Late Posting - Daring Bakers Challenge for November

Some of you were wondering where is she hiding....
I was very busy last month, preparing and baking for couple of Christmas Craft Shows in town and area, after the shows I packed my suitcase and went to Toronto, on a business trip, it was successful, fun and I got to meet many interesting people and attending couple of Craft & Food Shows, also did some shopping for ingredients I cannot find in my area.

Time goes so fast when you are having fun.... I enjoyed every minute of my visit.

The Daring Bakers challenge for November was hosted by my talented friend LisaMichelle of
www.parsley,sage,dessertsandlinedrive . Lisa choose Cannolo from the Lidia's cookbook "my Italian-American Kitchen" and the Soprano Family cookBook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes approximately 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli Assemble – 20–30 minutes
UPDATE: I learned that the addition of a little freshly ground or instant coffee to the shell dough is traditional in Sicilian style cannoli and gives the shells more flavor. I suppose you can add it along with the cocoa or in lieu of it.

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish confectioners’ sugar

Note – If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

I made the dough and let it rest till the second day...since I don't have a pasta machine , I rolled the dough by hand and cut it small . Made my own Cannoli molds using rolled thick foil paper, its worked well.
I made my own Ricotta Cheese, drained it well, then whipped it to make it smooth, added couple of spoons of sugar, and candied citron and the cinnamon. vanilla (excellent flavours)
for decoration I used candied cherries and ground pistachios...
used the same stuffing for the chocolate adding some chopped chocolates and decorated with chocolate sprinkles.

Two doughs and Homemade Ricotta taste always better

Cannoli stuffed with homemade Ricotta, Candied Citron and decorated with cherries and pistachios

Chocolate Cannoli for my husband

for more ideas and flavours check Lisa's blog and the Daring Bakers Bloggers