Friday, November 27, 2009

Daring Bakers Challenge – Cannoli


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.

As you know cannoli are fried, tube-shaped pastry shells filled with sweetened ricotta cheese, pastry cream, mousse, whipped cream, ice cream, etc. Fortunately, we were given great latitude in this challenge. I have never eaten cannoli and have never wanted to. I don’t own cannoli forms, I don’t fry, and I don’t eat soy cheese or creams. But I do love these challenges! So you won’t see beautiful little pastries in this post. No, I went with a baked, savory, stacked variation with the clever name (and so fun to say) Cannolipolean.

The only required element of this challenge was the dough. I love to make dough and this dough was fun to make. It had wine in it! I loved the smell of the wine as I was rolling out the dough and as it was baking. I made a one-fourth portion of the recipe, yielding a tiny little dough ball.



It rested overnight, then I rolled out four 5-inch rounds.


I popped them into mini tart pans to bake – they just happened to be the perfect size.


A baked version is not as crispy as the fried, but these little discs browned nicely and were very crispy.


For my Cannolipolean filling, I chose two of my favorite ingredients – mushrooms and broccoli. I sauteed them with onions, garlic, wine and lots of herbs.



This turned out to be a very nice dinner. It was tasty and just the right size. And so I’ve still never eaten a traditional cannoli pastry, but that’s okay. I have a new favorite word, “Cannolipolean”!!




24 comments:

Debra said...

It looks delicious!
Debra @ Vegan Family Style
ps please check out the cookbook giveaway on my blog!

Lovlie said...

Wow looks delicious! I love the new name Cannolipolean! Yum! I wanted to go for a savoury version too but then my sweet tooth drag me in the opposite direction! I must say the frying bit did freaked me out a little!

Hannah said...

Great idea, baking the shells as rounds! Combine that with the savory filling, and you've got yourself a real winner. :)

The Voracious Vegan said...

Scrumptious! This is such a great twist on the typical dessert cannoli. I love a savory twist!

Gina said...

What an ingenious way to turn around a dessert recipe, I love it!!

Jes said...

I love the savory twist!

urban vegan said...

Interesting twist on a traditional dessert. Happy long weekend!

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Ricki said...

I've never had a traditional cannoli either, but I think I like yours better anyway!

Mihl said...

What a creatvie interpretation of that challenge! Yay for cannolipoletarians.

River - The Crafty Kook said...

Genius! I love the name Cannolipolean! Too cute!

I bet yours was the most creative entry for this daring bakers challenge!

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

Oh, this is just awesome!

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Fantastic job on your cannoli! I love your dinner, it lools so good. Especially after all the rich food of Thanksgiving.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

A_and_N said...

I like the savory twist on the cannoli. Cool!

Oraphan said...

Wow! That looks wonderful! I'm so impressed with what you came up with = healthy and delicious. Way to go!

austin homes said...

Wow, that looks scrumptious. Can't wait to attempt this.

Jackie said...

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

They look great and must taste sooo good. You never fail to amaze me with your large range of different tasty dishes.

Lisa said...

I love your savory take on the cannoli. How can you go wrong with broccoli an mushrooms? Also glad your baked Cannollipoleon (love that moniker too) turned out nice and crispy! Thank you for baking withe me this month!

Gelareh @ Orange Truffle said...

Hi there,

First of all the bread that you baked looks really good. It is also good to find fellow texan blogger. I have a question for you... I am trying to eliminate gluten alergy and was wondering why you are gluten free. I just started reading about it and I want understand fully what being gluten free means.

Thanks

Judy's Nutrition said...

Wow what a creative spin on cannoli!

I personally LOVE cannoli (the 'real' Italian version, not the lame ones in grocery stores), and I occasionally fall off the vegan wagon just to have one! OOps :O

Judy's Nutrition said...

Wow what a creative spin on cannoli!

I personally LOVE cannoli (the 'real' Italian version, not the lame ones in grocery stores), and I occasionally fall off the vegan wagon just to have one! OOps :O

aTxVegn said...

Galareh - I am gluten free because I have an intolerance to gluten. This is different from a gluten allergy, which is also known as celiac disease. If I ingest gluten, it hurts my stomach but does not damage it as would occur with celiac disease.

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