| Level: | Advanced |
| Total: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 30 |
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons very cold lard
- 3/4 cup marsala
- Vegetable oil, for deep frying
- Nonstick spray
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tangerines, zested
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh tangerine juice
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh sheep’s milk ricotta, drained in colander lined with cheesecloth for at least 4 hours
- 1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
- Confectioners’ sugar, to sweeten and for garnish
- Sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish
- Bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- For the shells: Combine the flour, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Work in the lard and slowly add the marsala. Knead together with fingers until the dough comes together. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. Form the dough into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
- Set the smooth rollers of a pasta maker at the widest setting. Unwrap the dough and cut in half. Lightly flour 1 half (keep the remaining half covered with plastic wrap). Flatten the floured dough into an oval and feed through the rollers. Turn the dial down 2 notches and feed the dough through the rollers again. Fold the dough back to its original oval shape and repeat the process of putting the dough through the pasta rollers. Continue to feed the dough through the rollers, making the space between the rollers narrower by 2 notches each time, until the dough reaches a thickness of roughly 1/8 inch.
- Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Transfer the rolled dough to a lightly floured surface and cut out 4 or 5 rounds with a floured 4-inch round cutter. Transfer the rounds to a baking sheet and keep covered with more plastic wrap. Roll out the remaining dough and cut rounds in the same manner. Gather the scraps and let stand 10 minutes. Roll out the scraps and cut in the same manner.
- Heat several inches of oil in a large Dutch oven until it registers 350 degrees F. Lightly spray the cannoli tubes with nonstick spray.
- Brush the bottom edge of 1 dough round with the egg white. Wrap the dough around a tube, overlapping the ends (egg white edge should go on top), and then press the edges together to seal. Make 5 more shells in the same manner (keep remaining rounds covered with plastic).
- Fry the dough on the tubes one at a time, turning with metal tongs, until it is one shade darker, about 45 seconds. Wearing oven mitts, clamp the end of the hot tubes with tongs, 1 at a time, and, holding the tube vertically, allow the shell to slide off the tube onto paper towels, gently shaking the tube and wiggling the shell as needed to loosen. (If you allow the shell to cool it will stick to the tube and shatter when you try to remove it.) Transfer the shells to paper towels to drain and cool the tubes before reusing. Wrap the remaining dough around the tubes and fry in the same manner.
- For the filling: Combine the heavy cream and tangerine zest in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.
- Combine the sugar and tangerine juice in a medium saucepan and cook until deep amber colored. Slowly whisk in the cream mixture and cook until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and let cool and thicken slightly.
- Combine the drained ricotta and cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer, add a few tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar to sweeten, and beat until light and fluffy. Fold in the tangerine caramel sauce.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and fill the cannoli shells. Dip the ends in the almonds and chocolate and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 30 servings |
| Calories | 276 |
| Total Fat | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 17 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 10 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg |
| Sodium | 97 mg |
Reviews
Why would you add cream cheese to cannoli filling? I followed the instructions properly; however, I can’t get the taste of cream cheese out of the filling.
Love this recipe! Just like all of Bobbys recipes!! I must admit, it wasnt easy the 1st time I made it… The 2nd time I made it, it worked out perfect. The fry time for the cannoli is more like 2 min, NOT 45 seconds.. I didnt use the cream cheese, and made the filling the traditional way, and added the caramel.. came out great!!
This recipe was rated DIFFICULT. Not all of us on FN are new to baking. We appreciate these types of challenging recipes. There are plenty of recipes for beginners. Just don’t poorly rate a recipe rated difficult because it was too challenging for a beginner. Bobby’s dessert recipes are difficult with skilled techniques required. And the wonderful, gourmet results are reflective of this skill set.
This recipe absolutely rocked. I bought cannoli shells from Whole Foods, not that the store had them for sale but the bakery grabbed me a package and sold it to me for $1 apiece. The filling was totally delicious and so easy to make. I had plenty of left-over, and it wouldn’t quite fit into the left-over container, so I had to stand there with a spoon and eat what wouldn’t fit. Poor me. We didn’t have tangerines so I used Cara Cara oranges. Couldn’t find sheeps milk ricotta so I used cow’s milk. Perfect. Thanks, Bobby!
I THINK THE RECIPE IS VERY CONFUSING FOR BEGINNERS AND I MAKE THE CONNOLI AND SHELLS AND NEVER HEARD OF PUTTING CREAM AND ALL THIS JUNK IN THE FOOD AND IT IS SO CONFUSING WHEN READ. I FEEL SORRY FOR THE NEWBE’S TRYING THIS RECIPE.WHERE LOOKING FOR SIMPLE WHEN STARTING OUT HIS RECIPES ARE GOURMET -WE HAVE NOT REACHED THIS LEVEL YET.
he is no help to me sorry
he is no help to me sorry
Just watched the cannoli episode. The title of Bobby’s recipe is misleading because on the show everyone refers to it as cannoli with tangerine caramel filling, no mention of almonds. Also, how does the challenger make his cannoli tubes? I have to rate this in order to post this question, so I’m giving it a 4 since the recipe seems to give enough info to replicate Bobby’s product.