I'll bring the cannoli

 I'm sharing a small dessert table I put together for cannoli I made for a dinner party we attended this past Saturday evening. I hope you enjoy the visit!

Our friends decided on an Italian menu, which included Pepper, Sausage and Meatball rolls, Caponata appetizer, Cheese plate, Homemade Fettucine/Bolonaise Sauce, Meatballs, Sausage, Braciola, Dessert, Black Coffee and Cordials. I chose to make cannoli. Who can resist a cannoli! The hostess' mother and sister made Pizelle and "Pusties", officially called pasticciotti, an Italian custard-filled tart. Espresso and cordials were served with dessert. We did not leave hungry ;o)

 

Sharing some history about cannoli - With the Arab introduction of sugar into Sicily in the 9th century, the cooking style of this three sided island changed forever. Ricotta had long been an essential part of the Sicilian cuisine as well as pine nuts and currants. Resourceful Sicilians added the neutral sweetness of sugar to these sample foods, wrapped them in a fried but delictate pastry "tube" and hence the birth of cannoli.

Originally enjoyed by Sicilians only at Carnival time, word spread quickly of their goodness. The wonderful legacy of this Sicilian invention now enjoys worldwide popularity.

There are many, many recipes for cannoli. Some sweet, some not so sweet. For the filling, the traditional ingredients are ricotta cheese, confectioner's sugar, ground cinnamon, finely chopped candied orange or lemon, and finely chopped chocolate. I usually omit the candied citrus and the chocolate. You can top ends of filled cannoli with your choice of decorations if you like. I used some chopped pistachio nuts. If you prefer, you can use Mascarpone instead of ricotta for the filling. When I serve cannoli to children, I use colored sprinkles on the ends. 

I am fortunate enough to live near Italian specialty stores and they stock the shells so I just made the filling this time. I do have the forms, and they work very well but I was short on time. Some prefer to use a pasta maker so the cannoli dough is the correct thickness.

I used Sicilian style hand rolled cannoli shells, and they are excellent. When we were in New York City recently, I sampled cannoli, and these hand rolled shells taste very similar.

I dipped the tips of the cannoli into melted dark chocolate and piped the filling with my favorite gadget from Tupperware. 

Keeping with the Italy theme, I set up my dessert table with a Capodimonte pitcher that my mother purchased from QVC several years ago. When we were teenagers, my mom was a Capodimonte "collector". She always ordered it from QVC, and had a beautiful display in our home. However, she tired of it, so it has a new home. I was in a pink mood, so I brought out the pink depression glass plates in the Adam pattern made by the Jeannette Glass Company from 1932 to 1934. 

The vintage tablecloth was passed along to me when my mother and husband were clearing the contents from a relative's home in order to sell the home.  The buffet in the home was filled with vintage table linens, and I am like a kid looking through the plastic bin that I keep them in ;o)  The cloths are square which don't fit my dining room table, so I plan to use them for garden parties.

A close up shot of the beautiful cloth. I love the subtle sheen in the grid pattern.

I am joining Susan at BNOTP for Tablescape Thursday,
and Foodie Friday with Gollum.

Thank you for your visit!  I love reading your comments. 

Debbie