Oven Baked Cannoli

I've made cannoli once before and didn't like them much. Couldn't see what was all the fuss about them at all :) But, a few months ago, I went to Cannoli & Friends festival and had a chance to taste the genuine Sicilian cannoli (post about Cannoli & Friends coming soon). Those were so good! Amazing actually! And this recipe, even though the shells are baked in the oven is very much like those I had in Sicily! A must try if you're a cannoli lover. And even if you don't like them this might change your mind :)

Oven Baked Cannoli

120 g flour
30 g powdered almonds
1 Tbsp marsala wine or porto
1 egg
1 egg white
50 g pork fat
100 g chopped almonds
100 g sugar
300 g ricotta cheese
candied orange zest for decoration
a pinch of salt

Knead flour, ground almonds, egg, 1 tsp sugar, salt, pork fat and marsala into a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. After it's chilled, flatten the dough to the thickness of 2 mm and using a round (or ellipsoid) 8 cm diameter cutter cut 12 discks.

Wrap the discs around 12 cannoli molds (10 cm long, with 2 cm diameter). Spread lightly beaten egg white over using a pastry brush and then roll into chopped almonds. Bake in a preheated oven on 180°C for about 15 minutes. Let them cool and then gently remove the molds.

Drain ricotta and beat it foamy with the remaining sugar. Using a pastry bag, fill cannoli with ricotta cream on both sides. Decorate with candied orange zest.

This recipe is from Sale & Pepe magazine, Serbian issue for June 2010.