patricia_cuocco@qm.calstate.edu (Patricia Cuocco) (04/20/91)
I frequently make cannolli. I usually just buy the shells in a good Italian deli. (Making the shells is a pain. It involves making a pastry dough, wrapping it around aluminum tubes which one buys in a specialty store and frying the stuff. My experience is the results are no better than what you can get at the deli.) There are several variations of cannolli stuffing, my favorite is: To 2 pints Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese (not the stuff you buy in the supermarket) fold in 1 pint heavy whipping cream - whipped till it peaks (use cold bowl and beaters). Fold in 1 cup confectioners sugar; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon almond extract; cinnamon to taste (I use about 2 tablespoons but that's too much if you don't like cinnamon). You can add in as much chocolate shavings as you like (I'd recommend 3/4 cup) but DON'T use chocolate chips because they'll get stuck in the pastry cloth. Put the mixture in a pastry filler bag (use the tip that you would use for decorating the edges of a cake). Fill the entire shell. Dip the edges of the cannolli in finely ground unsalted pistachio nuts for decoration. The above recipe should fill a dozen cannolli. You can make the cannolli about 3 hours before serving BUT NO MORE. They'll get soggy!!! **NOTE** Italian Bakeries usually mix citron (nasty little candied fruits) into the mixture since neither I nor anyone I know like them, I don't (and I think they'd also get stuck in the pastry bag). Again, I'm not a RECIPE cook so send me E-mail if I've confused you and I'll try to help. Patricia Cuocco