Sicilian cannoli, along with Sicilian cassata, are the most representative cake of our island, and is typical of the Carnival because it seems it was made as a joke.However, like all our greedy dishes, even this simple but fantastic cake is eaten throughout the year and at any time. It is always a pleasure to bite this particular crispy pastry stuffed with fresh ricotta cream.
Crumbly and creaky cannoli are made throughout Sicily and, thanks to the skill of our pastry chefs, are different from place to place in the decorations. For example, in Palermo, at the ends of cannolo normally they use to lay two beautiful candied cherries and on the top a slice of candied orange peel, while in eastern Sicily the minced Bronte’s pistachios dominate the scene. Anyway the ricotta cream is the ingredient that can’t change, and it must strictly be really fresh sheep’s ricotta.
It is a delicacy so dear to the Sicilians, that in Piana degli Albanesi near Palermo, they honor it with the “Festival of Cannolo.” Here, besides the parade of carnival carts (which takes place every year from 13 January to 10 February), you can taste cannoli of all sizes, from the little cannoli to the really big ones that make it even more joyful and cheerful the carnival atmosphere, but above all they delight mind and palate.
