased that home with the money my Mother left me after her death. It was the biggest decision I ever made . I took care of  my father there for a  while. It wasn’t ideal for either of us, but he got stronger and was well cared for until his death. So the house was filled with a little sorrow, but joy as well. It served a s the place where I really came of age on my own.The old condo was comforting and cozy. Then I met Certain Someone. It wasn’t our intention to move in together, as I just never really believed in it. But circumstances happen, and we did, and never looked back. It worked for both of us. But two people who have led full lives, tend to accumulate a lot of stuff.  Life was just getting cluttered. Certain Someone yearned to be up North in the Lincoln Park area, and now here we are.

I love the new town house. It has four stories and full of light. The  chefs kitchen is huge, with a large pantry to hold my many appliances and dry goods. The cabinets are ample. I have a double oven. Now my very used kitchen, looks manageable. It’s a show kitchen, but a practical one that will get its workout. I can house my catering supplies , cake decorating and crafting  supplies and equipment in the garage for storage, out of site. My favorite part is rooftop terrace where I like to enjoy a morning coffee or late night drink in the sun. I have such plans for the terrace. Some container gardening and a new Weber gas grill to entertain. Certain Someone is proud as a peacock. He did good and I’m glad he purchased this home with the thoughts of what features would make me happy as well. Now I just pray I can get a tenant in the old place.

I’ve been cooking , but resorting to old favorites, and nothing really to write about. Plus with Weight Watchers, it hasn’t made for much I want to share. I have lost 10 lbs thus far with Weight Watchers and another 10 prior since January. So a total of 20 lbs.With the move, I’m cognizant of what I’m eating but not so careful to count the points and as many days we we just grabbed what and where we could in transition. But its a lifestyle, and very easy to hope back onto. The four flights of stairs keep me leaner too.

So what am I doing  about to show you a decadent pie? Well I need to keep my baking skills up and Easter is approaching. I’ve been hearing everyone rave about Lucky Peach Magazine , and I went on Amazon and got issues 2 and 3 to see  what all the hype was about. When Certain Someone and I were  on a New York a few years back, I led him to a David Chang restaurant. Good, but too hipster  for him and he hated the fact he had to wait in line and eat elbow to elbow at the bar. I hear everyone rave about Chang’s Pastry Chef  Christina Tosi from Milk Bar. From what I’ve seen and heard of her desserts, she likes to use things like cornflakes, potato chips, and other processed things. But sneering or not, she is creative and has the chops and technique. So I was immediately captivated  by her recipes in the Sweet Spot Issue 2. Now mind you , I’ve just moved , and as it was bound to happen, while I thought I had everything needed for the recipe, I didn’t. So I made a few more substitutions  than planned. Tosi’s recipe is for a simple yet complex Banana Cream Pie made with bananas, aged  funky and sweet. Well I didn’t have days to wait and I’m impulsive. The markets in my new neighborhood , don’t have a discount rotting produce rack, like some other ones I know. But I did find some ripe  bananas  that weren’t too starchy. I decided to mix it up with a very ripe mango . Tosi adds food color for a cartoon like yellow, because the real color is more starchy white and gluelike. With the mango, I had a nice orange tint, but still added some golden food color. I was out of butter( Quel horror) and cheated and used butter flavored vegetable shortening for the chocolate crumb. Christina is very fussy and picky in her recipe writing, because she wants us to get it right. But I was confident in my baking ability to throw some caution to the wind and sub where I needed to.  I even ran out of whipping cream, and chilled up some evaporated milk for the final stage to whip. Don’t laugh.  It didn’t help that the recipe layout was a bit confusing ( the next page read bottom to top, rather than top to bottom)and I ended up using more cream in my cooked custard, and thereby depleting what I needed for the final stage of whipping.This Cream Pie process , reminded me more of the cooked banana pudding base my mother used to make . So how did it turn out? Naturally with substitutions the recipe is  seriously compromised. But what I got was a great pie , on the runnier side. I solved that dilemma by freezing it. Once frozen, and cut, the slices thawed into a nice creamy custard. In pastry workshops I’ve taken, most pastry components are always frozen to yield perfect assembly . This pie will do on a nice warm day on on your Easter Table. That’s what a good cook should be able to do. Turn around and save a situation.  I will give you my variation of how I made this pie, loosely inspired by Christina Tosi of Milk Bar .

Banana Mango Cream Pie
 
A frozen Banana and mango cream pie very very loosely adapted from Christina Tosi's Banana Cream Pie.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • Chocolate crumbs need
  • 6 Tbs unsalted butter
  • ⅔ cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • ⅔ dark unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • Pie Filling needs
  • 1 very ripe banana ( peeled)
  • 1 very ripe mango ( peeled)
  • 1 cup + 1 Tbsp Heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ cup milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon of powdered gelatin
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • several drops of gold or yellow food coloring
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • Final finish of pie crust crumbs need
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • pinch of Kosher salt
  • 1-2 Tbsp melted butter
Instructions
  1. First assemble the chocolate crumb for the crust.
  2. Preheat oven to 300 F
  3. Melt butter until just melted, but not sizzling hot.
  4. Using a stand mixture and paddle attachment, blend flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder. and salt on a low speed.
  5. Gradually add the melted butter to the mixture until it starts to come together and form a crumbs.Combine thoroughly until a dark rich crumb is formed.
  6. Spread the crumb on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 min. Periodically mix up the crumb.
  7. Remove from oven after 20 min. Crumb will become crunchy as it cools.
  8. For the Pie Filling
  9. In a blender blend the banana, mango, ⅓ cup of the cream ( I accidentally used more here), milk, sugar. cornstarch, and egg yolks until smooth.
  10. Transfer to a heavy bottomed pan .
  11. Bloom your gelatin with a bit of water in a separate small bowl.
  12. Clean blender.
  13. Gently heat the banana mango mixture on medium high heat, while constantly until it begins to thicken and deepen in color .
  14. Add the heated custard back into the blender along with the 3 tbsp of butter and gelatin. Puree.
  15. At this point add the food coloring if desired to crate a rich golden hue.
  16. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to cool down. Place in the refrigerator to chill for approx 60 min.
  17. In a clean bowl for the stand mixture. Whip up the remaining cream and confectioners sugar until it forms soft peaks.
  18. Add the chilled banana custard mixture to the shipped cream.
  19. Set aside and keep chilled.
  20. Assemble the pie crust.
  21. In a food processor pulse the chocolate crumbs.
  22. Add the remaining sugar and butter and salt.
  23. Press the crumb into your pie tin.
  24. Fill with the banana mango cream mixture.
  25. Place in freezer to firm up solid for several hours.
  26. Slice and let sit for a few moments at room temp before serving.

 

We Bake Bon Appetit … Day 8 Holiday Biscotti With Cranberries and Pistachios

Forgive me. I OD’d on cookies this week coupled with work and family related issues. One of my favorite uncles is not doing well and its just a matter of time. He lives in Vienna Austria, so the distance is stressful on my family here. Thankfully I have another uncle ( paternal) checking in on him and we are getting daily updates from friends. It seems death and illness is rampant with most of my acquaintances lately. So many sad stories lately.So you can imagine cookies were the last thing on my mind these past few days. But baking is always great therapy and a way to unwind.
I chose what looked like an easy recipe to pull together.The appeal of Holiday Biscotti With Cranberries and Pistachios was no chilling time! My dried cranberries didnt look all bright and red like Bon Appetites photograph, but I loved the flavors of anise, lemon, and pistachios mingling with the tart cranberries. I used Anise extract and I didn’t have whole anise seed. I wonder why I don’t use that flavoring more often in my baked goods. My only problem was baking two sheets at a time and the bottom sheet burning a bit when I toasted the sliced biscotti. That was easily remedied by scraping the burnt bits away like toast. I used an off set spatula to aid in the dipping of chocolate as my pot wasn’t deep enough. The offset spatula made the chocolate easy to handle.
You can find the recipe here.

Posted by Picasa

Be sure to visit the other bakers:

Also this may be of interest to some of you if you like contests.
Enter to win a 12 Place Table Setting For the Holidays!


Daring Bakers Make…Cherry Brandy and Chocolate Cannoli

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

I am noticing my Daring Baker Challenges of late have been pink in color. Wonder what that means on some psychological level?
Recently on a visit to Boston wandering the North End, I purchases some Cannoli tubes, tucked them away in my pantry,and never really got around to doing anything with them. Also on my trip ,I found a old fashioned Coffee, Tea,and Spice shop which sold all sorts of flavorings to make Liquors and such. I loaded up at Polcari’s . One such extract was a deep red Cherry Brandy.

I will admit I wasn’t in the frame of mind to this challenge. When one has many things on their mind, it is hard to focus. But I started my dough, sweetened with juice rather than sweet wine, and began to assemble Sunday evening. My lack of concentration contributed to me only buying half the Ricotta I needed and not straining it. I added a block of cream cheese to the mix and chocolate chips hoping it would firm up. But it didn’t. I photographed it anyway, and it was good, just runny and not suitable to bring to work.

I dreaded wasting all those beautiful shells I fried up and coated in chocolate. On Twitter , the talented LemonPi DM’d me and suggested I try to strain after the fact. At this point , why not! I wanted to salvage the Cannoli to bring to work the next day. So into a strainer lined with cheese cheese cloth, and the mixture firmed up beautifully. I barely filled them at the front desk in the office before the lot was gone. Scavengers. One person said why don’t I just inject the filling the their arms, the sugar crazed bunch.
Cannoli are much easier than I thought they would be. I would love to fill them with a savory filling next time.If you don’t mind occasionally deep frying, they are easy to make.

Equipment:

Cannoli forms/tubes – optional, but recommended if making traditional shaped cannoli. Dried cannelloni pasta tubes work just as well!
Deep, heavy saucepan, enough to hold at least 2-3-inches of oil or deep fryer
Deep fat frying thermometer. although the bread cube or bit of dough test will work fine.
Metal tongs
Brass or wire skimmer OR large slotted spoon
Pastry bag with large star or plain tip, but a snipped ziplock bag, butter knife or teaspoon will work fine.
Cooling rack
Paper bags or paper towels
Pastry Brush
Cheesecloth
Sieve or fine wire mesh strainer
Electric Mixer, stand or hand, optional, as mixing the filling with a spoon is fine.
Food Processor or Stand Mixer – also optional, since you can make the dough by hand, although it takes more time.
Rolling pin and/or Pasta roller/machine
Pastry or cutting board
Round cutters – The dough can also be cut into squares and rolled around the cannoli tube prior to frying. If making a stacked cannoli, any shaped cutter is fine, as well as a sharp knife.
Mixing bowl and wooden spoon if mixing filling by hand
Plastic Wrap/Clingfilm
Tea towels or just cloth towels

Required: Must make cannoli dough and shells. If you don’t have or do not want to purchase cannoli forms, which I would never ask of any of you, you could simply cut out circles, squares, or any shapes you want and stack them with the filling of your choice to make stacked cannoli’s aka Cannolipoleons (directions below). If desired, you can channel MacGuyver and fashion something heat proof to get traditional shaped cannoli (6-8 inch sawed off lengths of a wooden broom stick or cane, sanded down and oiled, is THE authentic cannoli form!), or non-traditional shapes such as creating a form to make bowls, or even using cream horns if you happen to have them. Mini cannoli would be great too, and I’ve provided links to retailers of cannoli forms of all sizes.

Also, for those who don’t like to cook or bake with alcohol – grape juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, apple juice..any sweet juice of a fruit, especially ones used in or to make wine, can be substituted. Just add a little more vinegar to insure you get enough acid to relax the dough

6-8 inch long by 3/4 to 1 inch circumference cannoli forms aka your basic cannoli form size

Variations: The filling is YOUR choice! Anything you want to fill them with is perfectly fine, sweet or savory, or you can use the filling recipe provided – making whatever changes you want to it. Cannoli would make a great addition to a Thanksgiving dessert table/spread. In many Italian households, during the holidays, cannoli is always part of the dessert offerings. You could also make a Thanksgiving themed cannoli, like pumpkin cannoli (I came up with a great pumpkin filling recipe below) or apples, pecans, walnuts, any dried fruits etc. An idea to gussy up your cannoli is; dipping the rims of the shell in melted chocolate and rolling in chopped nuts or sprinkles, then letting them set prior to filling. Dipping or pressing mini chocolate chips into the filled ends OR just stirring mini chocolate chips into the filling prior to stacking or filling whatever shaped shells you come up with, is another great idea and makes a nice presentation The sky is the limit here, be creative! Naturally, if you have any dietary restrictions, by all means, go with it. I’ve provided a link to a gluten-free cannoli recipe and a slightly savory vegan cannoli recipe to help get you started.

Bonus option: Make your own ricotta and/or mascarpone cheese! http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/eating-my-curds-and-ditching…
http://www.bakingobsession.com/2009/05/02/homemade-mascarpone-cheese/

Technically, I know, this is not baking, and if you prefer to steer clear of the deep fry, you can bake the shell. You won’t get the snappy, blistery texture and appearance that make cannoli so special, but I’m sure it’ll taste good nonetheless. Here’s a link where the cook bakes some of his cannoli shells: http://www.ifood.tv/network/cannoli/recipes

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

RECIPE NOTE: THE EQUIVALENTS FROM THIS RECIPE WERE PREPARED USING THIS CONVERSION SITE: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/index.asp.

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/16 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar

Note – If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:
1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Cannoli shell preparation, cutting out the dough circles, sealing the dough around the form, frying the shells, finished shells ready to fill

Pasta Machine method:
1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:
1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 – 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:
1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:
1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

PUMPKIN FILLING
1/2 cup (123 grams/4.34 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1/2 cup (113 grams/4.04 ounces) mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup (122.5 grams/4.32 ounces) canned pumpkin, drained like ricotta
3/4 cup (75 grams/2.65 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 to 1 teaspoon (approx. 1.7 grams/approx. 0.06 ounces) pumpkin pie spice (taste)
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 2 grams/approx. 0.08 ounces) pure vanilla extract
6-8 cannoli shells

1. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta and mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl, cover and chill until it firms up a bit. (The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

2. Fill the shells as directed above. I dipped the ends of the shells in caramelized sugar and rolled them in toasted, chopped pecans.

Top row – left to right: Filling the cannoli, variety of cannoli Bottom row – left to right: Stacked cannoli, pumpkin cannoli

TIPS AND NOTES:
– Dough must be stiff and well kneaded

– Rolling the dough to paper thinness, using either a rolling pin or pasta machine, is very important. If the dough is not rolled thin enough, it will not blister, and good cannoli should have a blistered surface.

– Initially, this dough is VERY stubborn, but keep rolling, it eventually gives in. Before cutting the shapes, let the dough rest a bit, covered, as it tends to spring back into a smaller shapes once cut. Then again, you can also roll circles larger after they’re cut, and/or into ovals, which gives you more space for filling.

– Your basic set of round cutters usually doesn’t contain a 5-inch cutter. Try a plastic container top, bowl etc, or just roll each circle to 5 inches. There will always be something in your kitchen that’s round and 5-inches if you want large cannoli.

– Oil should be at least 3 inches deep and hot – 360°F-375°F, or you’ll end up with greasy shells. I prefer 350°F – 360°F because I felt the shells darkened too quickly at 375°F.

– If using the cannoli forms, when you drop the dough on the form into the oil, they tend to sink to the bottom, resulting in one side darkening more. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to gently lift and roll them while frying.

– DO NOT crowd the pan. Cannoli should be fried 2-4 at a time, depending on the width of your saucepan or deep fryer. Turn them once, and lift them out gently with a slotted spoon/wire skimmer and tongs. Just use a wire strainer or slotted spoon for flat cannoli shapes.

– When the cannoli turns light brown – uniform in color, watch it closely or remove it. If it’s already a deep brown when you remove it, you might end up with a really dark or slightly burnt shell.

– Depending on how much scrap you have left after cutting out all of your cannoli shapes, you can either fry them up and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar for a crispy treat, or let the scraps rest under plastic wrap and a towel, then re-roll and cut more cannoli shapes.

– Push forms out of cannoli very gently, being careful not to break the shells as they are very delicate. DO NOT let the cannoli cool on the form, or you may never get it off without it breaking. Try to take it off while still hot. Hold it with a cloth in the center, and push the form out with a butter knife or the back of a spoon.

– When adding the confectioner’s sugar to the filling..TASTE. You may like it sweeter than what the recipe calls for, or less sweet, so add in increments.

– Fill cannoli right before serving! If you fill them an hour or so prior, you’ll end up with soggy cannoli shells.

– If you want to prepare the shells ahead of time, store them in an airtight container, then re-crisp in a 350°F (176 °C) oven for a few minutes, before filling.

– Practice makes perfect. My first batch of shells came out less than spectacular, and that’s an understatement. As you go along, you’ll see what will make them more aesthetically pleasing, and adjust accordingly when rolling. My next several batches turned out great. Don’t give up!!