Make Perfect Cannoli With Claire Saffitz | Try This at Home | NYT Cooking

We're good I mean in my ideal world you Would say I hope that you fry this at Home oh fry this at home don't forget to Fry this at home yeah right just put it On the just write it on the screen or [Music] Something hi everyone I'm Claire saffitz I'm here in the nyt cooking studio for Another episode of try this at home and Today's recipe is a particularly fun one And there is no oven required canoli That classic Sicilian pastry this recipe Is just so much fun and so delicious the Best you can get is when you're going to Make it [Music] Home let's talk about what makes a Canoli a good canoli definitely it is a Tender very like crisp all the way Through shell so it should have this Kind of shattering tender consistency And then you want this thick rich but Not too rich ricotta filling it's really Not overly complicated the dough is Super straightforward the major Challenge for people making canoli at Home just two things one is deep frying So we're definitely going to talk about That process how to make it less scary And two is finding the molds so enough That are hard to find you have to order Them so that's a necessary thing but Beyond that the like the rest of the Recipe is really straightforward

Requires no special equipment other than The Molds so there's two components for Making canoli one is the dough and one Is the filling I'm going to start by Making the dough the most important Thing I think when you're making a Canoli shell is achieving those big Blistery air pockets in the Shell that's What's going to make it eat like super Light and crisp and you don't want Something that's like hard and like that You have to kind of crunch down with Your teeth that's cookie like you want Something like lighten Airy and bubbly So the key to that is the moisture Content of the dough there were things That I read that said oh the bubbles are The result of the alcohol and the wine Because there's wine in the recipe or That it's about working in like air as You're needing it it's like I didn't Really find any of that to be true it's Just about putting kind of certain Amount of moisture in the dough so that When it goes into the fryer the moisture Turns to steam and you get these little Like bubbles so allpurpose flour it's Going to go into my bowl I'm going to Add a little bit of sugar the sugar Doesn't really make the dough sweet but It does help give it a nice Browning Effect Kos your salt the only spice that I'm adding is cinnamon which I think is

A great compliment to the ricotta Filling canoli dough needs to do two Things it needs to be tender so that When you fry it you get that like really Crisp texture um but but it also needs To have a certain amount of like Stretchability or extensibility that Ability to kind of roll out into a Really really thin layer you get the Extensibility by working it developing a Little bit of gluten making some Structure in the dough and then the Tenderness comes from the presence of Fat in the dough so the fat of choice For canoli is lard so I have 1 oz of Lard here you can find it in like the Pork section of like a lot of big Grocery stores you could use refined Coconut oil but lard is going to give You you really good flavor and really Good tenderness this is chilled by the Way it's just easier to work with when It's cold so now you want to do this Step called cutting in the fat I don't Have this is called a pastry cutter I Don't have this at home I so I was using Two butter knives so what you want to do Is basically work this into small pieces And if you don't have a pastry cutter You can basically use two knives where You do this kind of slicing motion where You cut it in like This kind of dragging the two knives Across each other or if you have a

Pastry blender just goes a lot faster That's that's this tool and you just Work it in like this you want to work it In until the fat is about the size of Like a lentil and what happens is the Fat starts to coat the flour and it gets In the way of like these gluten strands Forming so it does help you to maintain A tender dough even though you're going To be rolling it out really thin so now I'm going to beat one egg and because I'm making such a small quantity I don't Need to add the whole thing so I'm going To add some of it to the dough and I'm Going to reserve the rest for forming The shells because it's the egg that's Going to like glue the dough together so That I can form this tube Shape just going to beat it with a Fork okay so now I'm going to make a Little bit of a well like work the flour Up the sides leaving a little bit of Like a depression in the center and I'm Going to add 1 tbspoon of my Egg and I'm going to add 1/4 cup of White wine so I'm using white wine You'll recipes that call for red wine Marsala is common I like white wine cuz It Doesn't alter the color of the dough I'm using a dry white wine so something That's not going to add a lot of Sweetness I like to just use a fork in The beginning because if I were to stick My hands in there they're going to get

Coated in liquid and then everything's Going to stick to Them so now I'm going to work this Mixture inside the bowl to try to bring It together into a dough smells really Good Harris and I like have a hard time Finishing a bottle of wine ourselves and Like sometimes we don't have any wine Open so we keep a box of wine that comes In that like foil bag where there's no Oxygen and like the little spigot and so It's just really useful so it's like A4 Cup of wine I don't want to open a Bottle so I'm going to turn everything Out onto my work surface I still have a Couple little dry bits so I just want to Work it and incorporate any of these dry Bits and it might seem a little dry in The beginning but as soon as you start To work it it'll really soften up quite A Bit even doubling it it's still a very Manageable amount of dough I don't need To work it to like full gluten Development don't actually want to do That I just want to work it so that it's Homogeneous and like a little bit Elastic so it just takes a couple Minutes if the dough is a little bit Sticky I'm just going to add a little Bit of extra Flour those little bits of lard those Are getting worked into the dough and it Almost acts it's like a greasing agent

Like it makes so that the dough doesn't Stick it's not perfectly smooth it's Like a little bit modeled but you don't Need to work it beyond that now what we Want to do is let it rest because we Just worked the dough if we were roll This out directly it's going to spring Back if you're going to make these like Same day you could leave it out if you Wanted to but if you're going to rest it For more than a couple hours definitely You want to keep it in the Fridge okay so into the fridge Yep I decided to go a pretty like Traditional and also simple route for The filling where it's basically just Ricotta traditionally in Sicily it's Sheep's milk ricot which is like a Little bit funkier has sort of a more Complex flavor if you can find it that's Amazing you should definitely use it What will probably be easier to find for You is just a very high quality cow milk Ricotta so full fat also whole milk Ricotta so you need 16 oz and what we Want to do is drain it trying to get rid Of some of that water because what Happens is if you leave that water in There it thins out the filling and then When you add the sugar it gets really Loose stirring it is going to help it to Release some of that water and I'm going To scrape it into a mesh save set over a Bowl so we want it to release all that

Water I'm going to cover with some Plastic and put put it in the fridge and Then after about 24 hours we'll check it I have one that was set up last night And depending on the brand it will have Released anywhere from like 1 to several Tablespoons of liquid see it's already Starting to drain a bit so I'll cover This this will go into the fridge this Is that same ricotta but this was left Overnight in the fridge here to drain so You can see that the ricotta has Released this is like several Tablespoons I would guess this is 2 to 3 Tablespoons of water so that's Significant we don't want that The Filling so I'm going to get rid of that I went back and forth a lot in kind of How I wanted to assemble the filling Like did I want to use a food Processor did I not want to use a food Processor did I want to whip it did I Want to put it in a St mixer and I just Decided that the version I liked best Was just the one where all they did was Press it through the Sie into the bowl And then stirred through the Flavoring and I'm just taking a flexible Spatula and kind of scraping the ricotta Across the bottom of the SI and this is Going to help to smooth it out depending On the quality of your ricotta if you Just stirred it really vigorously you Could achieve a similar texture but it's

Sort of Uncertain like how bigger the Curds going to be so I think it's just a Safer a safer bet to press it through The cve so make sure you get every last Bit in there so again I like this Technique because I think it really Maintains that fluffy texture that you Want in the ricotta but also makes it Like pretty luxurious and smooth so now I'm going to add my flavorings for Sweetness I'm adding some confectioner Sugar and this is I would say a very Lightly sweet filling it is definitely Not cloying in any way and then a little Extra sweetness from honey so 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract a pinch of Kosher salt just to help bring the Flavor out of everything a half teaspoon Of freshly grated lemon zest and then a/ Teaspoon of Orange and then now that I have the Lemon zested I'm going to cut a wedge Cuz I'm also going to add a teaspoon of Lemon juice the sheep milk ricotta That's traditional is like a little bit Tangier than the cow milk so just to Give it a little bit of Tang you don't Want to Stir It excessively because the Sugar will start to thin out the Consistency of the ricotta now I'm just Going to switch to the Whisk and just Give everything a nice kind of thorough But not prolonged like Stir I'm going to go ahead and transfer

It to my pastry bag just so it's ready To go for the filling and then I'll keep It in the fridge while we make the Shells this is not like a precisely Piped filling so you could use a Ziploc Bag and it's not so thick that you're Going to have a hard time so Ziploc bag Is like totally Fine okay so I'm just going to let Everything kind of fall to the bottom of The bag kind of work it down I don't Need to cut it opening yet and then I'm Just going to twist the end of the bag This can go into the fridge and keep it Cold until we're ready to Fill This is kind of the exciting part we are Ready to start forming our canoli shells So I have my canoli molds these are I Think like 5 and 1/2 or 6 in Long Stainless steel like hollow metal tubes These are great this was like an easy Online purchase I have eight of those This is a 5 1/2 in Cutter this was the Largest cutter in the set of round Cutters that I have where it's like all Little concentric circles if you don't Have a cutter this large what you can Use is like a deli lid and a wheel Cutter and just sort of cut around like Trace the circle basically so here we go I'm going to start by just dividing this Dough in half then I just want to form Each half sort of roughly into a

Sphere just roll it between your hands If you want to and then I'm going to Keep one covered on the work surface While I roll out the Other going to use a little bit of flour A little bit of flour is fine and I want To roll this out into it doesn't have to Be an exact shape but kind of a rough Round that's an eighth of an inch Thick you can see that I'm lifting it up Frequently and moving it around and That's just because if the dough wants To spring back I want it to hold its Shape so let it spring back if it wants To spring back a little bit the goal Here is to roll it out in a size where I Can cut about three Circles so when I'm punching these out I Want to press straight down with the Cutter and then twist that's going to Help to release that Circle I am going To do one more round of cutting with the Scrap so we don't want to waste that so I have now my three circles I'm going to Set these off to the side keep them Covered on the work surface and I'm Going to repeat that same process with The second half a Dough so now I have another ball of Scraps and this one I want to roll out One more time and I'm going to cut two More circles and because we've already Rolled this out the dough has been Worked a little bit you can just see as

I press it that it's going to kind of Want to spring back so you are going to Have to use a little bit more [Music] Pressure so now I have my eth circles And now I want to let these rest for About 10 minutes I want that gluten to Relax I want the dough to kind of chill Out because I'm going to come back and Roll each one individually a second time And then form it around the mold and This is because I want the dough to be Even thinner than it is now besides kind Of the the moisture content of the dough Another key to achieving that like Bubbly blistery texture is that you need The dough to be really really thin we're Going to go back in with each one make Them thinner and fold them around our Canoli mold so just about 10 minutes We'll come back so I'm going to take one Of the circles and I'm actually going to Take from that first like piece that I Rolled out so it's the most relaxed keep The rest covered using a little bit of Flower again and I want to lengthen this Circle in two directions kind of Opposite direction so I'm going to go Top to bottom and then left to right I Want a thickness of about like 1 to 2 mm Even you can either move the rolling pin And like roll side to side or I move the Dough I'm kind of starting from the Middle and going up and then back to the

Middle and then down again in the recipe It says rhombus like shape I'm not sure That it's a really a rhombus but it's Not really a circle anymore it's Something that has sort of like a Dimension to it like sort of some Sides it's yeah but it's like so amoeba Like it's like it's a little IR regular It's really thin this looks good feels Good I'm just going to pull it off the Surface one more time just to make sure It's not sticking I have the thickness That I want and I'm going to form it Around my canoli mold so I'm going to Take one of my molds I'm going to lay it Across the longest part of the dough Then I'm going to take one side and Bring it up to the top of the mold so It's just kind of rest thing right there Then with my leftover beaten egg I'm Just going to take the tiniest dab and I'm just using my finger going to smear That just across the dough then I'm Going to take that other side of dough Bring it up and over and overlap it just On the like egg covered part of the Dough and press gently to adhere and We've now formed it so this might look a Little crazy because I have not wrapped The dough tightly around the mold at all But that's what you want because when You go to fry it it's going to shrink up Quite a bit it's going to kind of like Form around the mold going to kind of

Set this off to the side so pick it up By the ends of the mold lay it down Gently and now I'm going to repeat that Process with the remaining Circles of Dough and you can just leave the formed Pieces around the molds uncovered as you [Music] Work [Music] These are all set the next thing I'm Going to do is heat my oil I didn't heat My oil in advance because actually it's A good thing to let these kind of hang Out a little bit at room temp uncovered By leaving them at a room temp the outer Layer is going to dehydrate slightly Which is also going to help us with that Bubble Formation okay so for frying our canola Shells I have a large Dutch oven here I Have a candy or deep fat thermometer Clipped to the side I'm using a neutral Oil for frying these um this is Peanut I Like using peanut for frying Traditionally you'll find that these are Fried in lard but it just feels like a Lot of lard for you to get your hands on Um but what you could do is actually mix Your fats so if you have some neutral Oil for frying you can also just throw In like you have extra lard you could Add that to the pot as well so whenever You're deep frying at home it's a good Idea not to fill your vessel more than

Halfway all right so I think I'm going To add all of the these and actually a Good a good tip is hold on to the Containers that your oil came in because Once the fry oil is spent and you're Ready to get rid of it you can pour it Back into those containers using a Funnel and then you can either like Recycle it sometimes it'll be like a Cooking oil recycling in your area or Sometimes at farmers markets um or you Can just toss it in your garbage but not Down the drain don't put it down the Drain that's very bad bad for your pipes These have been covered the whole time These are supposed to be uncovered Pretend like these have been uncovered We cover them because we ate lunch I Don't want them to dry out too much but If you're just going straight into Frying what you should do just leave Them uncovered okay so I'm going to Start by heating this over medium high And once it hits about 325 I'm going to Turn it down to medium don't really want To blast the heat because you can very Easily kind of surpass the temperature You're going for and what we want is 350 It is hot enough to initiate that like Puffing of the liquid and giving you Those blisters but not so hot that the Shells Brown before they're cooked all The way through and then I have here It's like a good idea whenever you're

Deep frying to like do your Mison plast Get everything ready to go and organized I have a pair of tongs and then I have a Rimmed baking sheet here with a couple Layers of paper towel and that is for Transferring the shells as they finish Cooking okay so I'm at 340 so I'm almost There and keep in mind that whenever you Add anything to the oil especially if It's cold but even if it's room temp you Are then going to cause the temperature To drop so keep an eye on your heat and On your temperature and I'm sort of Always moderating the heat a little bit When I'm frying so you'll have to turn It up and then back down but just sort Of keep an eye if you're in the 350 Range you're good okay so I'm just about There this is how I recommend you add Your canoli to the oil grasp the molds By the sides lower it down into the oil And you're going to actually hold it Here you're literally going to just Suspend it in the oil and I'm going to Do this for about 20 seconds until the Dough has a chance to puff up and kind Of form around that metal Tube so you can see it's Bubbling and then once it starts to Really puff up then I can let it Go okay so I'm just going to repeat that And you'll have to fry in batches cuz You probably won't be using a vessel Large enough to get all eight in there

So you'll most likely be frying in Batches of four two batches of Four and then you're going to fry these Until each one is kind of nice golden Brown and another sign besides color That they're done frying is that you Won't have as much bubbling cuz Basically all of that moisture has Evaporated and like cooked off so I Could let that one go this one has Started to slide off the mold that's Normal that's okay if that happens Because you're kind of holding it and Suspending it in the oil for the first You know 20 seconds or so of frying that Is a good chance for it to already like You know maintain that kind of hollowed Out shape so it's okay if the mold then Slips out you don't need it you can just Take it out of the oil if you like think That this process looks so fun and you Really want to try it but you don't want To get canoli molds that's fine you know What you can do is you can basically Follow the instructions do everything That I did but instead of forming them Around molds just cut them into like Tortilla chip size triangles or squares Or whatever and fry them you'll get the Same texture of the Dough and you can really just make like A canoli dip so put the cream in a bowl Fry them and kind of as chips and serve Them that way it'll be so much fun okay

So these are looking so good and you Will have to keep turning them because They puff up so much they kind of Bob Out of the oil so keep them moving just So that they color evenly in the oil so If any of the tubes fall out you can go Ahead and just take them out and set Them off to the side right so this is The very first one this guy is's ready So I'm going to take it out and just set It on my paper Towel can see how blister that one is it Looks so good so my oil is I'm like at 345 it's looking good I can turn it up a Tiny bit but but you just want to sort Of hover it in that like 350 range Waiting for the bubbling to really Subside is a good indication that you're Going to have a super crisp texture in The Shell because all of the water has Been cooked off so that's just really What you're looking for all right I'm Going to take this guy out looks there So many little blisters it looks so good One of the things about frying is like Because it uses so much oil I like to Reuse the oil as much as I can if you Are going to reuse your fry oil let the Oil cool completely in the vessel is Really bad idea to try to like transfer Hot oil to anything and if you're going To just get rid of it then you can just Use a funnel to pour it back into the Vessels that you saved and then just

Toss it or recycle it recycling it is Great and now I'm going to add the Second batch of [Music] Four okay so I'm going to let these Fully cool they came out of the oil Super hot so we want to let them cool Before we fill them because I don't want To like loosen up and warm up that Filling um but I'm going to grab my Pastry bag from the fridge stiip a Little opening and then we'll fill them And I'm also going to grab some fun Toppings to put on the [Music] Ends so excited I have all of my Toppings my filling my shells and a Platter for serving it's has so many Little blisters it's also so incredibly Lightweight for its size so you know It's just so Airy it has like this Beautiful even golden brown color so I Have my mini chocolate chips kind of a Classic topping for canoli ditto chopped Pistachios and then I have I love this Stuff this is like candied Orange Peel So also a great topping so I'm going to Snip about a 1in opening and to take one Of the canoli shells and I'm going to Kind of fill from the middle out on both Sides you could fry the shells even the Day before make sure you let them fully Cool and store them in an airtight Container it's just that you want to

Fill them at the last [Music] Minute so now for topping I just really Do like the look of the candy peel Especially with those like citrus Flavors in the filling I love the idea Of just like draping a piece on either Side if you're doing chocolate Chips just like that looks so good do Some pistachio [Music] I think I'm going to go with plain just So I can really taste the filling and Kind of experience the texture of the Shell I love that like hint of cinnamon From the filling it really does kind of Give you like delicious cookie kind of Texture I just love love that contrast Between the like Ultra crisp really like Toasty shell and this delicious like Creamy citrusy filling sometimes I Distinguish between recipes that are fun To make and recipes that are fun to eat And I feel like this is both the dough Is so easy no food processor no ST mixer No need to turn on the oven so I think It's a really fun recipe for the Holidays cuz it's kind of celebratory And you can kind of customize it set up A little canoli bar if you want to thank You as always for watching try this at Home and you can go get this recipe Everything else we make on Channel and Thousands more recipes at nway

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