V.S.
Both are classic Italian pastries. Cannoli, with its deep-fried shell and creamy ricotta filling, you have likely seen. Sfogliatelle, also known as a Lobster Tail, is the dark horse–and for good reason. I rarely get frustrated in class. Give me a block of strudel dough and I'll patiently pull it. Puff pastry? I'll beat the butter into submission and carefully roll out layer after layer. But Sfogliatelle required a combination of techniques that had me cursing like a sailor (under my breath, of course).
Here's the match-up in gory detail:
Cannoli Technique
1. Make the dough; a combination of flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, butter, eggs and dry vermouth (so Italian!). Several cannoli recipes can be found here.
2. Spread a little flour on your work surface, knead the dough briefly, then divide into three pieces.
3. Take each piece and pass it through a hand-cranked pasta machine, on its widest setting, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Then allow the pieces of dough to rest overnight.
4. The next day, make the ricotta filling and set aside. Take each piece of dough and run it through the pasta machine starting with the widest setting. Pass it through until you reach the second to last setting and the strip of dough is long and thin.
5. Cut out as many 4-inch disks from the dough as you can.
6. Take a disk of dough and wrap it around a cannoli tube. Seal the cannoli by overlapping one edge on top of the other with a thin layer of egg wash spread on the bottom piece of dough.
7. Fry! Drop the cannoli (tube and all) into a pot of 375 degree oil. Fry until the cannoli shell is golden brown.
8. Carefully remove the tube, using a cloth towel, because the tube is HOT. Then let the cannoli cool down before you fill.
9. Using a pastry bag, pipe ricotta filling into both ends of the cannoli. Dip the open ends in chopped pistachios, if you like. I love the pop of bright color this brings.
Cannoli Flavor
A real treat. The best cannoli have a crisp outer shell and creamy, cold, barely sweet ricotta filling (all the better if its studded with candied orange peel). The moment you fill a cannoli is the moment it begins to die, or rather, get soggy and old. You can measure the quality of an Italian bakeshop by how fresh their cannoli are. The best ones pipe cannoli shells to order.
Sfogliatelle Technique
1. Make the dough; a combination of flour, salt, and warm water. A recipe can be found here.
2. In similar fashion to the cannoli, knead the sfogliatelle dough until it comes together, then divide into four pieces and pass through a pasta machine until it becomes smooth. Allow it to rest overnight.
3. The next day, make the ricotta filling and set aside. For the dough, combine butter and lard (yes, that's right) in a bowl and beat until the mixture is soft.
4. Take a segment of dough and pass it through the pasta machine starting with the widest setting and ending with the second-to-last setting. You will have a long, thin rectangular strip.
5. Paint the long strip of dough with the butter/lard mixture. Try not to think about how much fat you're using, just go for it.
{Now comes the frustrating part, though bakers with more fortitude than I may see it as a challenge}
6. Like you would if you were making strudel, take the sfogliatelle dough and carefully stretch it out so your 3-inch wide piece is 10-inches wide. You're going for a paper-thin layer. The dough will tear, but if you're nimble and you work quickly, the holes will be small. As you work, roll the newly stretched dough up into a cylinder, pulling the dough tightly as you move upwards.
{I stretched and I rolled; I stretched and I rolled; and no matter how carefully I worked, my little tears turned into giant holes. I'm positive a dough becomes more defiant the more you curse at it.}
7. When you're left with just a 1-inch strip of stretched out unrolled dough, stop! You're not done. Get out your second strip of sfogliatelle dough and roll it out using the pasta machine. You need to connect the second strip to the first strip. Brush it with butter, then stretch out the first part of the second strip, strudel-style. Next, brush a layer of butter on the first strip and press both strips together, linking them. Stretch and roll and continue on until you've connected all four pieces of dough.
8. You will end up with a log of tightly rolled dough that is about 10-inches long and 2.5-inches wide. Wrap well in plastic and chill.
9. At this point sfogliatelle becomes kind of fun. Take out your dough and trim off both ends, so the log is uniform. Cut the roll into slices that are 1/3-inch thick. To form the pastries, take one slice of dough and carefully stretch it into a cone shape. Push the layers apart just so you lengthen the pastry, not so much that any cracks appear between the layers. The shape you're after is a witches hat.
10. Once your dough is stretched into a cone shape, pipe a generous amount of ricotta in the center and crimp the top edges to seal.
11. Brush the pastries with egg wash (or the remaining butter/lard, if you can stand it) and bake in a 400 degree oven until they are deep golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Sfogliatelle Flavor
I'll admit it. I liked the fragile shards of dough, which tasted almost croissant-like. The contrast between the brittle exterior and the smooth ricotta filling inside was lovely. And once baked, the little sfogliatelles were just too cute to dislike.
And the winner is...
Cannoli! Fun, but not pokey to make. Better filling to shell ratio. And it's one of Peter's favorite treats. So, for sentimental reasons, it's mine too.
Here's the match-up in gory detail:
Cannoli Technique
1. Make the dough; a combination of flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, butter, eggs and dry vermouth (so Italian!). Several cannoli recipes can be found here.
2. Spread a little flour on your work surface, knead the dough briefly, then divide into three pieces.
3. Take each piece and pass it through a hand-cranked pasta machine, on its widest setting, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Then allow the pieces of dough to rest overnight.
4. The next day, make the ricotta filling and set aside. Take each piece of dough and run it through the pasta machine starting with the widest setting. Pass it through until you reach the second to last setting and the strip of dough is long and thin.
5. Cut out as many 4-inch disks from the dough as you can.
6. Take a disk of dough and wrap it around a cannoli tube. Seal the cannoli by overlapping one edge on top of the other with a thin layer of egg wash spread on the bottom piece of dough.
7. Fry! Drop the cannoli (tube and all) into a pot of 375 degree oil. Fry until the cannoli shell is golden brown.
8. Carefully remove the tube, using a cloth towel, because the tube is HOT. Then let the cannoli cool down before you fill.
9. Using a pastry bag, pipe ricotta filling into both ends of the cannoli. Dip the open ends in chopped pistachios, if you like. I love the pop of bright color this brings.
Cannoli Flavor
A real treat. The best cannoli have a crisp outer shell and creamy, cold, barely sweet ricotta filling (all the better if its studded with candied orange peel). The moment you fill a cannoli is the moment it begins to die, or rather, get soggy and old. You can measure the quality of an Italian bakeshop by how fresh their cannoli are. The best ones pipe cannoli shells to order.
Sfogliatelle Technique
1. Make the dough; a combination of flour, salt, and warm water. A recipe can be found here.
2. In similar fashion to the cannoli, knead the sfogliatelle dough until it comes together, then divide into four pieces and pass through a pasta machine until it becomes smooth. Allow it to rest overnight.
3. The next day, make the ricotta filling and set aside. For the dough, combine butter and lard (yes, that's right) in a bowl and beat until the mixture is soft.
4. Take a segment of dough and pass it through the pasta machine starting with the widest setting and ending with the second-to-last setting. You will have a long, thin rectangular strip.
5. Paint the long strip of dough with the butter/lard mixture. Try not to think about how much fat you're using, just go for it.
{Now comes the frustrating part, though bakers with more fortitude than I may see it as a challenge}
6. Like you would if you were making strudel, take the sfogliatelle dough and carefully stretch it out so your 3-inch wide piece is 10-inches wide. You're going for a paper-thin layer. The dough will tear, but if you're nimble and you work quickly, the holes will be small. As you work, roll the newly stretched dough up into a cylinder, pulling the dough tightly as you move upwards.
{I stretched and I rolled; I stretched and I rolled; and no matter how carefully I worked, my little tears turned into giant holes. I'm positive a dough becomes more defiant the more you curse at it.}
7. When you're left with just a 1-inch strip of stretched out unrolled dough, stop! You're not done. Get out your second strip of sfogliatelle dough and roll it out using the pasta machine. You need to connect the second strip to the first strip. Brush it with butter, then stretch out the first part of the second strip, strudel-style. Next, brush a layer of butter on the first strip and press both strips together, linking them. Stretch and roll and continue on until you've connected all four pieces of dough.
8. You will end up with a log of tightly rolled dough that is about 10-inches long and 2.5-inches wide. Wrap well in plastic and chill.
9. At this point sfogliatelle becomes kind of fun. Take out your dough and trim off both ends, so the log is uniform. Cut the roll into slices that are 1/3-inch thick. To form the pastries, take one slice of dough and carefully stretch it into a cone shape. Push the layers apart just so you lengthen the pastry, not so much that any cracks appear between the layers. The shape you're after is a witches hat.
10. Once your dough is stretched into a cone shape, pipe a generous amount of ricotta in the center and crimp the top edges to seal.
11. Brush the pastries with egg wash (or the remaining butter/lard, if you can stand it) and bake in a 400 degree oven until they are deep golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Sfogliatelle Flavor
I'll admit it. I liked the fragile shards of dough, which tasted almost croissant-like. The contrast between the brittle exterior and the smooth ricotta filling inside was lovely. And once baked, the little sfogliatelles were just too cute to dislike.
And the winner is...
Cannoli! Fun, but not pokey to make. Better filling to shell ratio. And it's one of Peter's favorite treats. So, for sentimental reasons, it's mine too.
