Cannoli with Pastry Cream Filling Recipe

pastry cream filled cannoli piled on plate

Cannoli with Pastry Cream Filling Recipe

Look no further for the best cannoli recipe you'll find! This authentic recipe for cannoli shells is straight from Sicily, exactly as my mother's family has always made them. These crisp and light shells are filled with a vanilla and lemon scented pastry cream. Follow my easy step by step instructions and tips to make the best homemade cannoli every time!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Sicilian-Italian

Keyword Sicilian cannoli filled with pastry cream; cream filled cannoli shells

Prep Time 2 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 2 30

Servings -32 cannoli

Calories 161kcal

Author Nadia Fazio

Equipment

Cannolil molds

Ingredients

For the pastry cream

4 cups whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 inch strip of lemon zest
8 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the cannoli shells

2 cups All-purpose flour
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup red wine or Marsala
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 tbsp. milk
1 egg white (for sealing the edges of the dough) (reserved from the pastry cream recipe)
vegetable oil for frying (sunflower or cannola oil can be used)

For garnishing

powdered sugar optional
chopped pistachios optional
grated chocolate or chocolate chips optional

Instructions

Prepare the pastry cream:

In a small sauce pan, heat milk, a strip of lemon zest and vanilla extract. Do not bring to a boil. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Add flour and whisk.
Pour half of the warm milk into the egg mixture and whisk until incorporated.
Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan with the remaining milk. Place on the burner over medium-high heat and whisk continuously until it comes to a gentle boil and thickens, about 5 minutes.
Remove and discard the strip of lemon zest.
To ensure your pastry cream is completely smooth and free of lumps, force it through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl.
Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream in order to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until completely cooled, about 2 hours.

Prepare the cannoli shell dough

While the pastry cream cools prepare the shells by stirring together all-purpose flour and sugar in a large bowl.
Make a well in the center and pour in the milk; red wine; vegetable oil and egg.
Use a fork to whisk the wet ingredients and slowly begin incorporating the flour into the wet ingredients to form a dough. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Shape the cannoli shells

This dough does not require a resting period and can be rolled out immediately. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, keep the remaining pieces covered to prevent the dough from drying.
Use a pasta roller (or rolling pin) to roll out the sheets of dough until the second to last setting. Lightly sprinkle your sheets with all-purpose flour as needed if they are sticky. Keep the sheets of dough covered to prevent from drying.
Cut the dough into 4 inch rounds with a cookie cutter or any other household item of similar size. For years my mom used a mug with a 4 inch opening.
Reroll any scraps of dough and cut out more circles.
Wrap the dough around the cannoli molds and seal both ends with egg white (reserve an egg white from the pastry cream). This is crucial to prevent them from unwrapping from the molds during frying.

Fry the cannoli shells

Fill a deep heavy bottomed pot (or use a fryer if you have one) with about 2 inches of vegetable oil. Heat the oil.
In order to verify if the oil is hot enough try out my mom's easy method: place the end of a wooden spoon directly in the middle of the pot, if the oil immediately bubbles and sizzles around the handle it's ready for frying.
Fry 3 or 4 cannoli shells at a time until golden. Avoid overcrowding your pot as you may have to hold them down to ensure that all sides are evenly fried. They sometimes roll over when you try to flip them!
The shells are ready when they are golden and bubbly. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate or tray.
Use two paper towels to carefully separate the cannoli molds from the shell (be careful, they will be extremely hot!). Wrap more dough around the molds and continue fry the remaining pieces of dough.

Fill the cannoli shells

Fill the cannoli shells once they are completely cooled.
Place the cooled cannoli cream in a pastry bag with a star or round tip attachment. Alternately use a freezer bag with the tip cut off.
Pipe the cream at both ends of each cannoli shell making sure that the cream reaches the center of the shell.
Dust with powdered sugar (optional) and sprinkle some chopped pistachios and chocolate chips or grated chocolate (optional) on each end.
Fill up to 4 hours prior to serving to ensure the shell stays crisp. Refrigerate the filled cannoli shells.

Notes

Substitutions and Variations:

-If you prefer ricotta cream filled cannoli, click here for the recipe.
-Dip each end of your cannoli shells in melted chocolate and let it harden prior to filling them.
-Top each end with chocolate chips instead of grated chocolate.
-Add chopped candied orange peel to your cream mixture.

My shells did not bubble when I fried them:

This may occur if your oil is not hot enough. To test if it's hot enough, try out my mom's easy technique: place the handle of a wooden spoon right in the center of your pot with oil. If it immediately begins to bubble vigorously around the handle it is ready for frying.

My cannoli shells are not crisp, how can I fix them?

If you follow this recipe exactly as is, you should have perfect crisp cannoli shells. However, if after storing them you feel they have not kept their crisp texture simply warm them in a 300 degrees F preheated oven for 5 minutes. Let cool completely before filling with cream.

How to store cannoli shells:

Store the shells in an airtight container lined with paper towels to absorb any moisture for up to 2 weeks.

How long in advance can the cannoli shells be filled:

Fill the shells up to 4 hours before serving to prevent them from becoming soggy.

How to store filled cannoli:

Filled cannoli must be refrigerated because of the cream filling. It is best to consume filled cannoli as soon as possible as they will become soggy within hours.

How to store pastry cream:

Pastry cream (not already in the cannoli shells) can be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days.

More tips:

-Roll the dough very thin (I roll until the next to last setting on my pasta roller) to ensure crisp shells.
-Recruit a friend or family member to make the cannoli shells. It's helpful to have someone to help remove the molds from the just fried cannoli and wrap more dough around them to continue frying.
-Use caution when removing the cannoli molds from the fried shells, they are extremely hot! I use two paper towels, one to grasp the shell and the other to gently tug at the mold and slide it out.
-This recipe can be doubled.

-The total number of cannoli shells you obtain may vary according to how thin you roll your dough and the size of the cutter you use to cut the dough into rounds.

-If you have any extra pastry cream enjoy topped with fruit for a simple sweet treat.

Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary according to exact ingredients used and portion size.

Nutrition