For November the Daring Bakers were challenged to put away our baking pans and get out the deep fry thermometer and oil! 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.
I’ve only had cannoli a couple of times and I didn’t love it because I’m not a big fan of ricotta desserts. So I was happy when mascarpone cheese was offered as an alternative for filling our cannoli.
Deeba of Passionate about Baking has been posting fabulous desserts using her creamy homemade mascarpone and this was my chance to give it a try! I made an orange chocolate chip mascarpone filling for my cannoli that was fabulous!
My shells on the other hand were a disaster! I made the dough twice, but it would just not behave. I could not get it rolled out thin enough. It kept shrinking back. Consequently, my shells didn’t blister and were tough. I filled a few cannoli for the pictures but decided to save my luscious filling for something equally as wonderful.
In the end I decided to make individual cakes using Pioneer Women’s Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever filled with orange chocolate mascarpone drizzled with a chocolate ganache. It was sinfully delicious and something I would definitely make again.
Thanks Lisa for a fun challenge. Visit Lisa at Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives for this month’s Daring Bakers recipe and tips on making cannoli. Too see the delicious cannoli the other Daring Bakers whipped up visit the Daring Baker Blogroll.
Mascarpone
Recipe adapted from Addicted Sweet Tooth
Ingredients:
1 litre cream (I used 25% low fat cream;you can use 36% whipping cream)
2 tbsp fresh lime/lemon juice ( juice of 1 ½ limes approx)
Method:
Heat the cream over a waterbath/double boiler until it reaches 180ºF/82ºC
Stir in the lime/lemon juice and keep at this temperature for a few moments longer until it starts to thicken.
Remove from heat, cover, and let sit at room temperature until it is cooled down a bit.
Refrigerate over night. The next day it will have thickened further.
Pour it in a strainer lined with multiple layers of cheesecloth or clean towel. Refrigerate for about 24 hours to let the whey drain
Orange Chocolate Chip Mascarpone Filling
16 ounces mascarpone
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange oil
zest from one orange
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Mix first four ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Mix in chocolate chips
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Barbacoa Salad
I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
B, You rock!! you made your own mascarpone??!! that's awesome.. I should try it sometime.. that cake is drool worthy… slurrp and am just getting ready to make dinner.. wish I could have a piece of it!!
Have a great weekend Barbara!
The picture of the cannoli looks wonderful. But to tell you the truth, I would have rather made your little cakes. They look delicious! I'm going to someday make my own mascarpone. As soon as I need it!
You certainly made the best of it and it looks de-licious! That mascarpone/orange/cc filling sounds heavenly.
orange choc chip mascarpone sounds delicious!! great job; i really want to make this still but unfortunately didn't get a chance to this month due to my little one :)
Homemade mascarpone? Well done. I am impressed! :)
I love that chocolate cake..Yum-yum! your cannoli turned out great too, I would never thought that you had a hard time making it :)
Hehe – maybe you should try the GF dough – I'd laugh if it worked for you better than the normal kind =D.
That cake, it just looks fabulous! I'm drooling over here!
Not to mention the homemade Mascarpone! Wow.
Yeaaaa, we both made our own mascarpone. Your filling looks and sounds scrumptious!! I wish I would have thought of that.
Looks delicious! I love mascarpone.
Your mascarpone sounds divine! I too didn't come up with the best cannoli, but loved my filling:) Great photos!
Oh the filling looks wonderful! Love your new blog look!
Great job on the mascarpone Mum! What a shame about the shells though but I think you used the mascarpone well! :) xxx
Barb..I'm so so sorry the shells didn't work out for you. It takes quite a bit of 'roll..cover/rest..roll..cover/rest etc.. to really get it going. However, I'm so glad your mascarpone turned out perfect, and sandwiching it between two fudgy layers of chocolate sheet cake is brilliant and drool inducing! Thanks so much for deep frying with me this month!
Your cannoli look delicious! The sound of that creamy mascarpone… yum!
Sorry to hear the shell didn't go so well but home made mascarpone that is to die for well done and the final result do look delicious. Cheers from Audax in Austalia.
My family and I joke that Pioneer Woman "stole" our sheet cake recipe, because we've been baking that beauty for many years now (except w/ walnuts in the frosting)! In reality, of course, it's just one of those recipes everyone has a version of, because it's so delicious! I actually made the cake yesterday for a post-Thanksgiving potluck.
I can only imagine how FANTASTIC mascarpone cannoli filling would taste sandwiched inside that yummy cake — what a great idea!! MMMmm!
I am not a big fan of ricotta desserts either. But mousse in cannoli blows me away! These look great.
Too bad about the cannoli shells but that chocolate cake looks to die for!!!
Tha cannoli dough was really tough, wasn't it? I love your marscapone filling though. What a photo! This is the first time I've really wanted to lick the screen. YUM!!! You could try a cannoli recipe with egg in it. That recipe is much less resistant.
The dough got me aggravated too! It was like wrestling. Nice mascarpone, though!
YOU ARE AMAZING!!! Stop the bus. I want to get off at your house!
Orange chocolate chip mascarpone oohh wow! The chocolate cannoli look nice but the cake made me so hungry :)
I think I will dream about those little cakes, tonight. You turned a frustration into a success. Good going.
great idea with the cakes. The shell was never my favorite part anyway (I usually licked out the filling).
I'm sorry the shells didn't work for you. Mine spring back too…that's y I needed a step stool to help me roll 'em out! :P Well done on making your own mascarpone! And good thinking on saving it for the cake…it absolutely looks dangerously GOOD!! :)
I never ever eat the shell but take the cannoli filling and just eat that. I wish I had one right now.
Joyce
These look great! I ran out of time to do this months challenge but it looks like you shined :)
Barbara, your mascarpone filling is luscious! Yay you! And I would so much rather have it in one of those stunning chocolate cakes than a cannoli shell any day! Love it!