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Cannoli III

"When in a hurry I buy my cannoli shells from an Italian Deli. I drain my ricotta in a strainer covered with cheese cloth so the filling holds up longer. Very tasty and you can add more chocolate chips or less depending on your preference."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 11,917 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

The recipe

12 cannnoli
Prep15 min
Cook45 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 flour, white sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

  2. Mix in the egg white and red wine, adding a little more wine if needed, until a firm dough forms. Knead briefly, wrap, and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

  3. Drain the ricotta in a fine sieve for 15 minutes. Beat it with the confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth, then fold in the chocolate chips and candied orange peel. Refrigerate.

  4. Roll the dough very thin on a floured surface and cut into 4 to 5 inch rounds. Wrap each round around a cannoli form or 1-inch dowel, sealing the edge with a dab of water.

  5. Heat the oil in a deep pot to 375°F (190°C). Fry the shells in batches for 1 to 2 minutes, turning once, until golden and blistered. Drain on paper towels and let cool.

  6. Once the shells are cool enough to handle, slide them off the forms. Fill each shell with the ricotta mixture just before serving so they stay crisp.

By allrecipes. 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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Nutmeg + ricotta cheesetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together128 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 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 vanilla

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg, red wine, ricotta cheese):

  1. Vanillathe original
  2. Lemonabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Figabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Blueberryabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg, red wine, ricotta cheese. 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).