Trying to make a fancy, authentic cannoli dough is a waste of time. I could make standard pie crust more easily and sprinkle the shells with sugar and cinnamon when they come out of the fryer. (That's the next experiment.)
My usual clumsiness with pastry shows. I couldn't get my dough thin enough, and it puffed up considerably in the oil, which means it wasn't light and flaky like it should be.
All that said, the taste was good. And my secret cannoli pipes worked like a charm (couldn't find tubes to form the shells around, but I did find food-grade copper pipe segments in the hardware store -- score!).
More work is needed for our secret dessert for next Sunday. I've got to get these shells figured out, and then I've still got a move or two to try out on the pastry cream that goes in them.
"Such predicaments. I must forge ahead."
