Take the Cannoli: GF, RSF

Gluten Free (GF), Refined-Sugar-Free (RSF) Cannoli doesn’t sound like it should be very good.  But my little experiment last night with leftover ricotta cheese made me quite happy.

I started out by reviewing and converting some pizzelle recipes into gluten free form.  I have a cuisinart pizzelle iron, so that’s what I used to make the shells, rather than trying to fry shells on a cannoli tube.  I wrapped them around the handle of a thick wooden spoon & let them cool into little cannoli shells. These Italian cookies can be eaten flat, can be wrapped to make cannoli shells, or folded into a cone or bowl shape to hold ice cream.

Almond Pizzelle
Makes about 20

3/4 cup, + 2 TBSP Gluten Free Flour Mix (or use AP flour if gluten isn’t a problem)
1/4 cup almond meal (or any other nut ground very fine)
1 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1 egg white
3/8 cup sucanat (or white sugar if you aren’t RSF)
1/4 cup grapeseed oil or melted butter
1 1/2 tsp amaretto (or frangelico)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat pizzelle iron to medium darkness. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Ideally batter should ribbon easily off of a spoon, but mine was a little thicker than that and did fine. Place batter onto bottom half of iron by the spoonful (I needed about 1 1/2 TBSP) & cook according to machine directions, or until golden brown. Remove from the iron, place on a flexible hot pad & use it to bend the warm pizzelle around a dowel or thick handled wooden spoon. Let cool a couple of minutes until firm.

Chocolate Pizzelle
Makes about 20

3/4 cups gluten free flour blend (or use AP flour if gluten isn’t a problem)
1/8 cup (aka 2 TBSP) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 oz bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate shaved or chopped very fine
1 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1 egg white
1/2 cup sucanat (or 1/4 sucanat with 1/8 cup agave nectar, OR 1/2 cup white sugar)
1/4 cup grape seed oil OR melted butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat pizzelle iron to medium darkness. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Batter should ribbon easily off of a spoon. Place batter onto bottom half of iron by the spoonful (I needed about 1 1/2 TBSP) & cook according to machine directions, or until golden brown. Remove from the iron, place on a flexible hot pad & use it to bend the warm pizzelle around a dowel or thick handled wooden spoon. Let cool a couple of minutes until firm.

***NOTE*** For both varieties I used a mix of leftover flour blends I had from other recipes. Any GF combination will do, but make sure that there’s some xanthan gum in it. If not, add about 1/8 tsp or so.

Cannoli Filling
1 cup ricotta cheese
3/8 cup Agave Nectar (aka 1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP)
Inside scrapings of one vanilla bean

Optional:
Chopped marachino cherries, very well drained
Chopped chocolate
1/4 cup whipping cream, well whipped

Drain ricotta cheese, or squeeze in cheese cloth until nearly dry. Add agave nectar & combine until smooth. Cut down the length of a vanilla bean and gently scrape the insides into the cheese mixture & fold in. Add chopped cherries and/or chocolate to cheese mixture, if desired. Reserve some for garnish. For a lighter consistency, fold in the whipped cream. Place the mix in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, before piping into shells.

***NOTE*** If you use refined sugar in your food, then you can use the original version of this recipe.

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