We had a murder mystery dinner on Saturday, speakeasy-style. You can't have a Chicago mobster dinner without cannolis, so I attempted to make them using a conglomeration of recipes I found online. The result was pretty tasty. Measurements weren't exact. The amount I used made about 10-12 cannolis.
16 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup cream, whipped
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 -1 tsp. almond extract
mini chocolate chips
phyllo dough
4 T. melted butter
sugar
1 egg white, beaten
For the shells:
Thaw the phyllo and place one sheet on your working surface. Spread butter over the surface with a pastry brush then sprinkle lightly with sugar. Repeat with a second sheet. Cut the dough into about 4-inch strips.
If you don't have cannoli molds, using heavy duty aluminum foil, cut it into 6-inch strips and loosely roll, jelly-roll fashion, with a 1-inch opening. Pinch part of one end to keep it rolled up. Spray well with cooking spray.
Roll a strip of the dough around a mold and brush with egg whites. Place it, seam side down, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Cool completely before removing the mold or filling.
For the filling:
Beat the ricotta with powdered sugar, vanilla and almond until smooth. Add half of the whipped cream and beat until mixed well. Fold in the other half of whipped cream and a handful of mini chips. Put the filling in a pastry bag or ziploc bag and cut the tip off. Fill the shells right before serving. Dust with cocoa and/or powdered sugar. (If you use the normal ricotta, most recipes said to drain it in cheese cloth for a few hours, but the part skim shouldn't require it.)
This wasn't much more time intensive than cookies, and it makes a fun alternative to the usual cookies/cakes dessert.
~L
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3 comments:
Best cannoli of my life was actually my first -- at Mike's Pastries in Boston. I had thought it was a pasta. Who knew. It's bad to start with the best in the country because it's downhill from there.
That was my first as well, and I thought it wasn't so hot. I'm pretty sure it was owing to the fact that it had been purchased, flown on an airplane, then sat in the fridge overnight. The phyllo gives it a lighter texture, and I liked adding whipped cream so it wasn't quite as heavy pudding-like.... or how about we just fly back to Boston together and try it again?
I find it interesting that I too had my first cannoli at Mike's Pastries in Boston. The thing is I don't recall it being that memorable.
When I was in Italy I rarely saw a cannoli. Interesting as well.
Lauren - my red velvet cake recipe was from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. You own that one don't you?
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