Ann Reardon

Italian Cannoli Recipe – Taormina Sicily

how to make cannoli ann reardon

 

Back when we lived in Western Australia Dave and I would frequently go down to Fremantle for coffee. The suburb bustled with Italian cafes, chairs and tables on the sidewalks and some delectable sweet treats. It was here that I had my first taste of fresh crispy cannoli and fell in love.

On our recent travels to Italy I was excited to find an Italian chef who could teach Matt and I how to make them. They are not that complicated to make, I’m sure I could have learned from a cookbook. But there is something magical about learning how to make cannoli while in Italy with an Italian chef who makes hundreds of them by hand every day.

Italian Cannoli Recipe

250g (8.82 ounces) of 00 flour
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
50g (1.76 ounces) sugar
50 butter slightly meted
30-50mL (1.69 fluid ounces) marsala or red wine
Semolina flour for rolling
cannoli tubes for frying and a skimmer for holding the cannoli off the bottom of the pan.

Italian chef cannoli recipe

Filling Option 1: Ricotta

500g (17.64 ounces) Ricotta
200g (7.05 ounces) sugar
45g (1.59 ounces) candied dried fruits (you can swap this for flakes of chocolate or what you like, be inventive)

Filling Option 2: Crema Bianca

625mL (21.13 fluid ounces) milk
5 egg yolks
140g (4.94 ounces) sugar
50g (1.76 ounces) semolina flour
grated rind of 1/2 a lime
grated rind of one orange
squeeze of orange juice

For decorating the ends:
chopped almonds
chopped pistachios
small chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

You can’t re-roll the dough because the semolina flour is on the outside. But you can fry up the scraps and drizzle with warm Nutella.

how to make cannoli ann reardon
Copyright © 2018 Reardon Media Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. How To Cook That

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

34 Comments View Comments

  1. Rating: 5

    Hi Anne, thanks for sharing your trip to Italy with us all that time ago. I recently had a go at these and loved telling the neighbours I shared it with that it was an authentic recipe. I used the recipe from your cookbook which doesn’t mention 00 flour and I know you’ve said above that it doesn’t matter but I’d be curious to try it with all the “correct” ingredients so I’ll give that a go too. I see above that people have talked about freezing (that I can freeze the dough but not the cooked shells) but I’m wondering if anyone knows what effect it would have if I freeze the dough already moulded around the canoli forms, so that I can take them out and fry them fresh but take away the prep time? Would they still bubble ok? Would it be safe to fry from frozen, and if not is there a special way I should defrost them or extra resting time before frying etc? And does which flour I use affect any of the freezing and defrosting rules? I want to take these to a party in a few weeks but don’t want to commit myself to rolling and shaping them at the last minute. Thanks to anyone who can save me some time with this info.

  2. Hello Ann. I love your very detailed cooking instructions. The semolina filling, before chilling, looked fairly thick and I assume it became even thicker once chilled. Was the chilled semolina mixture lightened at all with whipped cream before filling the cannoli?

  3. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann,
    Great recipe!
    Is is just melted unsalted butter in the dough? Also which oil is best for frying the shells ?
    Thanks ?

  4. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann,

    I enjoyed this video! Did the chef use granular sugar or confectioners 10x (powdered) sugar for the Cannoli Ricotta Cream Filling? Can an electric mixer be used for the ricotta?

    • Hi Pat, he used caster sugar (normal sugar but finer, not powdered sugar). You could use an electric mixer but it isn’t needed.

  5. Rating: 4

    Hi Ann

    I cannot find semolina flour in my local store, can I substitute this for anything else? E.g. regular semolina? Thankyou

    • Rating: 5

      LOL – Buy it off of Amazon!! LOL!!!!

  6. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann,
    first of all i looove your recipes
    how long would I be able to make these in advance?
    and also have you got any spun sugar recipes i could try out
    thanx hope you have a great day xx

  7. Rating: 4.5

    Hello Ann how many cannoli tubes this recipe makes. Thank you

    • Hi Maria, It makes 10-12 large cannoli tubes.

  8. Rating: 4.5

    Hi Ann,
    In your recipe, you mention using 00 flour. Is this the same as normal plain flour in Australia? If not, where can I buy 00 flour in Australia?

    • Hi Saurabh, )) flour is available in Australian supermarkets. It is not the same as plain flour. It is sometimes called strong flour or pasta flour. I regularly pick up 00 flour at Woolworths.

  9. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann, in your cannoli recipe, you mention using 00 flour. Is this the same or similar to regular plain flour we get in Australia?

  10. Rating: 5

    OMG I too looked up recipes after eating my way through cannoli in Fremantle. Can’t wait to give it a try. Must say your timing is bad, just started a diet!

    • Oh dear…!

  11. Rating: 4.5

    Can you substitute another flour for the 00 flour? If so what type of flour can take its place? Just want to know all the options in case someone can’t get 00 flour.

    • Hi Kayan, Ann has tested this recipe using normal wheat flour and it works fine.

  12. Rating: 3.5

    Ann, I’m in the States. What is 00 Flour. Is it the equivalent of Cake Flour?
    Thanks –

    • Rating: 5

      The names 00 and 0 Flour refer to specifically Italian milled flour that is used for pasta making. You will find that this is also called Doppio Zero just meaning double zero. The grading system is 2, 1, 0 or 00 and indicates to how finely ground the flour is and how much of the bran and germ has been removed.

    • Rating: 5

      Sorry I forgot to tell you can get some in the states it is King Arthur Flour brand called “Italian Style Flour”

    • Hi Dendie, 00 flour is a very fine Italian flour made using only the inner part of the wheat. However I have since tested this recipe using normal wheat flour and it worked well – bubbles and all.

  13. Rating: 5

    This is exactly the same recipe my Nona taught me almost 5 decades ago. I am happy to see that tradition is still alive and well in Italy

    • Awesome, your nona sounds like a fine cook.

  14. Rating: 3.5

    can you freeze the cannoli shells . and for how long if so ?

    • Rating: 5

      The cooked shells do not freeze well moisture will make them soggy. You can keep them for a week or two in a tightly sealed box with silicate gel packs though. You can freeze the dough as long as you remove the air from the package again you want to avoid moisture so remove from bag to thaw to room temp

      • thanks Sandra – spot on

  15. Rating: 4.5

    Hi Ann, great video.
    I loved the recipe, but is there a way to substitute the cannoli tubes with something else? Like a DYI version of them, where i wouldn’t have to buy another kitchen tool (those are not the chepest things were i live). Thanks so much, love your chanel at YouTube

    • Rating: 4.5

      Try using a aluminum foil rolled tightly try to keep it as wrinkle free as possible so the shells will slide off and as with any cannoli be sure to drain the oil out of the inside before removing from any form

    • Hi Julia, I assume you are referring to the cannoli tubes?? If so you could try just cutting rounds of the dough, rolling it out thinner and frying it just like that rather than in the tube shape.

  16. Rating: 4.5

    Hello ann great video ,thanks for sharing it . I would like to ask you if i can substitute wine with another ingredient without affecting the recipe . Is there any ?

    • Rating: 4.5

      I make cannoli without wine when I have none just use grape juice

    • Hi Mohammad, Yes the chef said you could use water if you do not wish to have wine in the recipe.

  17. Wonderful video and recipe, once more!
    Will you be going to France and will you do a video there with a patisserie chef? Mille Feuille, Opera Cake and all the other French masterpieces are a world on their own. I would love to see you explore these together with locals.
    Where else will you stop on your Europe tour? Germany ;-)?

    • Hi Corinna, Keep watching and all will be revealed!!

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