A traditional and delicious Sicilian pastry, cannoli are one of the best known Italian desserts. Obviously, the best way to savor cannoli is at a lovely restaurant in Sicily, but until you get there, you can try making your own at home.

The process is not complicated, but it will take some time, so consider buying ready-made cannoli shells. If you prefer making your own, you will first make the shells, then the filling, and if you wish, you can enhance the flavor with several garnishes.

For roughly 10 cannoli you will need: a pastry bag, cannoli tubes, paper towels.

Ingredients for 10 shells:

• 2 cups of flour

• 1/4 cup of butter cut into pieces

• 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar

• 1/8 teaspoon of salt

• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Mix the above in a bowl, then slowly add the following:

• 1/8 cup vinegar

• 1/8 cup water

• 1 egg

Flour the table or countertop, and knead the dough there for about 5 minutes; cover and refrigerate it for another 30+ minutes or as long as it takes to get chilled. Then roll it over the floured countertop to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut the dough into 12cm circles, and roll each one around a cannoli tube so that they slightly overlap; dab each of the dough edges with a drop of water where they overlap to seal them together.

• corn oil

Take out your deep fryer to heat the oil to 180ºC. Add the cannoli shells (with the tubes in); when they become golden brown, you can take them out of the fryer. Wait for the cannoli to cool a little on paper towels before removing the tubes.

For the cream filling:

• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar

• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Mix them together.

• c. 475ml of half and half cream

Heat the cream over direct heat, and add the sugar and cornstarch one by one; stir. Place the mix in the refrigerator until it is completely cooled.

• 1/4 cup of chocolate or chocolate chips

You can add to the cream some chocolate once it is cooled; then cover the filling in plastic and refrigerate again. With the pastry bag, fill the shells with the cream.

When the cannoli are done, you can coat them in powdered sugar, eat them as they are, with cherries, chocolate chips, or with whatever you prefer; they are delicious either way.

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