Cannoli Shells

As I mentioned in a previous post, my mom used to make cannoli shells every Christmas with her good friend Phyllis. My mom hasn't made them in years and I have always wanted to make them so I've decided this is the year. Here's Phyllis' recipe.

Dough
Makes 10-12 shells

Tools needed- 1 baking sheet lined with paper towel, metal cannoli tubes(pick these up at a cooking supply store or on Amazon), knife, air tight container, gallon zip-lock bag, scissors, pastry brush

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons shortning
3/4 cup sweet marsala wine
1 beaten egg
vegetable oil

In a large bowl place the flour, cinnamon, sugar and shortning. With a mixer or your hands mix the ingredients together until they resemble coarse crumbs. Add the wine and continue to mix until all comes together into a smooth ball of dough. Set aside for an hour on the counter.
Cut the dough ball in half and on a lightly floured board, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut the dough into 4-5 inch rounds. Wrap a dough round around a metal cannoli tube. Overlapping the edges of the round. Before you seal the edges, using a pastry brush, brush one edge with the beaten egg to help seal them. Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil to 400. Carefully drop 1-2 tubes of dough into the oil and fry on all sides until the dough is golden brown in color. Remove from the pan and let the dough drain and cool on a tray lined with paper towels. When cool enough to touch, carefully loosen the shell from the tube. I use the point of a knife. Repeat the process until all the shells are made. Store the shells in an air-tight container until ready to fill

Filling
1 pound ricotta cheese, drained
8 oz of marscapone cheese
1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon of orange zest
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Place all ingredients(minus the chips) into a bowl with a mixer. Mix until combined. Fold in the chips. Place the filling into a large zip lock bag. Seal, removing as much air as possible. Snip of the end with scissors. Gently hold the shell in one hand and squeeze the filling into the shell with the other. I fill the shell half way on one side and then turn it to fill the other half. Set on a platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar.