]]>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/1993Cinnamon Sticky Buns in a Jiffy!
https://kindnesskitchen.ca/cinnamon-sticky-buns/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cinnamon-sticky-buns
https://kindnesskitchen.ca/cinnamon-sticky-buns/#commentsTue, 16 May 2017 13:07:37 +0000http://kindnesskitchen.ca/?p=639You know how cinnamon buns can be super dry or boring or flavourless? You know how making cinnamon buns is a several-hour affair that means you have to get up at 4am to have them ready for breakfast? Yeah…. this recipe has none of those problems! If you like ooey-gooey sticky cinnamon buns and you […]
]]>You know how cinnamon buns can be super dry or boring or flavourless? You know how making cinnamon buns is a several-hour affair that means you have to get up at 4am to have them ready for breakfast? Yeah…. this recipe has none of those problems! If you like ooey-gooey sticky cinnamon buns and you want them NOW (well… in 30-40minutes from now), then this is the recipe for you! These Cinnamon Sticky Buns are vegan, delicious, and quick. By using a vegan biscuit dough you skip out on the time-consuming part of making yeasted doughs. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE traditional yeast dough cinnamon buns, but let’s face it – they aren’t always practical to make. By using a biscuit dough the buns are saved from getting too dried out because the dough retains moisture and keeps the whole thing feeling soft and pillowy.
Rivers of caramel….
For this recipe I used an adapted version of a biscuit dough. While the dough was resting, I quickly made up the “goo” for the bottom of the pan and then rolled out the dough, shaped the buns, and placed them in the pan. By the time everything was done, the oven was all heated up to 400’F. So basically, figure out how long it takes your oven to heat up to 400’F and then add about 15-20 mins for baking and that’s how long these take to make. Beauty!
I also want to say that for me, a cinnamon bun without goo is just a sad excuse for a treat and not worth eating. So, that’s why this recipe makes a lot of gooey caramel. If you prefer your buns [heaven forbid] less sticky or even [gasp] not sticky, then just reduce or omit the caramel (I can’t even believe I’m offering this advice….I’M SORRY MOM!)
¼cupcoconut oil or hard cold vegan margarine/butterSOLID - not melted!
1cupsoy milk
For the FILLING
Enough spreadable vegan margarineor melted vegan butter to spread over the surface of the rolled out dough
1/2cupbrown sugaror more, to taste
1tbspground cinnamonor more, to taste
For the CARAMEL GOO
1/4cupvegan butter
2/3cupbrown sugar
2tbspmaple syrup
1/4 - 1/2cupchopped pecansoptional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400'F
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Cut in the coconut oil/butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Gradually pour in the milk to make a soft ragged dough. Add more flour, 1 tbsp at a time, if the dough is too wet.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead a few times. Let rest for 5-10 mins while you make your caramel.
In a small saucepan over medium-low combine the butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Stir until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.
Pour the caramel into the bottom of a 9" round cake pan. Sprinkle with the pecans. Set aside.
Now, return to the dough and roll it out into a large rectangle (about 9"x13"). The dough is sticky and elastic but it will roll out. Use flour to keep from sticking to the counter and the rolling pin.
Once rolled out, spread with margarine/butter and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.
Roll up, tightly, jelly roll style from a long side.
Using a serrated knife, cut the roll into 1.5" slices.
Arrange the slices, cut side down, in the prepared pan on top of the caramel.
Place the pan on a cookie sheet to protect from sugar bubbling over.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the sugar is bubbly and the tops of the buns are golden.
Remove from the oven and let stand for not more than 1 minute.
Carefully invert the pan on parchment paper over a heat-proof surface (these are VERY hot).
Cool and serve!
Remember, if you make this recipe – please rate it and comment below! Thanks!