Cannoli

Well we finally did it. Cannoli are one of our very favourite things in the little moon house, and we've been wanting to try and make them ourselves for a long time. So after we found some pastry tubes, we finally took on the cannoli challenge. Its a complex process, and one that definitely requires an assistant, but the final product looks and tastes so good.

Ingredients:
For the shells- 2 cups plain flours
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp plus 2 tsps butter
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup dry white wine

for the filling-
2 cups ricotta cheese (generally 2 cups is about the quantity it comes in when you buy it)
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cream
couple of drops vanilla essence

1 egg lightly beaten for egg wash

For the shells, start by sifting together the flour and sugar. Rub in the butter with your fingers until the texture is rough and sandy. Add the egg yolk and wine and mix until you have a smooth dough. Rest the dough in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Sift the sugar into a bowl with the ricotta, add the cinnamon and vanilla and whisk until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until its stiff, then gently fold in to the ricotta mix. Refrigerate for half an hour to an hour.
Then comes the tricky part. Roll out your dough until its very thin (less than an inch) Cut into circles of about 3-4 inch in diameter (we used the lid from the ricotta to measure this but a glass or bowl would do.) Wrap each circle around the pastry tube and seal it with egg wash (only put the egg wash on the edge of the circle, otherwise it will stick to the tube.) To cook you need enough oil to submerge your pastry tubes and it needs to be hot enough to bubble as soon as your pastry goes in, be careful not to have it too hot though otherwise your pastry will cook to fast and come off the tube. Use tongs to submerge your shell and tube in the water, and keep hold of the pastry with the tongs to allow it keep its shape and stop it falling off. Repeat with all your circles. When cooled use a piping bag to pipe the cream mix into your shells. Pipe from both ends to ensure an even distribution. Dust with icing sugar to serve.