Pistachio Cannoli Cake

If you love cannoli, this cake should be on your table, with its luscious filling of ricotta, flavored with chocolate and candied orange peel. The cake batter contains pistachios, and it's also sprinkled with them along the sides. In short, it's a show-stopper of a cake that tastes divine too. It would perfect for company, especially with Easter not far off. 

Not surprisingly, the recipe comes from domestic goddess Martha Stewart. However, after my first attempt that turned out less than perfect, I made a few tweaks. The cake didn't rise well enough on the first try, and I attributed that to a couple of things: I didn't have all the ingredients at room temperature, and I didn't alternate mixing the dry and wet ingredients. I had to try a second time incorporating the changes, and as a consequence, the cake rose higher and was lighter in texture. 

I also deleted the heavy cream from the filling the second time around. Without it, it's much more like a cannoli filling, with the chocolate bits and candied orange peel. But there wasn't enough to make a substantial amount to fill all the layers, so I doubled the amount of ricotta. 

As I do with many recipes containing ricotta, I drained it overnight to eliminate excess water. Look how much came out:

Cut the two layers into four, then stack them together, brush the edges with melted chocolate, then pat the chocolate edges with minced pistachios. Then separate each layer and stack them on individual sheets of waxed paper while you mix the filling.

Spread the filling on each layer, then top with a dusting of powdered sugar on top.

If you have extra candied orange peel, decorate the top with it (find my recipe here for making it) or with more chopped pistachios.                                                                

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Martha Stewart's Pistachio Cannoli Cake (my changes in italics)

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans

• 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pans

• ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons shelled unsalted pistachios (3 ½ ounces) (Use more because the side won't be covered properly otherwise)

• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• ¼ teaspoon orange-flower water (optional) (I used 1 teaspoon)

• 2 large eggs plus 2 large yolks, room temperature

• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Filling

• 2 ¾ cups fresh ricotta (about 1 ½ pounds) (I used 4 cups)

• ¾ cup heavy cream (I omitted this - not needed)

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¾ cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for serving (I used 1 1/4 cups)

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (¾ cup), plus 2 ½ ounces more, melted (½ cup) (I would use mini chocolate chips to keep the ricotta whiter-looking since the shards I chopped turned the ricotta beige)

• 4 ounces candied orange peel, cut into a ¼-inch dice (I used more)

• Preheat oven and prep cake pans:

1. Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line pans with parchment; butter parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out excess.

2. Grind pistachios; reserve some and process rest with dry ingredients:

3. In a food processor, finely grind pistachios. Remove and reserve 1/4 cup ground pistachios, then add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to processor and pulse to combine.

4. Beat butter; add yolks one at a time:

5. Beat butter with granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add orange-flower water; beat to combine. Beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time, thoroughly combining after each addition and scraping down bowl as needed.

6. Add pistachio mixture and sour cream:

7. Add pistachio mixture to egg mixture in three batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with pistachio mixture.

8. Divide batter between pans and bake:

9. Divide batter evenly between cake pans; smooth tops with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans once, until tops spring back when lightly touched, 30 to 35 minutes.

10. Cool cakes, then refrigerate:

11. Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack; remove parchment and let cool 1 hour. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

12. Make filling:

13. Meanwhile, combine ricotta and cream in bowl of food processor; process until smooth. Add salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and confectioners' sugar; process to combine. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in chopped chocolate and orange peel. Refrigerate in an airtight container at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

14. Cut cake to create layers; stack and brush with melted chocolate and pistachios:

15. Cut each cake horizontally into 2 layers. Stack on a cardboard cake round or a plate; brush edges with melted chocolate, then pat some of reserved ground pistachios onto chocolate. Separate, then refrigerate in a single layer until set, 10 minutes.

16. Assemble cake:

17. Place one cake layer on a cake stand, bottom-side down; spread 1 1/2 cups filling evenly over top, then place second layer on top. Repeat with remaining filling and cakes, finishing with a cake layer, bottom-side up. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and remaining reserved ground pistachios for serving.

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Cannoli with ricotta

Among other things, Sicily is famous for cannoli, those crunchy, ricotta filled delicacies that are ubiquitous in Palermo and throughout the island. So it was only natural that we would be making them in one of our classes at the Anna Tasca Lanza cooking school.

I have a real weakness for cannoli and there are plenty of good ones to be had near where I live in the Northeast U.S., but I never buy a cannolo (singular of cannoli) that’s already filled, unless it’s done right in front of me. There’s nothing worse than a soggy cannolo shell. (Well, actually there are plenty of worse things, but you get the point.) Eating a soggy cannolo is just not worth the calories.

But eating them in Sicily with sweet, creamy fresh sheep’s milk ricotta that was just made, and shells that were crunchy yet tender,  well, that’s a whole different ball game.

Don’t be afraid to make them at home. I made them for the first time decades ago, when I was a neophyte in the kitchen, and they’re not hard at all. If you can make pasta, you can make cannoli. It’s a similar procedure. You do need metal tubes to shape them, however, or if you’re handy with a saw, you can make your own forms from wooden dowels.

By the way, for the word nerds out there, the word cannolo is a diminutive of the Italian word “canna,” which means “reed” or “tube.” There’s a famous Italian book called “Canne Al Vento,” (“Reeds in the Wind”) written by the only Italian woman to win a Nobel prize in literature —  Grazia Deledda.

But back to the cannoli directions. The first thing to do is mix the dough, then knead it, and run it through a pasta machine at increasingly thin settings. If you’re a real purist and you’ve got strong arms, you can roll it by hand with a rolling pin.

Then cut it into circle shapes, using either a large circle cutter, or use a small plate as a template and cut around the perimeter with a knife. Then roll around the metal or wooden form, sealing with some water, overlapping slightly.

Fry them in hot oil until golden brown, using an oil with little flavor, like peanut or canola oil.

Drain and cool them, then fill with the ricotta and chocolate chip mixture. You can use a small spoon to do this, but if you have a large quantity, a pastry bag speeds things along.

Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and bits of candied orange peel and/or chopped pistachios, and watch them disappear.

Cannoli con Ricotta

Author: Fabrizia Lanza

printable recipe here 

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp. lard
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• pinch of fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup vinegar or wine, or as needed
• 1 egg, lighten beaten, for egg wash
• vegetable oil, for flying
• Ricotta Cream
• 1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta, preferably sheep’s milk
• 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
• chocolate chips, optional
• candied orange peel, chopped pistachios, to garnish

Instructions

1. Make the cannoli shells:
2. Combine the flour, lard, sugar, sauce and slat in a bowl and mix together with your hands.
3. Add the vinegar, bit by bit, and knead until the dough comes together. The dough should be quite stiff.
4. Set a pasta machine to the widest setting.
5. Take a piece of dough and run it through the machine 7 to 10 times at that setting, folding the dough in half each time before rolling it again.
6. When the dough is very even, continue to roll it through the machine, once at each setting without folding, until you reach the next to last setting. (The dough should be very even and silky).
7. Lay the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and with a lightly floured 4 inch cookie cutter, cut out rounds (use a small plate as a template if you don’t have a cookie cutter)
8. Wrap the dough rounds around metal or wooden cannoli molds, dab the edge with egg, and press to seal.
9. Repeat with the remaining dough, retooling the scraps.
10. Heat 2 inches of oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium high heat.
11. Add the cannoli shells in batches and fry until the shells have become bubbly, crisp, and browned, 4 to 5 minutes.
12. With tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain.
13. Cool and remove the molds carefully.
14. To Make the ricotta cream:
15. Beat together the ricotta and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the chocolate chips, if desired. With a small spoon, fill the cannoli shells, then decorate with the candied orange peel and pistachios, and dust with powdered sugar.

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