Cannoli had been on my ‘to do’ list for a couple of years now. Those tasty little Sicilian pastry desserts, with a crispy outer shell and sweet soft goodness inside. Ricotta, mascarpone, custard fillings…mmm, there is a lot to like about cannoli. A whole lot.

Now when the lovely Joanna from Zeb Bakes sent me some cannoli moulds, well it was a sign, wasn’t it.

It was time….it was cannoli time.

But which recipe to try? On the internet there were so many to choose from, I couldn’t decide, so after reading about twenty different recipes, it was back to hack baking again. I played. Maybe not the wisest choice considering they were supposed to be a little tricky, but my choice none the less. So, below is how I did it. These are not perfect. They’re good, but not perfect. They need tweaking, so they will definitely be made again.

The pastry was good, (smelt fantastic with the marsala in it) but I didn’t get that complete crispness that I was after. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t deep fry them, only shallow fried them, and I did have a bit of trouble getting the right temperature of the oil to cook them in. Or it was the pastry after all?

I liked the mixture inside, (it’s mascarpone right, and we’re friends from waaaay back.) The jam added was a little taste tweak, which worked. I would have added some lemon zest as well, but was all out.

Next time though.  And yes, there most assuredly will be a next, cannoli time.

Cannoli

Cannoli dough

400g plain flour

125g butter

85g (1/2 cup) icing sugar

125mls marsala

1 egg

In a food processor, pulse icing sugar, butter and flour. Until it looks like bread crumbs. Tip out to a bowl and add marsala and beaten egg. Mix, and bring together quickly with one hand. Form a ball, cover in cling wrap and pop in the fridge over night.

Next day, roll out in circles as thin as you can get without tearing, cutting circle sizes to fit cannoli molds.

Lightly oil cannoli molds with vegetable oil, (just the once is all that is needed.) Wrap the dough around and cook in oil until golden. Pull mould out while still hot/warm, (as if it’s cold it will get stuck.) Allow to cool on a rack.

Ricotta mixture

250g ricotta

250g mascarpone

85g (1/2 cup) icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 heaped tbls strawberry jam

Whip it all up, for a minute or two and then pipe. One side and then the other.

Only pipe the mixture just before serving. Dust with icing sugar.

Unfilled cannoli shells will last for about a week in an air tight container.