I Made Cannoli's The Shami Way
I have had this idea to create a Shami Cannoli for a while now. The contrasting textures of a cannoli are reminiscent to me of Qatayef and Knafeh. You have a crispy exterior and creamy filling that works so well together. I thought what if we fill these cannoli’s with a Shami style filling, something really unique to our part of the world. So today, I finally decided to give it a try.
Shami Cannoli:
Ingredients
For the Ashta
1,000g whole milk
30g white vinegar
240g heavy cream
8g cornstarch
30g whole milk (for cornstarch slurry)
20g sugar
2 capfuls orange blossom water
For the Cannoli Shells
250g all-purpose flour
25g sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
30g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
60g water
2 tsp white vinegar
Neutral oil, for frying
For Finishing
Chopped pistachios
Powdered sugar
Dried rose petals (optional)
Instructions
Make the Ashta
Add 1,000g whole milk to a large pot and heat over medium heat until steaming between 185F-195F.
Add the vinegar and gently stir. The milk should begin separating into curds and whey. Remove from the heat and allow it to sit for 5-7 minutes to finish curdling.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the whey and reserving the fresh milk curds. Set them aside to drain for 20 minutes.
Add the heavy cream and sugar to a clean saucepan and place over medium-low heat. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with the remaining 30g whole milk until completely smooth. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and cook gently, stirring continuously, until the cream lightly thickens.
Remove from the heat and fold in the reserved milk curds. Stir in the orange blossom water.
The finished ashta should be creamy and soft with a delicate, lightly textured consistency. Transfer to a container, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Day Two: Make the Cannoli Shells
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Work the softened butter into the dry ingredients, then add the egg, water, and vinegar. Mix until a shaggy dough forms.
Turn the dough onto your work surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Cannoli dough is fairly firm at first, but it should gradually become smoother as you work it.
Cover and allow the dough to rest for an hour.
Divide the rested dough into four pieces and roll them very thin. You’re looking for dough thin enough to fry up light and blistered while still being strong enough to hold the filling.
Cut the dough into circles approximately the length of your cannoli molds.
Wrap each piece around a cannoli mold, overlapping the edges slightly. Brush the overlapping edge with a little egg white or water and press firmly to seal.
Fry the Cannoli
Heat a neutral frying oil to approximately 350°F / 175°C.
Working in batches, carefully lower the cannoli into the oil with the molds still inside.
Fry until deeply golden, crisp, and blistered, turning as necessary so they color evenly.
Transfer to a wire rack or paper towel-lined tray and allow them to cool enough to handle before carefully sliding out the metal molds.
Let the shells cool completely before filling.
Assemble the Cannoli
Transfer the chilled ashta to a piping bag.
Pipe the ashta into each cannoli shell from both ends, filling all the way through the center.
Dip or gently press each exposed end into plenty of chopped pistachios.
Finish with a generous dusting of powdered sugar and, if you’d like, a few dried rose petals.
Fill the cannoli as close to serving as possible so the shells stay beautifully crisp.
And that’s the Shami cannoli! A classic crispy cannoli shell filled with the Ashta I grew up with. A little meeting point between two desserts I love.