Holy Cannoli

 

Cannoli from my days at The Mill of Milton

A couple of years ago, I embarked on an adventure at The Mill Steakhouse, owned by Dustin and Kate Lowry.  This is how I met Sara Thurdekoos, who requested this recipe...  Somehow, I was put to the task of creating a dessert special; we needed to get rid of some Ricotta and some other things.  I'll keep this short and sweet, because one thing that drives me nuts about recipes online is all the bullshit you have to wade through in order to get to the recipe.  I have worked in many restaurants in all of my years, and one thing was for certain - give me random ingredients and let me do my magic.  I was known as the "Queen of Specials" at many places.  I particularly excelled at "Mystery Box Competitions", it feeds my curiosity and creative side.

With that being said, there is more ramblings AFTER this post.

The key to a good Cannoli, according to Chef Neil, (Yes, Chef!  I paid attention to everything you said) is don't overwork your dough and don't deviate from the recipe.  Baking and pastry is more of a science than it is actually throwing a bunch of ingredients into a pan.  Chef Neil told me to look at it in this perspective:  pretend you're making pasta.  Once I began looking at it in that perspective, they were coming out phenomenally.

First off, cannoli forms.  There are several on the market.  While most Italians will say, absolutely you should use bamboo, it's not entirely necessary.  The metal ones are just fine.  There are links at the bottom (before the ramblings) for Cannoli forms on Amazon.

Thoroughly combine your dry ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
Pinch of Kosher salt
Pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

Take .75 ounces of cold butter that's been grated with a cheese grater (I like the hand graters, link below) and combine with the flour, sugar and salt until it is kind of crumbly and grainy.

Make a hole in the bowl, by spreading the ingredients to the edges.

In the hole, add these ingredients:

1 egg yolk, beaten
1/2 cup Lustau East India Solera Wine, link below.

Slowly bring down some of your dry ingredients and mix by hand until all ingredients are pulled together and it feels almost like a pasta dough.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and flatten into a puck, wrap in plastic wrap or put into a 1 gallon ziploc bag, and refrigerate for about an hour.

Pull from the refrigerator.  I like to work in small pieces because this does dry out if left out for too long.  I break them up into quarters and then slip the remainder back into the bag and put back into the refrigerator until I need more.  Lightly flour your surface and then begin rolling them out with a lightly floured rolling pin.  I prefer French Rolling Pins.  There are several sizes to the cannoli forms, I prefer the 4 inch ones as opposed to the 5 inch ones.  The thickness that you want is 1/8".  Find your cutter that will create a circle that you can wrap around the cannoli form.  In my set, it's generally third from the largest.  

Make an egg wash:  1 beaten whole egg with 1 tablespoon water, thoroughly combined.

You'll take your circles and wrap them around the forms and overlay the edge of the form over the top of the opposing edge to make sure it fits together.  You do need an overlap.  So, brush a little bit of the egg wash onto the edge that is first on the form and then bring over the opposing edge and press gently to seal it.  I like to come back with a fork and give it a couple of jabs right where the two edges meet so that you don't have it bubbled up (like seen in the picture that I shared, purposely shared this one so you can see that this one didn't seal properly to the cannoli form).

You will want to heat up your deep fryer oil to 350 degrees, always use fresh oil.  This is when you should know your smoke point for your oil.  I chose Rice Bran oil because it has a decent smoke point.  If you have a thermometer, you can check your oil temperature.  Some deep fryers run a little hot, some not as hot.  Gently lower 4 to 6 at a time into the oil using a pair of tongs.  What you are looking for is golden brown deliciousness.  But because I use a darker wine and add nutmeg, it can lie to you.  So, about 2 1/2 minutes should suffice.  Pull your basket up and tilt it at an angle somewhat so drain the hot oil from the form, it will collect.  Remove by using tongs and allow to rest on a cooling rack for a moment or two just to make sure all the hot oil has drained.  Once you're certain that the hot oil is not pooling up inside the form, you can use a couple of lint free kitchen towels to release them from the forms.  Allow forms to cool completely before forming more.

The Filling:

2 cups of ricotta, I like to strain mine first in a fine mesh strainer.  You can actually start that while you're making the dough.
Zest of one blood orange and one lemon.
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
1/4 cup Mascarpone
Splash of heavy cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Splash of Lustau East India Solera
Pinch of nutmeg

Beat all of these together.  It is up to you if you choose to add chocolate chips (mini chocolate chips), although I suggest omitting them entirely and dipping one end in melted chocolate and then roll in crushed nuts of your choice.  I don't like big chunks of chocolate in mine.  It is my preference to use shaved chocolate.  However much or however little you want.

Once your cannoli shells are done, simply use a large bore pastry tip and pastry bag to squirt the filling in.  This is also another reason why I hate putting chocolate chips, they jam up the pastry tip.

Garnish with sprinkles of powdered sugar, if you prefer.  I personally don't like powdered sugar on mine, just don't like the mouth feel.  Also, only fill as many as you are going to serve out - they go a little funky if prefilled and they end up sitting in refrigeration for longer than a day.  These DO need to be refrigerated.

Other variations to the filling:  finely chopped nuts and dried fruits are always fun.

Shopping List for kitchen gadgets, bobbles and bits:

Links to Cannoli forms (I keep a total of 24 in my pastry toolkit at all times because I never know when I'm going to actually make a big batch.)  It makes things go faster to have more than just 4.

Nonstick Carbon Steel
The set I have by Fox Run (wished I had the nonstick ones, but Chefs really don't make a lot of money sometimes so these are good budget-friendly forms)

What about the fryer?  Which fryer do you use?
I have professional fryers at work, but for home, THIS is the one that I use.  

What's this secret ingredient that you use?

Yes, Sara, this is the secret ingredient.
Lustau East India Solera (because finding a replacement for Jonesy Port has been so freaking hard since Trevor Jones is not producing it any more).  Before you judge me for buying a Port from Australia, it was REALLY good for desserts.  Lustau is as close to it as I could find and I stumbled across it accidentally when a different kitchen handed me a case of it and said, "do something with this, the former Executive Chef ordered a bunch and we have no idea what to do with it."  I opened it and sampled it, a smile crept across my face, the clouds parted and the angels sang.  I was still grieving over not being able to get Jonesy.  This was so close, and I began a new love affair for it as a dessert cooking wine.  IF you cannot find this, ask a wine specialist at a wine shop what would be similar.  Or, just chance it by getting a dessert wine from the shelf.

What about your oil?
I like THIS type of oil.  It is very neutral and as long as you don't overheat your deep fryer, it can be filtered and reused.

Rotary cheese grater?
Basically, warm hands melt the butter a little too much.  I like to use these because it has multiple purposes besides just grating butter - anyone that serves a lot of pasta dishes will revel in the glory of having fresh pecorino grated tableside.  THIS is that link.

Round pastry cutter?
I have too many different types of round pastry cutters.  I prefer the Nylon ones because they don't bend and ultimately break.  THIS is the set that I prefer, although I do have metal ones, it's up to you.

I no longer work at The Mill.  I don't have any bad feelings toward Dustin or Kate; they are actually wonderful people.  I spent 18-months of my life working for them as their Kitchen Manager.  And I greatly appreciate that opportunity.  A different opportunity came up and I needed to take it.  I do miss them and regret not going up to see them - just that I've been horribly busy with my own kitchen.

I am the Executive Chef for Rockin' Bowl Cafe, in Puyallup, WA.  Due to the pandemic, my kitchen is closed until we get the go ahead to reopen.  It has been a journey and my 2-year anniversary with Rockin' Bowl Cafe is coming up in a few weeks.