Description
Shatteringly crisp shells are filled with the most amazing light and creamy filling. Adapted from Stella Parks at Serious Eats.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the shells:
- 125 grams all purpose flour
- 25 grams unsalted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 85 grams cold water from the tap
For the filling:
- 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Grand Marnier liqueur
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
To fry and serve:
- 42 ounces refined coconut oil
- 1 egg white, beaten
- dark chocolate shavings/shards
- toasted, finely chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Make the dough for the shells. Combine the flour, butter, salt and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until the butter disappears and leaves fine crumbs behind. Add the water and continue to process for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until the dough becomes stringy and rides the blade. It won’t happen at first, be patient. It’s done when it looks like cobwebs. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and tightly cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to rest for 2 hours at room temperature.
- Make the filling. In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until very stiff peaks form and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, Grand Marnier, salt and cinnamon. Beat until combined and smooth.
- Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until well blended and smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
- Form the shells and fry. Add the coconut oil to a large dutch oven or pot, and bring to 360F over medium heat. While the oil comes up to temperature, generously flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Add more flour to the top to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin, and roll out the dough no thicker than 1/8 inch. It has to be very thin, or the shells won’t fry properly.
- Dust off the excess flour, and brush the entire surface of the dough with the beaten egg white. Do not discard the remaining egg white. Fold the dough over once, and roll it back out to 1/8 inch thick again.
- Use a 3 1/2 inch round cutter to cut the dough into circles. Re roll the scraps and continue cutting circles until no more dough remains, adding as LITTLE flour as necessary. At this point, the oil should be nearly ready.
- Carefully wrap each dough circle around a cannoli form, using gentle tension to make sure the dough is snugly wrapped around the form. Use a dab of egg white to seal where the ends meet, press down gently to make sure the seal holds.
- Add the shells to the oil and fry until blistered and light golden, about 2 minutes. Use tongs or kitchen tweezers to remove the shells from the oil, and tap the tapered end of the cannoli form on the counter to release the finished shell. Repeat steps 7-8 for the remaining shells.
- Allow the shells to cool slightly or completely before filling.
- Fill and garnish. Fit a pastry bag with a 1 inch round tip and add the filling. Carefully fill both sides of each shell and dip the ends in either chocolate or pistachios. Serve immediately. Filled cannoli will only keep for a few days in the refrigerator. Do not store at room temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 filled cannoli
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 4.8 g
- Sodium: 121.1 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated Fat: 8.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.3 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 3.3 g
- Cholesterol: 23.9 mg