Cannoli di Gelato
Cannoli are one of the most widely known Italian desserts in this country, so naturally I wanted to find a way to include them in our repertoire. Traditional cannoli are tubes of fried pastry filled with ricotta cheese, and, often, bits of chocolate or dried fruit. When made right and served when the shells are still crisp, cannoli can be delicious, and when Dahlia came up with the idea of stuffing the shells with gelato, I knew she’d hit on something even better. They’re like little elegant ice cream cones where you get crunchy cone in every bite. We serve them three to a plate, each filled with a different gelato, with complementary dessert sauces and chopped nuts. Serving this kind of selection would be extremely challenging to do at home, but even one flavor of gelato and one type of dessert sauce will still make a really special presentation and a delicious dessert. The cannoli dough makes enough for four servings, but the dessert sauce our gelati and sorbetti recipes make are enough for exponentially more cannoli. So to serve a crowd, just double or quadruple the dough recipe. You will need a 3-inch square cookie cutter (preferably fluted) and small cannoli forms to make these. To get away with buying fewer forms, you can fry the cannoli shells in batches.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 32 cannoli di gelato, or enough for 10 3-piece servings
Ingredients
for the cannoli
suggested combinations
Preparation
Step 1
Spray the cannoli forms one at a time thoroughly with cooking spray. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the egg whites together in a small bowl and have a pastry brush handy.
Step 2
Place one sheet of the prepared, sheeted cannoli dough on a floured work surface. Use a 3-inch square fluted cookie cutter to cut squares as close as you can to one another, making sure to press firmly on the cutter to cut all the way through the dough. When you have cut all the squares from one sheet of dough, carefully pull each square away, discarding the scraps, and place the squares in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat, cutting the remaining sheets of dough in the same way, cutting 3 squares for each serving.
Step 3
Flour your work surface again and, working four at a time, lay the squares of dough on the floured surface with one edge of each square parallel to the edge of the work surface. Brush the top edge of each square with the egg white. Lay one cannoli form in the center of each square, parallel to the edge, and roll it away from you so the dough wraps around the form. Gently press the dough where you brushed egg white to seal the cannoli closed. Place the dough- wrapped form on the baking sheet with the dough squares and repeat, wrapping the remaining forms in the same way. If you have more squares of dough than forms, place the dough in the refrigerator until you’ve fried and removed the shells from the forms you already rolled.
Step 4
Fasten a deep-fry thermometer to the side of a medium saucepan and fill the saucepan 3 to 4 inches deep with oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until the thermometer registers 350°F. While the oil is heating, line a baking sheet or a plate with paper towels.
Step 5
Working in batches and taking care not to overcrowd the pan, carefully drop the dough-wrapped cannoli forms into the oil in a single layer and fry until the cannoli are golden brown and blistered, turning them so they brown evenly, 4 to 5 minutes. Use tongs to lift the cannoli from the oil and transfer them to the paper towels to drain. Add more oil to the pan if it has dropped below 3 inches deep and wait for the oil to heat to 350°F before frying the remaining cannoli. When the cannoli are cool enough to handle, hold on to the metal form with a dishtowel and gently put your other hand around the cannoli, gripping it gently as you pull it so that it doesn’t break as you slide it off, and return it to the baking sheet. If you are reusing the forms, place them in a bowl of ice water to chill. Dry thoroughly and spray them with cooking spray before wrapping them with dough and frying them in the same way. When you have fried all the cannoli shells, set them aside to come to room temperature. (This would be the perfect time to spin the gelati or sorbetti if you haven’t already.)
Step 6
When you have fried all of the cannoli, line a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer with parchment paper. (If you have fried all the dough squares, turn the parchment from the baking sheet so the clean side is facing up and use it to line the baking sheet.)
Step 7
While the gelato is still soft (within several hours of spinning it in an ice cream maker), spoon it into a large pastry bag or a large sealable plastic bag with a 1/2-inch opening. Holding a cannolo shell in one hand and the pastry bag in the other, pipe the gelato or sorbetto into one end of the cannolo to fill it halfway. Turn the cannolo and pipe the gelato or sorbetto into the other side to fill it. Each cannolo will take about 3 tablespoons of gelato or sorbetto. Place the filled cannolo on the prepared baking sheet and repeat, piping the remaining gelato into the remaining shells in the same way. Place the baking sheet in the freezer to freeze the cannoli for at least 1 hour until firm, or up to several hours. The cannoli can be prepared up to one day in advance, wrapped tightly in plastic.
Step 8
Remove the cannoli from the freezer. One by one, place the cannoli on a cutting board and use a large sharp knife to trim off the edges of the gelato, making a clean, sharp edge. Discard (or eat!) the trimmed gelato. Dip the ends in nuts, cacao nibs, or coconut, if you are using them.
Step 9
Serve the cannoli three to a plate, laying them side by side. Spoon a teaspoon of each desired dessert sauce on each plate and lay one cannolo on top or each pool of sauce. Spoon a little more sauce over the top of each. Sprinkle the corresponding nuts over the sauce on each cannolo, and serve.
suggested wine pairing
Step 10
Sugmoscato di Pantelleria (Sicily)
