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Gluten-Free Cannoli Shells

I love cannoli but had never made my own shells when I was eating wheat. So it is not a huge surprise that I didn’t rush to make them without wheat. But gosh darn it I love me a cannoli. And these turned out great!

By tastykitchen · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and arrowroot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 499 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 10
Prep1 hr 20 min
Cook20 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Whisk the sweet sorghum flour, cornstarch, arrowroot, potato flour, sugar, cinnamon and xanthan gum together in a large bowl.

  2. Melt the unsalted butter, then work it into the dry mixture with your fingertips until it looks sandy.

  3. Whisk the whole egg, honey, skim milk and white wine together, pour into the flour mixture and knead into a smooth dough. If too dry, add a splash of water.

  4. Wrap the dough and rest it at room temperature for 60 minutes.

  5. Roll the dough thin on a lightly floured surface and cut it into rounds about 4 inches (10 cm) wide.

  6. Wrap each round around a cannoli form, overlapping the edges, and seal the seam with a little of the beaten egg.

  7. Heat the canola oil in a deep pan to 375°F (190°C).

  8. Fry the shells one or two at a time for 1 to 2 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp.

  9. Drain the shells on paper towels, cool slightly, then slide them off the forms once firm enough to hold their shape.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Flour + arrowroottop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together499 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + white winetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,039 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Sorghum + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together45 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  4. Sorghum + flourtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together98 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together30,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sorghum, flour, arrowroot, butter, sugar, cinnamon, white wine):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Shallotabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Beetrootabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against sorghum, flour, arrowroot, butter, sugar, cinnamon, white wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).