Easy 5-Ingredient Cannolis Recipe - Baker by Nature (2024)

FAQs

What makes a good cannoli? ›

A cannoli filling recipe is most often made with just creamy ricotta cheese. But the best Cannoli recipes add mascarpone cheese to the ricotta cream mixture. This makes the cannoli filling extra smooth and creamy.

What is cannoli filling made of? It's traditionally made with ricotta cheese and sugar. As we know it today, it also contains heavy whipping cream, whipped and sweetened with sugar.

THE BEST RICOTTA CHEESE:

A huge component of this Homemade Cannoli Cream is, of course, the delicious Galbani® Ricotta Cheese. This rich and creamy cheese can be found in your local market's dairy aisle and is the perfect cheese to use for a delicious and rich cannoli cream.

Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Heat in microwave 45 seconds, stir until smooth texture and add to the filling. Whisk with mixer for 3–4 minutes until the filling begins to thicken and become fluffy. The cornstarch will not thicken unless heated.

Refined coconut oil is odorless, so it won't stink up the kitchen as you fry; more importantly, it's solid at room temperature, giving the cannoli shells a crisp and buttery texture that never feels greasy or soggy.

Cannoli is traditionally made with ricotta, but some people prefer mascarpone. It simply depends on your personal preference.

Chief among them is the type of milk used for each. The Italian version makes use of sheep's milk, while Italian-American cannoli employs cow's milk (leading to significant distinctions in taste and consistency).

The Cannolo, or little tube, is Italy's best-known Sicilian pastry dish. It consists of a fried tube-shaped shell and is filled with a sweet cheese cream filling. Cannoli are a truly timeless dessert that will usher you back into the heart of ancient Sicily.

Do not fill the cannoli until just before serving, otherwise your shells will become soggy and not crisp. Store the cannoli shells in a paper towel lined tupperware container at room temperature. The filling will store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Eggs help bind the ricotta cheese, but if you don't have eggs on hand then it's OK to omit them. Adding egg to ricotta cheese helps to bind the cheese for lasagna so that it doesn't ooze out of the casserole when you cut it. Basically, the egg helps all the cheesy goodness stay intact.

Why are my cannoli shells puffing up? ›

Fry right.

Use a thermometer to monitor the oil so it remains at 375 degrees; too hot and the shells will puff up too much, too cool and they will be greasy. Use tongs to gently move the dough-wrapped metal tubes around in the oil to maintain even frying.

Traditional cannolis have a simple filling of ricotta (or mascarpone), sugar, and sometimes vanilla extract. Here are a few common additions and variations: Chocolate chips or candied fruits add welcome bursts of sweetness to the filling or the shell.

Your cannoli cream is a runny mess. My recommendation at this point is to add about ¼ to ½ cup of heavy whipping cream and an additional 1 - 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until it thickens up. It will fill more cannoli shells but will save you tossing the soupy filling out.

Over time recipes have begun using powdered sugar as both the sweetener and to stabilize the watery ricotta, but this, in turn, makes the filling a grainy and overwhelmingly sweet pastry cream. To fix this dilemma, I use a mixture of ricotta, mascarpone, goat cheese with granulated sugar.

Have you ever tried fresh ricotta cheese? If you did it then it's easier for you to recognize a good cannolo. The cannolo's cream must taste, look and feel as close as possible to the ricotta cheese (many sicilians want to feel a cheese aftertaste in their cannolo!). The ricotta cream must be simply imperfect, foamy.

A cannoli is a tube-shaped Italian dessert that consists of fried pastry dough stuffed with a sweet, creamy cheese filling. The crispy pastry shell is made with the usual suspects: flour, sugar, whole eggs, and butter. It's usually spiked with marsala, a fortified wine that adds distinct flavor and sweetness.

Italian cream horns are made with a light and fluffy puff pastry. Alternately, cannoli shells are hard and brittle, breaking apart with each bite.