DB: Cannoli

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos 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.

So this month challenge was cannoli and I'm not quite sure what my reaction was when I found out about it. I wasn't horiffied but also not over joyed... and of course I let everything come to the last minute and made the challenge today, yes today.

I had no time to think of anything creative to shape my cannolis on so I did the stacked version, I wanted to make a light filling because the dish is already fried so I didn't want to overdo it. My fillings were a hazelnut (nougat) whipped cream and a chocolate whipped cream, the hard-crispy shells and the soft sweet whipped cream went very well together. In the instructions it said that the dough is VERY stubborn, oh yes it was- but I was not going to let him defeat me and after a couple strong rolls he gave in. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the cannolis, both handling the dough and the nice way it fried and blistered.

Don't ask me what happened here....I had so much cream and sauce left, that after trying my luck at some decorating practice the plate looked like a battle field.

If you feel like getting your hands on some home made cannoli, here is a pdf file with the recipe and full instructions.