Then, in January, I was aboard The Norwegian Gateway ship for it's launch and they had a Cake Boss deli (you know the guy from the Food Network show). Anyhow, they were selling these and they were delish, so fresh and gorgeous. When I got home I logged onto my ebay account, bought the special moulds and came up with these.
They were really well received and my friend did a 40 mile round trip to try some as she had seen them on an American TV show and wanted to try one ever since Tony Soprano had eaten them.
250g Plain flour
60g butter
pinch of salt
Half tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp caster sugar
30-40ml cold water
50ml white wine vinegar
2 egg yolks
2 beaten egg whites
Deep fat fryer filled with clean oil
To make the pastry, place the flour, cinnamon, salt, butter and sugar in a large bowl and mix well together. I used my Kitchen Aid with the bread hook. Gradually add the white wine vinegar, water and egg yolks and mix/knead well until the mixture forms pastry dough. Form the pastry into a disc and wrap in cling film. Leave to rest for an hour in the fridge.
Roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 3mm, between 2 sheets of parchment. With a round pastry cutter, cut circles with a diameter of about 7.5 cm and wrap around the tubular moulds, securing the edges with a little beaten egg white.
Heat the oil in a in the fryer to 180°C. Fry the cannoli until golden-brown. Drain on kitchen paper and gently remove the moulds. I have 8 moulds, so I reused mine after letting them cool.
125g Mascarpone
300ml double cream
3 Tbsp icing sugar
Zest of an orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g melted chocolate
Whisk the cream, zest, icing sugar and Vanilla together, once they are starting to thicken add the mascarpone, whip until light and fluffy, spoon into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle.
Brush the insides of the cannoli with a little melted chocolate, leave to set, then pipe the cream filling into the centres. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
