Cannoli
Quick answer
Cannoli are Sicilian pastries built around a crisp, tube-shaped shell and a sweetened ricotta filling.
What makes this special
- Lard-enriched Sicilian dough rolls paper-thin, wraps metal tubes, and fries until the shells shatter.
- Tube-fried layered shell shatters in paper-thin flakes
- Ricotta strained of excess whey keeps grainy lightness
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Combine 180g flour, 40g sugar, 25g unsalted butter, and 1 egg, then knead until smooth.
- 2 Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 2mm thickness.
- 3 Heat oil to 175°C and fry the dough on the tubes for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and crisp.
Cannoli are Sicilian pastries built around a crisp, tube-shaped shell and a sweetened ricotta filling. The shell dough is enriched with lard, rolled very thin, and wrapped tightly around narrow metal tubes before being lowered into hot oil, where the fat in the dough creates multiple flaky layers that shatter with a clear snap on first bite. The ricotta filling is sweetened but left slightly grainy rather than smooth, a deliberate texture that gives the pastry a lighter, less dense quality than a conventional cream filling. Chopped pistachios, candied orange peel, or chocolate chips are pressed into the exposed ends to provide color and a contrasting flavor note. Filling the shells more than a few minutes before serving is a mistake, because moisture migrates from the ricotta into the fried dough and turns the crisp shell soft. In Sicily, cannoli were historically associated with Carnival celebrations, though today they appear year-round in pasticcerie across the island and throughout the Sicilian diaspora.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Season
Combine 180g flour, 40g sugar, 25g unsalted butter, and 1 egg, then knead until smooth.
Wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- 2Prep
Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 2mm thickness.
Cut into 8cm rounds, wrap each diagonally around a cannoli tube, and seal the overlapping edge with egg white.
- 3Heat
Heat oil to 175°C and fry the dough on the tubes for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and crisp.
Drain on kitchen paper, cool completely, then carefully twist and slide out the metal tubes.
- 4Season
Mix 250g ricotta with 50g powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
The filling must be lump-free so the piping bag does not clog.
- 5Step
Fill a piping bag with the ricotta filling and pipe from both ends of each shell toward the center.
Fill just before serving to prevent the shell from absorbing moisture and going soft.
- 6Finish
Press each end lightly into 40g dark chocolate chips to coat the edges.
Dust with a little powdered sugar to finish.
After the steps
Pick a recipe that fits this dish.
Continue with shared ingredients, meal pairings, or a similar method.
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