Sicilian Cannoli Tubes
30 servings
60 minutes
Cannoli, crispy tubes filled with ricotta and candied fruit, are a traditional Sicilian dessert. Their beauty is that they are relatively easy to make and incredibly delicious: crispy dough that falls apart on your tongue, soft ricotta, aromatic candied fruit, and chocolate. Everything we love in desserts, all in one bottle - or rather, in a tube. The exact origin of cannoli is unknown, historians associate their appearance with Arab influence. Previously, cannoli were prepared during the carnival, and the tube with cream symbolized fertility. Over time, the dessert crossed the boundaries of one season, and then the island. Thus, they are very popular in the USA, where they came, naturally, with the Sicilians. In Italy, there are many cannoli recipes , each family has its own. The chef of a Moscow restaurant Butler Giuseppe Davi also has his own, family one. This is what Giuseppe shared with us.
1
Take 300 grams of premium flour, sift it and transfer it to a bowl. Add a teaspoon of cocoa powder (unsweetened). Cocoa is needed for the tubes to have a gray-brown tint, not wheat-colored. Add 30 grams of sugar and 2 grams of salt. Mix everything by hand, breaking up clumps with your fingers. The mixture should be evenly combined and crumbly, without lumps.
- Wheat flour: 300 g
- Cocoa powder: 1 teaspoon
- Sugar: 230 g
- Salt: 2 g
2
Add 25 grams of lard or butter to the dough. It can be added in one piece as it will dissolve in the dough anyway. Add 5 grams of white wine vinegar and 100 ml of Sicilian Marsala wine. Marsala cannot be replaced; it gives a specific aroma, taste, and acidity to the dough. The vinegar and wine help form bubbles on the surface of the tubes. Also, add 1 egg. Mix the dough in a mixer at low speed until all ingredients are combined; this will take about 5 minutes.
- Butter: 25 g
- White wine vinegar: 5 ml
- Marsala: 100 ml
- Chicken egg: 1 piece
3
Then knead the dough by hand until it becomes smooth and homogeneous. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
4
Tear off pieces of the ready dough weighing 8-14 grams. The larger the piece, the bigger the tube will be. Flatten the dough balls with your hands and roll them out to an oval shape. The thickness of the dough should be about 2 mm.
5
Place a special tube in the middle of the dough oval, wrap one edge and brush it with yolk mixed with a little water. Wrap the second edge and stick it to the yolk-brushed area, pressing firmly with your palm. Open the dough like shells or ears on both sides. Let the dough with tubes rest for about 10 minutes: this is needed for the dough to stick together and not open in oil, but fry in tube shape.
- Chicken egg: 1 piece
6
Heat the oil to 180 degrees. Dip the tube in it. After about 2 minutes, it's ready. Remove the tube and place it on a napkin to drain excess oil and let the cannoli cool. The shape of the cannoli can vary; for example, the tube may be curved like a crescent instead of flat on one side. It won't lie flat on the plate and may roll over, but that's okay—it's still cannoli! Prepared tubes can be stored in a dry place for up to 3 weeks and used as needed.
- Vegetable oil: 1 l
7
Mix 800 grams of ricotta strained through a sieve, 200 grams of sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, candied fruits, and grated chocolate to taste. You can also add pistachios or other nuts to taste. Fill the mixture into a pastry bag. Carefully remove the tube from the mold with twisting motions. Fill the tube with ricotta mixture from both sides. Decorate with candied fruits and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Ricotta cheese: 800 g
- Sugar: 230 g
- Ground cinnamon: pinch
- Candied fruit: to taste
- Chocolate: to taste
- Pistachios: to taste