An iconic Sicilian pastry with a crisp and flaky shell, the cannoli makes the perfect husk to encase some seriously toothsome flavours for filling, usually ricotta. Ours here has incorporated lemon zest for an additional zing, a combination that’ll have you reaching for more.
Ingredients
- 30 g butter
- 2 tbsps brown sugar
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 tbsps plain flour
- ½ tsp almond essence
- Icing sugar, to serve
FILLING
- 500 g fresh ricotta
- ½ cup icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
Steps
Preheat oven to moderate, 180 C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper.
In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. Stir over medium heat for 2-3 min, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and quickly stir in flour and almond essence. Cool for 5 min.
Drop well-spaced tablespoons of mixture onto trays. Bake for 7 mins or until bubbling, and spread to 10 cm in diameter. Remove from oven and cool for 1 min.
Working quickly, lift each one and wrap loosely around the handle of a large rolling pin. Leave to set for 1 min. gently slip off and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining mixture.
To make filling, in a medium bowl, combine ricotta, icing sugar. lemon juice and zest. Mix well and keep chilled. Spoon into cooled shells. Serve dusted with icing sugar.