I love cannolis! Really love them. I can no longer buy any that taste as good as the ones I used to buy at an Italian bakery long ago----and I've tried many.
The big hang-up for me is the shells. You can buy the shells in a good grocery store but too often one or more will be broken and they're not inexpensive. I guess I could return them but I don't because there's no proof that I didn't break them.
So, my work around---- using a simple filling for them:
1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese (full fat)
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup chopped candied citron
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I use Nestle Choc. chips)
---- which I vary at times for sweetness. Sometimes I drain the ricotta, sometimes I don't.
Then instead of stuffing/piping them into a shell I buy some Pirourettes
I put the filling into something like a wine glass then stuff Pirouettes around the outside with about half of each P. above the filling.
It makes a pretty dessert and I don't have to fuss with shells and the Pirourettes give it a taste and crunch similar to cannolis.
Of course, I'd rather have a REAL cannoli but just cannot find a bakery that makes them right, to my taste that is. And I'll be darned if I'll make the shells myself!
The big hang-up for me is the shells. You can buy the shells in a good grocery store but too often one or more will be broken and they're not inexpensive. I guess I could return them but I don't because there's no proof that I didn't break them.
So, my work around---- using a simple filling for them:
1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese (full fat)
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup chopped candied citron
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I use Nestle Choc. chips)
---- which I vary at times for sweetness. Sometimes I drain the ricotta, sometimes I don't.
Then instead of stuffing/piping them into a shell I buy some Pirourettes
I put the filling into something like a wine glass then stuff Pirouettes around the outside with about half of each P. above the filling.
It makes a pretty dessert and I don't have to fuss with shells and the Pirourettes give it a taste and crunch similar to cannolis.
Of course, I'd rather have a REAL cannoli but just cannot find a bakery that makes them right, to my taste that is. And I'll be darned if I'll make the shells myself!