Hi Lucy,

I haven't made them in ages, but in the past I've gotten the ricotta at Arthur Ave. Having tried the container type just never worked for me, there's just to much water in them. You would need to drain it very well in any event, here's a simply recipe that may work for what you're looking for:

3 c. very dry ricotta
1 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Drain ricotta in a colander until very dry, overnight or longer if necessary. Mix with sugar and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer at high speed for 8-10 minutes. Use to fill cannoli or between cake layers. Fills about 15-18 cannoli.

I had found that mixing a long time w/sugar is key, if you have a KA mixer type all the better.

Lucy

I use mascarpone or mascarpone and ricotta mixed half and half. Powered suger to taste and either vanilla or almond extract. I prefer chopped pistachios or shaved chocolate on the ends.

I've seen recipes for ricotta and whipped cream.

Is the 'regular' recipe using mascarpone? That's what I always thought...this one didn't taste like it had mascarpone in it, but it was a while ago...guess I'll have to do some testing!

Lucy - thanks so much...I will give it a shot with fresh ricotta and see how that works!

I rarely see a recipe with mascarpone. Usually the recipes are just ricotta or ricotta and citron and/or mini chocolate chips. Almond extract is common so is cinnamon.

Mascarpone makes a very creamy filling, ricotta is grainier in texture.

They might have used whipped cream and ricotta mixed with vanilla and sugar or powdered sugar to sweeten. Mascarpone is a pretty expensive ingredient.

Here is a discussion that might give you some more ideas about what you actually will enjoy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cannoli filling recipes.

The best canoli I ever tasted came from a tiny place in New Haven, about 40 years ago. I believe it was filled with a slightly sweetened ricotta like what Lucy described. Another really important factor was that the canoli shells were stored unfilled in the bakery case and the filling was in a small bucket in the fridge. The shells were filled to order for each customer. It seemed to be made in small batches too. The shells were crisp and the filling fresh.

I guess New Haven is "The Place" for Pizza and Canoli.

Mimsic, Arthur Avenue, in the Bronx too! Yummo!

Lucy, which ever recipe you decide, don't pre-fill the shells...

Lucy/ny

Barnmom - thanks for the link...I know I don't like the citron, so I will definitely leave that out...I will have to experiment...I agree the mascarpone is pretty pricey, so perhaps I will try the whip cream and see what that does...

I also liked the suggestion of putting the ricotta through a fine sieve...that would probably help with a lot of the graininess.

Thanks everyone!

lucy/ny: Yes, Arthur Ave. I think that's the place I'll go to celebrate when I reach my weight watchers goal! I had pizza there that took me right back to my teen years in Connecticut when 2 of us could eat a whole pizza. We spelled it appizza and pronounced it "abitz" in those days. (I am not Italian but grew up surrounded by Italians as did both my parents and their mothers).

Mimsic

Appizza! ;^ ) yes....

Here ya go, we can take a walk down Arthur Ave, no calories!!

Lucyny

Here is a link that might be useful: Arthur Ave

Oh boy, is all I can say!

This recipe was posted last year by Joe, so I'll post it for your review. It may be what you are looking for.

Posted by gardenguru1950 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 10, 06 at 22:26

I'm hesitant to share this recipe because it's kind of like a family secret (don't tell my brother, the other chef). But I think my mother, who passed away 16 years ago and who loved "giving", would have wanted me to pass this on to a great group of people who love food and cooking...
CANNOLIS
Makes 20

Shells

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 5/8 tablespoons sugar
1 whole egg
6 tablepoons shortening
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 egg white -- beaten
oil -- for deep frying

Filling

2 pounds Ricotta cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate -- shaved
1 cup nuts -- chopped, toasted

To make shells, combine flour, cinnamon, sugar, egg, shortening, and water. Blend well. Add vinegar by the teaspoonful until dough becomes stiff. Chill for two hours.

To make filling, whip together the ricotta, sugar, and shaved chocolate.

Fill the shells with a spoon or bastry bag. Dip the ends of the filled cannolis into the chopped nuts (walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, almonds).

Roll shell dough (in 1/4 portions) on a lightly floured board into a large rectangle. Cut into 4" squares.

Wrap squares around cannoli tubes so that two corners fold over and two corners point outward. Brush the touching corners with egg white and/or water so that they will stick together.

Deep fry in hot oil until golden (some of the shells' bubbles will pop).

Cool and remove from tubes.

NOTES : You can also add 2 tablespoons of grated orange or lemon rind to the shell dough. Or 1 tablespoon of instant espresso powder instead of or part of the cinnamon. Marsala wine can substitute for some or all of the vinegar in the shell dough.

The filling can be made with candied fruits, finely chopped pistachios, or small chocolate chips instead of the shaved chocolate.

Special note: this is not the gooey sweet cannoli that you find in so many restaurants now. This is a cheesey adult cannoli.

Joe

Boy that sounds good. I'll probably never make it but I might get my son to try!

Sounds like I may need to make that trip to Arthur Ave to pick up some equipment (and some samples just for edification, of course!)

You Two Lucy's were making me nuts !!!!!
Until I saw Lucy/ny and just plain Lucy.

Lucy/ny : I remember them squeezing the water out of the
Ricotta ,
in a piece of Cheesecloth. Would that help.

Do you make your own Shells ???
LOU

Lou,
Yes, I've made my own shells & have the tubes too. I haven't made them in several years, all this talk though may have me venture into making a batch.

Also used on occasion is pizzelle rolled into shells right off the grill and/or sugar ice cream cones (not to be confused w/the wafer type) with insides of cones coated w/melted chocolate.

The only difference in the shells that I make as compared to the recipe posted, is the recipe I've used has white wine as the liquid, as opposed to vinegar. You may also be able to find the shells in some speciality stores in your area.

Lucy/NY

Lou - will it confuse you even more if I told you I was from NY as well???? :-)

There are a lot of places near me that sells the shells - so that part I've got covered (I'm not a big fan of deep frying at home either).

We're going away for the weekend, but I will definitely do some testing when we return...thanks so much everyone! I look forward to the results!!!

Lucy

How funny, that we should be confusing Lou! 3 Lu's !

Lucy, what area of NY are you from??

I'm in Westchester County

Lucy/ny

Ha ha!!!

I'm in Northeastern Queens, right near the Throgs Neck Bridge...pretty close by!

Chocolate shavings and pistachio nuts! Is this a "dessert" canoli?

WilL you two cut that out!!!!!
Now I don't know who is from where, what!
Anyway, That's your problem ( being from there )
I have only wild animals to contend with here.

Lucy /ny: I was going to suggest using Pizzelles for the shells.
We have to stop meeting like this. Now I'm reading your mind.
LOU

I second the use of sugar cones if you don't feel like the mess and trouble of frying the shells.

I'm fortunate in that there's a cute little cottage near me (inside only has room for the 2 owners, and 2 customers at one time). Painted pink and green. Adorable. It's open only Friday afternoon and Sat. morning, but they make the best cannoli. They have wonderful flavors, and fill them when you go into buy them. Or you can buy a cannoli kit--a bag of filling, the empty shells, and a little shaker of powdered sugar and a container of nuts or chocolate--if you want them for later in the week.

As to your filling--if it tastes like ricotta--start with that, and see what happens. Just keep notes, so you can replicate your results later. Work with very small amounts of ingredients to start with, so you don't waste a lot. Let us know if you come up with a 'reasonable facsimile'.

Lucy/ny : When I was a youngun. We would go to the sugar cone factory ,
on the next street and buy broken cones. A shopping bag for
3 cents.
They made the Sugar Cones the same as Pizzelles and
wrapped them around a form, soon as they took them out of the Baker.
If I made the Canoli Shells from the Pizzelle Baker,
do I have to coat them with Chocolate inside, so they won't get soggy?
LOU/PA

Lou, if you were to fill them just before serving they'll be fine. On the other hand, if they were gonna be held for some time, then I would go ahead & coat the insides w/melted chocolate.

Lucy/ny

When I don't have time to make my own shells I've used these with great success and my guests have loved them.

Here is a link that might be useful: cannoli shells