Marie's Famous Cannoli

In an Italian household, Christmas means making Cannoli.
Buon Natale.

 
(Photo from Pinterest)


Marie often makes 70-80 Cannoli  around Christmas time.
She is the quintessential Italian cook for her family during the holidays.
I smiled while writing this blog as I relived my special day with Marie and Cathy when they shared their family heirloom* being passed down from Marie to her family.
(*a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations).
 Marie's Cannoli.
What a great day I had!

This is the cover of the cookbook Marie's children compiled for her 80th birthday!

Love this picture, Marie!

Marie's Famous Cannoli 

The recipe:

Dough

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup shortening or butter
• 2 well beaten large eggs
• 1/2 cup Kahlua or Coffee Liquor
• Powdered sugar
• Cooking oil for deep frying, peanut oil

In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, sugar and salt.  Make sure all dry ingredients are mixed together really well.

Cut in shortening or butter in small pieces into the dry ingredients mixing it together to resemble small peas.

Combine the coffee liquor and stir together until the dough forms a ball.  Cut dough in half and roll out 1/8 inch thick square on a floured surface.  Cut dough into 4x4 inch squares.

With the cannoli tube, roll catty-corners of the dough loosely together on the cannoli tube; seal overlapping dough with a little water.  Press gently with fingers to be sure edges are sealed.

Fry cannoli in deep fryer 375 degrees for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown, then drain on paper towel.

Remove the tube and sprinkle cannoli with powdered sugar.

Cannoli Filling:

• 4 1/2 cups or about 36 ounces of Ricotta Cheese* Marie makes her own Ricotta....see recipe at the end of this blog for her own ricotta
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. almond flavoring
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and almond flavoring.  Taste to see if sweet enough for you.  In a separate bowl, whip whipping cream.  Fold whipping cream into the cheese mixture.  May add mini chocolate chips after folding the above mixtures together.  Fill each cannoli shell.

Printable recipe: Marie's Cannoli

Gather the ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, sugar, and salt.
Make sure they are  mixed together really well.
Cut in shortening or butter in small pieces mixing it together to
resemble small peas.

Beat eggs in bowl.

Add the dry ingredients with the butter added in.
The mixer makes this easy.  Marie used to mix this by hand.
 It was labor intensive.
This is not for the weak of heart!

Put in the dough hook.
Add the coffee liquor.

Adjust the flour as needed.
You do not want the dough to be too sticky.
It is harder to tell how much flour to add using an electric mixer rather than mixing by hand.
You can tell by how the dough feels.

Add more sugar to taste.
Marie cooks by sight, feel, and taste.
 She is continually adjusting each recipe as she goes.

A single recipe makes about 2 dozen cannoli.

Roll into a ball.

Knead the dough by hand.  You can feel if it is too sticky.
This comes by cooking a lot...the look and feel of the dough.
You don't want it to stick to the board.

Cover the dough with a towel, and refrigerate it.
Chilling the dough makes it flakier.

Marie's little Italian kitchen turns out wonderful Italian cuisine all year round.
A great mother and daughter team!

Take the dough out of the frig,
and divide the dough into manageable pieces for rolling out.

These are the cannoli tubes we will wrap the dough around.

Mix together the powdered sugar and cinnamon and put into shaker.

Roll out like a pie crust, about 1/8 inch thick.

 Roll out section of dough into a square.
Then cut into 4 inch squares using a straight edge or ruler.
You don't want to make them bigger than 4x4 as it would take too much filling.
They are very rich.

Lay cannoli tubes on the dough diagonally.

Marie's rolling technique:

Roll the two opposite ends of the dough loosely together on the cannoli tube.

Seal the overlapping dough with a little water.

Press gently with fingers to make sure the edges are sealed.
You don't want them to come apart in the fryer.

These are made like a "bow".
This is how they were made when she was a little girl.

It takes practice to make the "perfect" shell.
Marie did not make them when she lived in Baltimore, they bought them.
It was not until she moved to Iowa that she started to make them,
 a mere 30 years!

Fry in a deep fryer at 375 degrees for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.

Can you hear the bubbling sound of the fryer?

It is like music to your ears.

Drain on a paper towel.

Take out the cannoli tubes.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon and powdered sugar mixture.

Keep on frying and rolling dough.

Marie makes these at Christmas.
But, she did fondly recall when her sister, Mary, came to Iowa from Baltimore
in the summer.  Of course, they made cannoli during the dog days of summer.

Cathy is Marie's sous chef!
Marie's tip is to have someone help you roll out the dough.

This is art!

My perfect cannoli shell!

Good job, Cathy!
Purrrrrrrrrrrfect!

 Team work...

 I am rolling out the perfect rectangle.
I had such a great day!

 Ready for the filling!
No, we are not finished yet.

Cannoli Filling:
Marie says the filling is what everyone wants to know how to make.
In Baltimore you can buy good shells, but the secret is in the filling.
Marie makes her own ricotta cheese.
She used to get it at Graziano's, but can't always make the trip.

Marie's Homemade Ricotta Cheese:

• 1 gallon whole milk
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 quart buttermilk
• A sprinkle of salt

Cook until mixture just comes to a boil.  Don't let it boil completely.  Put a little vinegar, 2 Tbsp.)  to help it sour a little.  Let it sit an hour at room temperature.  Run it through a cheesecloth and strainer.  Put it in the refrigerator and use it the next day.

Marie made this recipe her own.as any good Italian cook would.

This recipe originated in Sicily.  Marie says in the "old days", you cooked the filling.
Her father's side of the family is from Sicily, while her mother's side came from Rome.
Her great grandfather was from northern Italy.

 Whip the whipping cream.
 Add a little vanilla to taste.

 In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta cheese,

 and almond flavoring,

 and vanilla extract,

 and add the powdered sugar.

 Fold whipping cream into the cheese mixture.

Add mini chocolate chips.

 Ready to fill the shells.

 Cathy and Denise

Marie and Cathy

 Marie and Denise

Marie's Cannoli,
Buon Appetito!