Vegan Cannoli
Try your hand at making these delightfully sweet vegan cannoli with this simple recipe. Filled with a sweet creamy filling, the freeze-dried raspberries and pistachios provide a little burst of flavour into the mix.
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This classic Italian sweet treat is traditionally fried on a cannoli tube mould, but our vegan cannoli uses a brandy snap as a shell, meaning they are easier to make, and use less oil.
What is a cannoli?
Cannoli are traditional Italian pastries.
The outer part is a tube shaped shell (a similar shape to the pasta by a similar name, cannelloni) and the inside is filled with a creamy filling.
Originally, the mixture would contain ricotta, an Italian cheese. Here, we’re of course making things vegan. So, we’ve simply paired coconut milk and icing sugar, which is then whipped together and dressed with pistachios and raspberry pieces.
These toppings give the sweet dessert a nutty taste which is perfectly balanced out by the frutiness of the raspberry pieces.
In Italy, they are often known by the name ‘cannoli siciliani’ – a tribute to their place of origin in the heart of Sicily.
What is a brandy snap?
Brandy snaps are tube shaped biscuits and are a popular dessert in the UK.
Their shape means that they are very similar to cannoli when they’re filled with whipped cream as they often are, so the shell is a perfect alternative for someone that doesn’t have access to a cannoli tube mould.
Where can I find dairy free butter?
Many vegan brands have a dairy free butter that is perfect for baking or making pastries with. A few good brands include Violife, The Nutcrafter Creamery and Miyoko’s Kitchen.
Vegan butter is not the same as a vegan margarine. Vegan butter has a much firmer texture that replicates dairy butter well.
This dense structure is important as it is what will hold the brandy snap shell together.
Dairy-free butters also contain more saturated fat from the vegetable oils that they are made with.
This might sound like something you want to avoid, but this is actually a vital quality that will help the mixture to become thicker, which is the consistency you need for a pastry dish.