Cannoli are Italian-American crisp fried pastry shells filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and chocolate chips, dusted with powdered sugar.

Cannoli reached Milwaukee with the Sicilian immigrant population in the late 1800s and early 1900s, who settled the Brady Street neighborhood. Peter Sciortino opened his bakery on East Brady Street in 1948; his ricotta-filled cannoli became the canonical Milwaukee version. Festa Italiana on the lakefront each July features dozens of cannoli vendors. The Milwaukee cannoli uses fresh whole-milk ricotta and includes mini chocolate chips and citrus zest in the filling.

Where to eat Italian-American cannoli in Milwaukee

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Make it at home

Serves 122 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 200g all-purpose flour
  • 30g sugar
  • 0.5 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 60ml dry white wine or Marsala
  • 1 egg white for sealing
  • Neutral oil for deep frying
  • 500g whole-milk ricotta, drained overnight
  • 100g powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
  • 50g mini chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Zest of 1 lemon

Method

  1. Mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a fork until pea-sized.
  2. Add the egg yolk and wine; mix to form a stiff dough. Knead 5 minutes until smooth.
  3. Wrap and rest 1 hour at room temperature.
  4. Roll dough out very thin, about 2mm thick. Cut into 4-inch ovals.
  5. Wrap each oval around a metal cannoli tube, sealing the edges with egg white.
  6. Heat oil to 360F. Fry the tubes 2 to 3 at a time for 60 to 90 seconds until golden and crisp.
  7. Drain on paper towels and let cool. Carefully remove the metal tubes.
  8. In a bowl, beat the drained ricotta with powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  9. Just before serving, pipe the ricotta filling into both ends of each shell. Dust generously with powdered sugar.
  10. Serve immediately; cannoli go soggy if filled too far ahead.

Editor tip. Drain the ricotta in cheesecloth overnight; the filling will be too wet otherwise. Fill the cannoli only at the moment of serving; never fill and refrigerate, the shells go soft.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs.