Vegan Cannoli

Pop the flour, Cocoa Powder and caster sugar into a large bowl and whisk together to combine. In a separate bowl combine the oil, red wine vinegar, Vanilla Extract and water. Pour into the dry mixture and mix together until it forms a soft sticky dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface or in a mixer fitted with a dough hook for a couple of minutes until you have a smooth dough. 

Wrap in clingfim and pop in the fridge to rest for 4 hours or ideally overnight. 

Once the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and roll out to a thickness approx. 2mm, on a surface dusted with flour. Cut your dough out into circles using a large circle cutter approx. 10cm. 

Wrap your circle of dough around a cannoli mould and brush a small amount of water on the join where the edge of the circle meets to secure in place and stop the cannoli opening up as it fries. It helps to gently roll the cannoli mould on the surface once the dough is wrapped around this helps secure it is place. - You may need to do this step multiple times depending on how many cannoli moulds you have. 

Heat a large pan with oil, make sure there is enough oil to cover a cannoli. You need the oil to be around 180-200°C, if you do not have a thermometer pop a cannoli in the hot oil and once it reaches temperature it will begin to bubble and rise to the surface. Alternatively you can use a deep fat fryer if you have one.

Once your oil is hot enough using a pair of tongs pop a cannoli in the oil and allow to fry for 1-2 minutes until it is golden brown and bubbled up, you will need to turn it over half way through frying using your tongs to ensure if cooks evenly on both sides. Be really careful frying your cannoli as the oil is really hot and can splatter. Try and keep your oil around 180-200°C when frying otherwise your cannoli will burn, turn down the heat if your oil is getting too hot. 

Once your cannoli is fried pop onto a cooling rack with some kitchen roll under the rack to allow any excess oil to drip off. Fry one cannoli at a time and once they are cool enough remove the cannoli mould from the fried cannoli, it’s easiest to do this whilst the cannoli is still warm and gently squeeze the mould and slide out. 

Once all your cannoli is fried and cooled, it’s time to dip them in chocolate! Melt your Chocolate in the microwave in 20 second bursts stirring between each burst until it’s melted. Dip each end of a cannoli in the chocolate and sprinkle over the chopped pistachios. Pop on a tray lined with greaseproof and allow the chocolate to set. Repeat for each cannoli and once they’re all set, pop in an airtight container and they will keep for a about a week. 

Fill your cannoli when you’re ready to serve to keep the shells lovely and crispy. To make the filling pop the; remove the can of coconut milk from the fridge and open. Take the cream that has separated from the liquid and place in a bowl. Whisk the coconut cream using a hand whisk for a few minutes and it will start to thicken and form soft peaks. Once soft peaks start to form add the icing sugar and Vanilla Bean Paste and whisk into the cream. Cover the bowl of cream and place in the fridge until you are ready to use, it will firm up in the fridge. 

Pop your cream in a piping bag and cut a 1cm hole in the end of the piping bag. Pipe the cream into your cannoli shells. Sprinkle some orange zest over your cannoli or mix the zest into your cream for a citrus flavour filling. You’re now ready to serve your vegan cannoli, enjoy!