There are several secrets for making cannoli that a true Sicilian would eat and here they are. The secret of the true Sicilian taste lies in the geographical areas of most of the ingredients Your ingredients must be Sicilian grown and/or bought. Make your Sicilian vacation a gourmet experience by buying delicious food and ingredients you’ll want to cook and savour immediately (and later) this will earn you a more critical palate against which you can compare your culinary endeavours once you try this back home.
Only in Sicily
Use only fresh ricotta made from sheep’s milk. Ricotta goes off very quickly, so buy only the freshest cheese and make your recipe immediately. Also, cannoli should be served and eaten the same day – the shells will go soft the next day, and while they will still maintain their delicious flavour, they’ll lose that contrast between the crunch of the shells and the softness of melt-in-your-mouth ricotta.
Sicilian pasticceri, or master pastry chefs add a few drops of orange blossom water to the cannoli filling. Sicily produces citrus fruits that taste like no other, think blood oranges (Tarocco, Sanguinello), if you can find orange blossom water from local oranges (and the best of the Ionian coast come from the areas of Palagonia, Lentini, Francofonte, among others) you’ve hit the jackpot. The water is sold in small vials in better supermarkets in baking sections (where you can also find almond flavoured water). Use real Marsala wine, the main brands in Sicily are produced by two families: Florio and Perricone, which are available at most large supermarkets.
Better pastry shops or bar (note that the word “bar” in Italy means café, a word you’ll see just about everywhere) generally sell Sicilian candied orange peels. A good rule of thumb for choosing a place that sells quality products inItaly is to go where the locals go. Watch where they buy their food, where they sip caffé, where they buy ice cream for their children, and where they flock on Sundays to buy traditional Sunday dessert (le paste). This is where you should be shopping for ingredients or anything else that your palate fancies.
The town of Bronte, perched on the Mount Etna slopes, is a major producer of pistachios and Sicilian chefs will only use these. The large supermarket chains in Sicily such as Auchan and Carrefour will carry most of these ingredients including the metal cannoli shapes.
Anyone visiting Sicily should remember that there are slight regional ingredient variations from one corner of the island to the next which you’ll taste yourself as you travel from one area to another. The main gourmet areas in Sicily are Palermo, Messina and Catania. The recipe below is from th eIonian coast the way cannoli are made in the city of Catania and its surrounding areas.
Valid Ingredient Substitutions
After your Sicilian vacation you will, at some point, decide to either pay homage to your Sicilian vacation, or you’ll want to impress your friends by preparing a batch of cannoli. The real ingredients will be thousands of miles away, however, but don’t despair. During your Sicilian vacation you can pack most of the ingredients in your suitcase (including the metal cannoli shapes) and take them back home with you. They’ll keep for many months and you’ll add a bit of Sicilian sunshine to your pantry, not to mention ingredients you can use in other dessert recipes.
You’ll be missing the sheep’s milk ricotta. Fortunately imported cow’s milk ricotta is easily found in many Italian delis and supermarket sections in major U.S., Canadian and U.K. cities. A popular brand is Galbani Santa Lucia.
Ingredients for Sicilian Cannoli
Makes about 20 cannoli
Cannoli Shells:
- 350 grams of flour
- 80 grams of shortening
- 40 grams of granulated sugar
- 10 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder
- A pinch of salt
- 50 grams of dry Marsala wine
- 50 grams of white wine vinegar
- 1 egg white
- 2 whole eggs
- Metal cannoli shapes (buy only the smooth kind, no seams)
- Sunflower oil for frying
Cannoli Filling:
- 1 kilogram of local sheep’s milk ricotta (note: this ricotta may not be available during summer months)
- 500 grams of granulated sugar
- 125 grams of bittersweet chocolate chips
- A pinch of powdered cinnamon OR one stick of vanilla
- Candied cherries (you’ll one for each cannolo)
- Sicilian candied orange peels (one per cannolo)
- Sicilian pistachios
- Orange blossom water (a few drops)
Put it Together:
Make your cannoli shells first.
- In a bowl mix flour, sugar, cocoa and salt first then add the shortening, eggs, Marsala wine and vinegar until all ingredients are mixed well.
- You should be able to shape the mix into a large ball, wrap this with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
- After this time remove it from the refrigerator and roll it out with a rolling pin, make sure you sprinkle your table and the rolling pin with flour as work through the dough.
- Once you’ve rolled it to a thickness of about 2 millimeters or so, cut out circles about 10 cm in diameter (you can use small round bowls for this).
- Wrap the mix around the metal shape and seal both ends together, one on top of the other with a little egg white.
- Deep fry the shells in the boiling oil, but don’t cram them, fry only 2-3 shells at a time. The shells are cooked when they take on a brownish-tan color.
- Let the shells rest on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
Now prepare the filling.
When you remove the ricotta cheese from its container be sure to drain any excess water it may have by letting it sit in a colander or sieve for 10 minutes or so.
- Combine ricotta, sugar and a few drops of orange blossom water in a bowl and mix well.
- Place the ricotta mix in the refrigerator for about one hour, then remove from refrigerator and add chocolate chips and cinnamon or vanilla.
- You can fill the cannoli two ways, with a teaspoon or with a pastry bag.
- If you’re using a teaspoon make sure you fill each shell from either end and push the filling all the way to the center of the shell.
- Once the shells are filled decorate with the candied cherries and orange peels by putting one at either end of each cannolo. An alternative decoration is by entirely covering one end of each cannolo with crushed pistachios.
- Place cannoli on a serving dish and dust with icing sugar for presentation.
Read more about Sicily: Sicilian Villas: A Cultural Vacation Through Sicily's Heritage
Sicily Wine Regions
Giovanna De Gennaro - Giovanna is a Canadian citizen who has travelled and worked abroad. She speaks four languages and has worked as an EFL teacher in Italy. ...
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