Palermo, the capital of Sicily, is the birthplace of the one of the most famous Italian Dessert recipes – the fabulous cannoli. Way back when, wealthy people would make a gift of cannoli to their friends at the time of their annual carnival. Cannoli is actually the plural of cannolo. You don’t hear much about connolo because it is difficult to eat just one. Our Italian bakery even makes the cute little finger-sized ones called cannulicchi.
Cannoli shells for this Italian dessert are made in the shape of a tube and are then filled with some sort of filling. Tradtionally, it will be ricotta or marscapone mixed with bits of chocolate or bits of fruit. Often, a Marischino cherry or chopped pistachio nuts will be placed on each end and the cannoli will be dusted with powered sugar.
It is important to remember that the cannoli should be filled as close to serving time as possible – never more than an hour ahead – because they will get soggy. One nice thing to remember is that the shells freeze exceptionally well, so you can just take out however many you need and leave the rest for another time. The shells are made primarily of butter, sugar and flour. They are wrapped around tubes and either fried or baked. You can buy the shells already made or you can make your own.
Although the ricotta filling is the most popular, I actually prefer the pastry cream filling that is also available. This is a little sweeter version of the Italian dessert recipes for cannoli that are so popular. Maybe that’s why I prefer it.
Bring 2 cups of milk to a boil with 1/4 cup of sugar. Whisk 6 large egg yolks in a bowl with a pinch of salt and 1/4 cup of sugar. Once the milk comes to a boil, whisk about a third of it into the eggs – whisking constantly. We don’t want scrambled eggs. Now slowly return this mixture back in to the milk in the pan over low heat. Return the heat to medium and return to a boil, whisking constantly. When it starts to thicken, cook for another minute and remove from heat.
Whisk in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Transfer to a bowl and place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the filling. Place in the frig for at least a few hours – or make it the day before.
Watch Greg make some wonderful cannoli for you here!
Thank you, oh wonderful Sicily for this most marvelous of all Italian dessert recipes – Cannoli! Mangia Bene!
