Cranberry Riesling Cannoli

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


A Daring Baker's November Challenge


The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Cannoli are known as Italian-American pastries, although the origin of cannoli dates back to Sicily, specifically Palermo, where it was prepared during Carnevale season, and according to lore, as a symbol of fertility. The cannoli is a fried, tube-shaped pastry shell (usually containing wine) filled with a creamy amalgamation of sweetened ricotta cheese, chocolate, candied fruit or zest, and sometimes nuts. Although not traditional, mascarpone cheese is also widely used, and in fact, makes for an even creamier filling when substituted for part of the ricotta, or by itself. However, cannoli can also be filled with pastry creams, mousses, whipped cream, ice cream etc. 

I made my cannoli as an accompaniment to our Thanksgiving dinner. I served turkey, cornbread dressing, roasted potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts and corn. The white wine I served with dinner, is also the same wine I used to make the cannoli. I chose our favorite Riesling-Traminette-Vidal Blanc white wine, called Our Dog Blue from Chateau Morrisette Winery in  Floyd County, Virginia. It's a wonderful wine that goes well with turkey, fish, fruits and cheeses - in other words, perfect for cannoli. 

I hope you enjoy this month's Daring Baker Challenge recipe as much as we did. Happy Thanksgiving from my house to yours.

Equipment:

Cannoli forms/tubes - optional, but recommended if making traditional shaped cannoli.
Deep, heavy saucepan, enough to hold at least 2-3-inches of oil or deep fryer
Deep fat frying thermometer. although the bread cube or bit of dough test will work fine.
Metal tongs
Brass or wire skimmer OR large slotted spoon
Pastry bag with large star or plain tip, but a snipped ziplock bag, butter knife or teaspoon will work fine.
Cooling rack
Paper bags or paper towels
Pastry Brush
Cheesecloth
Sieve or fine wire mesh strainer
Electric Mixer, stand or hand, optional, as mixing the filling with a spoon is fine.
Food Processor or Stand Mixer – also optional, since you can make the dough by hand, although it takes more time.
Rolling pin and/or Pasta roller/machine
Pastry or cutting board
Round cutters - The dough can also be cut into squares and rolled around the cannoli tube prior to frying. If making a stacked cannoli, any shaped cutter is fine, as well as a sharp knife.
Mixing bowl and wooden spoon if mixing filling by hand
Plastic Wrap/Clingfilm
Tea towels or just cloth towels

Lidisano’s Cannoli

Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

CANNOLI SHELLS

1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
2 Tb almond meal
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
1 teaspoon chia seed powder

1/4 teaspoon agar agar powder
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) Riesling wine
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners' sugar

CANNOLI FILLING

2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/4 - 1/3 cup Riesling wine


Optional:
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note - If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

CRANBERRY ORANGE RIESLING TOPPING


1 - 8 oz package frozen cranberries
1 tangerine, peeled & diced
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped

1/2 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup Riesling wine

DIRECTIONS CRANBERRY TOPPING


Place the cranberries, tangerine, pecans, sugar and wine into a small saucepan. Heat the sauce until it comes to a simmer. Cook until the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened.





DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2. Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3. Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer's directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 1 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

6. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

7. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

For stacked cannoli:

1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 - 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:

1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm. (The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:

1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

Almond Buckwheat Batard with Poolish (B&P#34)

Fresh bread can be sheer torture. It's the aroma while baking, the crackle of the crust or the delicious flavor when you bite into your slice. I like the loaves that get a bit toasty in the oven. Those loaves are a joy to tear into once they've cooled.

This is one of those loaves. It never made it to toast for breakfast or sandwiches for lunch. We divided it amongst the four of us and slowly devoured it.

This is a wonderful flour combination. When baked the flavor is very reminescent of a stone ground wheat loaf or at least how I remembered it tasting. My husband, who can glutenize, thought the flavor was evocative of a wheat loaf that was baked in a brick oven. Oh, my heart was skipping with that comment...that's high praise. I hugged the sweetness of his compliment to me. He knew that my first attempt with buckwheat and tepary beans tasted like old musty beans.

Enjoy!

Recipe

Protein Content:
Original Content: 50.7 g
GF Content: 49.18 g

Poolish

45 g Almond Meal (9 g)
50 g Buckwheat flour (7.25 g)
35 g Arrowroot Starch (0.105 g)___________replacement for whole wheat flour
15 g Instant Dry Yeast
15 ml Agave Syrup
180 ml Water (120 - 130 deg F/49 - 54 deg C)

Final Dough

20 g Brown Rice Flour (1.8 g)
25 g Sweet Rice Flour (1.5 g)
25 g Arrowroot Starch (0.3 g)
54 g White Bean Flour (11.61 g)
6 g Chia Seed Meal (1.26 g)______________replacement for bread flour
45 g Almond Meal (9 g)
50 g Buckwheat Flour (7.25 g)
35 g Arrowroot Starch (0.105 g)___________replacement for whole wheat flour
4 g Agar Agar Powder
15 g Instant Dry Yeast
10 g Sea Salt
254 g Poolish (above)
90 ml Water (120 - 130 deg F/49 - 54 deg C)
15 ml Agave Syrup


Directions for Poolish

Pour all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and blend together. Then add the water and agave syrup and stir until incorporated. Set the bowl in a warm location to rise for 40 minutes.
 
Directions for Final Dough

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir together. Add the poolish, water and agave syrup and blend together until a soft ball forms.  If the dough is still too soft, add arrowroot starch by the tablespoon (1 Tb/15 ml) until the dough firms up.

2. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with arrowroot starch.  Gently roll the dough into a cylinder about 10 in/25 cm long and taper the ends. Take a sharp knife and slice a cut in the center of the cylinder at an angle.  Then place a parallel slice on either side of the center cut. Slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and place in a warm location to rise for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Place an oven proof bowl filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven.  Then place a baking stone on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 470 degrees F/243 degrees C. Place the loaf in the oven and spray water over the oven box and the top of the loaf.  Bake the loaf for 25 minutes. Prop the oven door open and continue to cook the bread for another 10 minutes.  Remove the loaf and allow it to cool before serving.

Stollen (B&P#33)

For me, holiday baking has to include something decadent.  That means I need to make one of the different types of Christstollen or stollen.

It is a traditional German Christmas season fruit filled bread covered in powdered sugar. The fruits (golden raisins, raisins, currants, lemon peel, orange peel, citron peel and zests) can be soaked in dark rum or white wine. It can also have nuts, almond paste and other dried fruits in the dough. The bread itself has only a slight bit of sweetener with the vanilla and powdered sugar coating providing an incredible finishing touch.

Stollen isn't one of my husband's favorite breads, so  it always means more for me.  Unfortunately, I have to make sure there isn't more of me by the time New Year's rolls around.

While collecting all the ingredients to make my stollen, I found myself perusing the virtual aisles of Fantes (it's one of my favorite online baking and pastry supply stores). They carry a very nice non-stick stollen pan made in Portugal. I decided to buy one to give it a try with my gluten free version. (It's okay, you can say my will was weak...it was.)

This pan will make up to a 2 lb/.907 kg loaf. I was making a 1 lb/.454 kg loaf, so I turned the stollen pan upside down and evenly filled out the pan with the bread dough. After rising, the bread dough had filled out the shape nicely, creating the classic stollen shape.

This is a fabulous tasting bread and goes extremely well with a steaming cup of French Roast coffee. So, break down, make some stollen. Then afterwards, you can join me in working it off with Jillian Michaels. Well, maybe you don't want to...she's helping me rediscover my post radiation pecs. So, my language isn't always that nice. Or maybe I should do it the other way around...that way I can recover from trying to get my right pectoral muscle to remember how to move and stretch with stollen and a hefty dose of French Roast.


Recipe

Protein Content:

Original Content: 20.28 g
GF Content: 19.84 g


Sponge

100  - 130 ml milk, room temperature
30 ml agave syrup
30 g instant dry yeast
14 g brown rice flour (1.26 g)
12 g sweet rice flour (.072 g)
14 g arrowroot starch (0.042 g)
18 g almond meal (3.6 g)
20 g white bean flour (4.3 g)

Fruit & Nut Mix

1028 g golden raisins
37 g candied lemon peel
16 g candied orange peel
13 ml dark rum or white wine
47 g blanched almonds

Final Dough

14 g brown rice flour (1.26 g)
12 g sweet rice flour (0.72 g)
14 g arrowroot starch (0.042 g)
18 g almond meal (3.6 g)
20 g white bean flour (4.3 g)
6 g chia seed meal
4 g agar agar powder
7 g cane sugar
4 g sea salt
1 g lemon zest, grated
pinch ground allspice
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground ginger
7 g almond paste
136 g fruit & nut mix
85 g butter, softened
125 g sponge (from above)
60 - 90 ml milk, room temperature

Finishing

clarified butter, as needed
vanilla sugar, as needed
powdered sugar, as needed


Directions

Fruit & Nut Mix

Place all the ingredients in a resealable container and shake together. Put the container in the refrigerator and allow the mixture to blend together for at least 24 hours before using in the recipe.

Sponge

Pour all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and blend together. Then add the milk and agave syrup and stir until incorporated.  Set the bowl in a warm location to rise for 40 minutes.

Final Dough

1. Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir together.  Then add the milk and softened butter and stir until the dough forms a soft ball.  If the dough is too soft work in a small amount of arrowroot starch to help firm up the dough (i.e. 1 Tb/15 ml at a time). 

2. You can either use a stolen pan or shape the loaf by hand. For the stollen pan, place the pan upside down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Prop up the sides with sides with balls of parchment paper, then line the pan with parchment paper.  If you shape the loaf by hand, lay out a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle it with arrowroot starch.  Then pat out the dough until it is an oval shape and about 1/2 inch/1.27 cm thick. Then fold one side of the dough over the other until about 1/3 of the dough is uncovered. Use arrowroot starch as needed to shape the loaf.  Set the loaf in a warm location to rise for 2 hours.

3.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/177 degrees C. Place the stollen in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool before you remove it from the pan.

Finishing

Place the stollen on a serving tray and brush with clarified butter. The press on the vanilla sugar and sprinnkle with powdered sugar. Slice and serve.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts


Index of the Baking & Pastry Project

Baking & Pastry Project Week 17- A Sponge & A Poolish
Baking & Pastry Project #32 - Gugelhopf
Baking & Pastry Project #31 - Panettone
Baking & Pastry Project Week 16 - Holiday Breads
Baking & Pastry Project #30 - Multigrain Bread With Pate Fermentee
Baking & Pastry Project #29 - White Bean Lean Bread With Pate Fermentee
Baking & Pastry Project Week 15 - Lean & Multigrain


Want More?

You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.

Baking & Pastry Project Week 17 - Sponge & Poolish

Schedule

Tuesday - Stollen

Thursday - Whole Grain Bread with Poolish


Shopping List

Brown Rice Flour (Fine or Superfine Grind)
Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
Arrowroot Starch
Almond Meal
High Protein Flours, such as: Soybean, White Bean, Black Bean
Whole Grain Flour, such as: Buckwheat, Millet, Sorghum, Quinoa, Teff
Instant Dry Yeast
Binding Agents, such as: Xanthan or Guar Gum, Chia Seed Meal, Agar Agar Powder
Candied Orange & Lemon Peel
Raisins & Golden Raisins
Almond Paste
Lemon Zest
Almonds
Spices: Ground Cloves, Cinnamon, Allspice and Ginger


Resources

Flours & Binding Agents: Authentic Foods, Barry Farm, Bob's Red Mill
Instant Dry Yeast: Barry Farm
Agave Syrup: Wild Organics, Native Seeds
Nuts & Candied Peel: Barry Farm
Almond Paste: Kerekes

Equipment

Stollen Pan - Fantes


What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their culinary dvd's from my family for my birthday and our anniversary. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Index of the Baking & Pastry Project

Baking & Pastry Project #32 - Gugelhopf
Baking & Pastry Project #31 - Panettone
Baking & Pastry Project Week #16 - Holiday Breads
Baking & Pastry Project #30 - Multigrain Bread With Pate Fermentee
Baking & Pastry Project #29 - White Bean Lean Bread With Pate Fermentee
Baking & Pastry Project Week 15 - Lean & Multigrain


Want More?

You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.

Gugelhopf Crown (B&P#32)

A gugelhopf crown is a rich and moist holiday bread. Filled with raisins and almonds, it has a wonderful flavor and scent.

Serve with your favorite coffee while you sit and enjoy the beauty of a fall morning.

Recipe

Protein Content:
Original Content: 16.38 g
GF Content: 16.07 g

Sponge

20 g brown rice flour (1.8 g)
25 g sweet rice flour (1.5 g)
20 g arrowroot startch (0.06 g)
25 g almond meal (5 g)
30 g white bean flour (6.45 g)
6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
20 g instant dry yeast
176 ml milk
7 ml vanilla extract
15 ml agave syrup

Final Dough

20 g brown rice flour (1.8 g)
25 g sweet rice flour (1.5 g)
25 g arrowroot starch (0.075 g)
35 g almond meal (7 g)
31 g white bean flour (6.665 g)
4 g agar agar powder
78 g cane sugar
5 g sea salt
78 g raisins
14 g almonds, chopped
78 g butter, soft
139 g eggs (approx. 3 eggs)
252 g sponge (above)

Sponge Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix well. Cover the bowl and place in a warm location.  Allow the sponge to rise and ferment for 20 minutes (75 degrees F/27 degrees C).

Final Dough Directions:

1. In a large bowl, place the flours, sugar, salt, agar agar, raisins and almonds, then mix together. Then add the sponge, eggs and softened butter. Stir until blended and the dough forms a soft ball.  You may need to add a tablespoon/15 ml of arrowroot starch to help it form a soft ball.

2. Grease and flour a 5 cup gugelhopf pan. Place slivered almonds in the bottom of the pan so that they form a ring or crown.  Pour in the batter and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Place in a warm location to rise for 2 hours.

3. Place a bowl of water in an oven proof bowl and set it on the bottom shelf of the oven.  Prehat the oven to 375 degrees F/191 degrees C. Place the gugelhopf on the cookie sheet into the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Cool slightly before inverting and removing the bread from the pan.  Allow to cool on a rack before serving.