]]>Ok, so I posted my Vegan Ricotta recipe late last week on a whim, it was a bonus post for the week. My feed EXPLODED with positive feedback, including many of you asking if I had managed to make a sweet ricotta for vegan cannoli yet. As you can imagine, I spent the better part of the next two days experimenting and fiddling around with the ricotta and cannoli recipes. Just so you know, I’ve NAILED it! My hubby says you can’t even tell the difference between my vegan cannoli filling and the traditional stuff.
These are sweet and creamy in a crisp shell that has the right amount of crunch that you want from a good quality cannoli. If you have been hankering a cannoli, these will definitely satisfy the craving! If you prefer pistachios or dried fruit in your cannoli, feel free to swap out the chocolate for your desired addition. This is really a blank slate base from which to build your favourite sweet Italian flavours! Please enjoy
So, as you know if you’ve been reading my blog, we moved across the country a few months ago and apparently I lost my cannoli tubes/molds in the move. Not one to be dissuaded from a challenge, I decided to see if I could BAKE the cannoli pastry in mini tarts and it worked! FYI: If you prefer to deep fry your cannolis with the tubes, this recipe is the very same. Just form them as you normally would and deep fry (I’ll include the instructions for both methods in the recipe below).
I’ve updated the ricotta recipe here so just use the “sweet” option when making the ricotta and then carry on with this recipe to turn the “sweet” ricotta into vegan cannoli filling.
The pastry is a simple pastry, akin to any pie crust. What gives cannoli shells their distinctive flavour is a bit of wine in the batter. If you don’t have wine or don’t want to use wine, you can simply use cold water. However, if you are able to use the wine I strongly advise doing so, it helps raise the cannoli-ness of the treat. Also, the traditional recipe for cannoli shells includes the use of one egg. I used 1 egg’s worth of Ener G egg replacer and it worked well. I suspect you could use a flax egg (I did not because I didn’t want the flax flecks in my crust) or possibly even omit the egg altogether.
To make the vegan cannoli crust:
Amass all your ingredients: Flour, shortening, sugar, cinnamon, wine, egg replacer
Cut the shortening into the flour until pea sized crumbs
Stir in the sugar and cinnamon
Gradually, 1 tablespoon at a time, mix in the wine
Mix in the egg replacer and enough more wine (1 tbsp at a time) to form a ragged dough
Form the dough into a ball and chill for 1-2 hours
After the dough has chilled, roll it out very thin (about 1/8th of an inch). If baking, cut out with 1.5-2″ round cutter for mini tarts. Dock each round with a fork to keep it from puffing during baking. (Frying instructions will appear in the recipe below)
Press into your mini muffin tin and bake at 350’F for 14-18 minutes (this will depend a bit on how thin you rolled out your dough) until just golden and quite crisp. Remove to a rack and let cool completely.
For the vegan cannoli filling:
Add sweet vegan ricotta, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a medium bowl.
Beat well with beaters and fold in the chocolate chips. Store in the fridge, this will thicken as it is chilled. If you are concerned about excess lumps you can press this through a fine mesh sieve.
To assemble the vegan cannoli:
Simply pipe or spoon filling into the baked and cooled tart shells and promptly devour! Bear in mind, fill the shells RIGHT before you are going to eat them otherwise the shells will get soggy. If you are frying the cannoli tubes, simply pipe the filling to the centre from each end.
]]>https://kindnesskitchen.ca/vegan-cannoli/feed/1993No-Fail Focaccia Bread!
https://kindnesskitchen.ca/no-fail-focaccia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-fail-focaccia
https://kindnesskitchen.ca/no-fail-focaccia/#commentsMon, 29 May 2017 12:56:50 +0000http://kindnesskitchen.ca/?p=676You know what I love? I love warm, pillowy, homemade bread! I love it even more when it has a crispy crust and is spongy and sturdy enough to take on being dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Even better if making it only takes me about 5 minutes of hands-on work and about […]
]]>You know what I love? I love warm, pillowy, homemade bread! I love it even more when it has a crispy crust and is spongy and sturdy enough to take on being dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Even better if making it only takes me about 5 minutes of hands-on work and about 90 minutes of waiting! This No-Fail Focaccia is the thing that dreams are made of! It is perfect alongside a pasta dish, as a vessel for a gourmet sandwich, or just to munch on its own.
This recipe is a really easy recipe that is incredibly forgiving and has lots of room for modification. I know that many people are intimidated by baking bread. If that’s you, then this is the recipe for you – you seriously can’t screw this up! It’s so easy and so flexible. That’s why I call it No-Fail Focaccia!
All you do is throw all your dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer,
Mix the dough for 1 minute on high and then press the STICKY dough (it will be sticky, that’s OK!) into the pan. It probably won’t fill the pan because it will spring back. That’s ok.
Let the dough rise for an hour (or a bit more, like I did… whoops! That’s why it kind of looks ratty where the dough was stuck to the saran wrap, but it doesn’t matter)
See those little bubbles? Those are the air pockets that are going to make your bread spongy and airy! Beautiful!
Poke the dough all over with your finger or the end of a wooden spoon. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with desired toppings (I used sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and Italian seasoning).
Bake for 30 minutes or until it’s golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and serve it up! Easy peasy!
I have lots of ideas rattling around in my head for modifications. FYI, I have made this before in two 8x8s and in two 9″ cake pans, so yes – you can divide it in two to make two different flavours. I am thinking of trying a Greek-style with kalamata olives pressed in the top and sprinkled with oregano and maybe some lemon zest. I have done it pizza-style with pizza sauce and cheese on top (that was a HUGE win in our house). The sky really is the limit here.
With this base recipe, you’ll be very impressed with the texture of the bread. Because of the olive oil in the bottom of the pan, the crust is “buttery” and crispy. The bread itself is the perfect firmness while being spongy and chewy. It makes for a killer sandwich too!
This easy bread requires just 5 minutes of hands-on work, 60 minutes to rise, and 30 minutes in the oven!
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
rising 1 hourhour
Total Time 1 hourhour35 minutesminutes
Servings 16square slices
Calories 143kcal
Ingredients
3 1/2cupsall purpose flour
1tbspinstant yeast
1tspsalt
3tbspolive oil
1 1/2cupswarm water
Extra olive oil for the pan and drizzling on the top.
Seasonings of choice for sprinklingsee note
Instructions
Grease a 13x9 pan and pour some olive oil (about 2 tbsp) into the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
Add the flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, and warm water the the bowl of a stand mixer.
Mix on high for 1 minute.
Press the dough into the pan. The dough will be very sticky, that's OK. If it doesn't press all the way to the edges, that's OK too.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise somewhere warm for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375'F
After 1 hour the dough should have risen to double (or more) of its original size. Remove the covering and poke the dough all over with your finger or the end of a wooden spoon.
Drizzle the top with olive oil and sprinkle with your choice of seasonings.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and the bread sounds hollow when it's tapped.
Notes
Use your imagination to decide on toppings. -A classic is Italian seasoning blend, sea salt, and pepper.
Just look at that beautiful crust! YUM!
If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below! Thanks