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ORANGE-RICOTTA FILLING:
4 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese (2 pounds)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
Grated zest of 1 orange
CANNOLI DOUGH:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chilled vegetable shortening, plus more for deep-frying
1/3 cup sweet marsala or water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 large egg
1 large egg white, beaten until foamy, for sealing dough
2 ounces high-quality bitter sweet baking chocolate
Confectioners' sugar for dusting
1. TO MAKE THE FILLING: Rub the ricotta through a coarse-meshed sieve into a medium bowl. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, liqueur, and orange zest. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. TO MAKE THE DOUGH: In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt to mix. Add the 1/4 cup shortening and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-sized bits. In a glass measuring cup, mix the Marsala, vinegar, and egg. With the machine running, add the liquid through the feed tube and process until a ball forms on top of the blade. Process for 20 seconds to knead the dough. To make the dough by hand, stir the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the shortening and cut it in with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the wine mixture to form a soft dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead just until the dough is smooth and supple, about 5 minutes. Wrap the ball of dough with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Place a large wire cake rack over a jelly roll pan. In a deep Dutch oven, melt vegetable shortening over high heat to a depth of 2 to 3 inches and heat it to 365°F.
4. Working with one half of the dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until Y16 inch thick. Using a saucer as a guide, cut out rounds that are slightly less wide than the length of the cannoli tubes (for example, just less than 4 inches wide for 4-inch-long tubes). Wrap a pastry round around each tube, overlapping the ends and securing the round closed with a dab of egg white. Do not get any egg white on the tube, or it will glue the pastry to the tube.
5. Deep-fry 2 tubes (it is hard to keep track of more than 2 at a time) until golden brown, about 1 minute. Using kitchen tongs, carefully transfer the tubes to the wire rack to drain. Let cool for about 2 minutes and, holding the tube with the kitchen tongs (the tube will be hot), slide the cannoli shell from the tube. Let the tubes cool (no need to wash them) while frying the other 2 tubes. Continue forming and frying the cannoli shells until all the dough is used. Let the fried shells cool completely. Do not reroll any scraps. If you wish, cut them into cookie-sized portions, deep-fry until golden, dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve as cookies.
6. To keep the cannoli shells from softening, fill them no more than 1 hour before serving. Put the filling in a pastry bag fitted with a No.5 plain tip (a 1/2-inch-wide opening). Pipe the filling into the pastry shells, filling first one side of the shell, and then the other. To garnish, grate chocolate over the exposed filling and sift confectioners' sugar over the cannoli.
Text copyright 1999 by Rick Rodgers. Photographs copyright 1999 by Christopher Hersheimer. First published by Chronicle Books, LLC. 680 Second Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107
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