Tallulah’s Kitchen… Cannoli – Chocolate and Vanilla
Hello and welcome to September’s recipe for The Listing. 
This month I would like to share with you a recipe for Cannoli, a delicious little sweet treat that takes me straight back to our holidays in Italy- Happy Times! Traditionally these pastries are deep fried but I prefer to bake them – slightly more healthy so it means they can be enjoyed without the side order of guilt!
For the pastry
165g Plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
1.5 tsp cocoa powder
0.25 tsp ground cinnamon
Large pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1 x egg separated
2 tbsp dry white wine
30g butter at room temperature
For the filling
250g Ricotta Cheese
100g Mascapone
2 tbsp icing sugar
50g mini dark chocolate chips
Vanilla bean seeds from a quarter of a vanilla bean.
Makes approximately 12
- Let’s begin by combining the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa and cinnamon in a large bowl with a pinch of salt. Make a dip in the centre and add the egg yolk, and wine and half the butter. Mix well until all ingredients are combined thoroughly. If the mix appears a little dry then work in the remaining half of the butter.
- When the dough is fully mixed wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes but could be up to 24 hours.
- Set the oven to 180°C and lightly grease the cannoli tubes. (These are available to buy from kitchen shops or online but you can fashion your own out of kitchen foil- simply scrunch up foil and form into cylinders thick enough for your desired size.)
- Roll out the dough as thin as you can, use a pasta machine if you have one, cut out rounds using a pastry cutter about 11cms. Wrap the pastry around the moulds and secure the slight overlap with a brush of the egg white. Bake for approximately 15minutes until golden brown and slightly puffy. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing the cannoli moulds.
- While the cannoli is baking, beat together the ricotta and mascarpone. Stir in the icing sugar, chocolate chips and vanilla bean paste until everything is combined. Spoon this into a piping bag with a large open nozzle (to allow the chocolate chips to pass through.) Then just before you are ready to serve, pipe the filling into the cannoli tubes, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve immediately.
- For an extra decadent treat why not dip each end of the cannoli tubes in melted dark chocolate and then in crushed pistachio for a nutty twist. Or you could flavour the filling with citrus fruits for a zingy treat. Traditionally chopped peel is added to the filling-sadly we are not great peel fans in the le Fey Household, but as always dear reader, dance to your own tune!
Until next time…
Tallulah Le Fey
