New Jersey - Cannoli (Cake)

50 weeks, 50 states, 50 desserts 

Okay, so I'm a little bit behind.  I made last week's dessert on MLK day, but I was traveling and didn't have time to post it.

New Jersey - The Garden State

State #3

December 17, 1787

The third state is New Jersey, having ratified the U.S. Constitution on December 18, 1787.  New Jersey doesn't have any official state desserts, although blueberries are the state fruit and Jersey Tomato the state vegetable (even though tomato is a fruit).  Everything else I know about New Jersey, I learned from popular TV shows, and those show taught me that there are a lot of Italians in New Jersey.  Therefore, I have chosen the cannoli, which is from the Sicily region of Italy, as the dessert for New Jersey.  

While making this I was reminded of my #1 rule for amateurs like myself - Don't try to improvise, don't try to make your own ingredient substitutes, just follow the recipe - exactly as it is written. 
Understand this, real cannoli are hard to make, and they require some special tools.  When I found all that out, I went for the cake version of the cannoli.  The cake isn't fried like cannoli is supposed to be, so maybe I cheated some.  But this dessert turned out edible enough.  And the Chocolate Glaze is so good, it has become my new fondue chocolate.   There are a lot of different parts to this one, but in the end it turned out to be a nice, gooey mess.  This cake is supposed to have three cake layers and two layers of cannoli filling.  I made mine with two cake layers and one layer of filling (just follow the recipe).  

Cannoli Cake Recipe:

Sponge Cake
1 cup cake flour
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

 Syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar3 tablespoon water
1/4 cup rum

Cannoli Filling
3 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 ounce semisweet chocolate, finely chopped or grated
1 tablespoon grated orange zest

Chocolate Glaze
1 cup(s) heavy cream
3 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter
2 tablespoon(s) light corn syrup
8 ounce(s) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup(s) chopped unsalted pistachios

Directions:Heat oven to 350F.  Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
I don't have a springform pan, I just used two 9-inch round cake pans. 
Line bottom of pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper.  Spoon cake flour into a fine-mesh sieve and set aside. 
I also didn't have cake flour - I read that, as a replacement for cake flour, you can use regular flour minus two tablespoons of the regular flour, plus two tablespoons of corn starch.  This is what I used and my cakes were very heavy and dense, so this is not a good substitute for cake flour.  This is the first time today that I was reminded of my rule. 

In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tartar (<-- didn't have it, some places say you don't need it) on medium speed until very foamy.  Gradually beat in 1/2 cup of the sugar.  Raise mixer to high speed and continue to beat until stiff yet billowy peaks form; transfer whites to a large mixing bowl.

I never got stiff, billowy peaks... maybe cream of tarter is needed after all.  Remember the rule.

Add yolks to bowl of mixer (no need to wash) with remaining 1/2 cup sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt and beat on high 3 minutes or until thick, light in color, and fluffy.
Scrape yolk mixture onto whites; sift 1/3 of the flour over bowl and fold in. 

I actually had a sieve, no idea where that came from.

Sift in remaining flour, in 2 additions, folding after each addition, until incorporated. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth top. 

Bake 30 minutes or until top of cake is golden and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven; run a knife around sides of cake to loosen. Remove pan sides and invert cake onto a wire rack; peel off parchment. Cool cake completely. 

See how thin, dense and hockey puck like these turned out?  This is what happens when you don't use cake flour. 

Rum syrup: While cake is baking, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in rum.
I didn't have any rum on hand and couldn't run to the store, so I used root beer instead.  It didn't taste too bad like that.  

Cannoli Filling: With a rubber spatula, press and scrape ricotta through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Stir in sugar, chocolate, and zest. 
Don't go overboard with the zest.  Less is more.  I tried pressing the ricotta through the sieve... ain't nobody got time for that.  That was taking all day, so instead I dumped all these ingredients in the food ninja and gave it a few spins.  

To assemble: With a long serrated knife, cut cake horizontally into three layers. 
Remember I only did two layers instead of three.
Cover cake plate with 4 strips of waxed paper. Place one layer on bottom of cake plate; brush with rum syrup. 

All nice and shiny and sticky when the syrup is on it.

Spoon half of the filling over the layer and spread evenly. Top with another layer, brushing with syrup and spreading with remaining filling. Brush cut side of remaining cake layer with syrup, then place on top, cut side down. Brush outside of cake with any remaining rum syrup. 

Since I cheated and only did two layers of cake instead of three, that meant I had twice as much filling as a normal layer should have.  I should of only used half of the filling but I didn't think of that until much later.  My filling layer was spilling out everywhere and extra gooey because it was twice as big as it should have been.

Now for the good part-----Chocolate glaze: Heat cream, butter, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan until simmering; remove from heat and add chocolate. 

Deliciousness beginning to form.

Let stand 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. 

Look at that!!

Pour glaze into a glass measuring cup and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. Try your best not to snack on it during this time.   Spread glaze over top and sides of cake. 

Okay, that doesn't look too bad!

Press chopped pistachios into glaze on sides of cake (skipped that part).  Refrigerate until glaze sets. Carefully remove waxed paper strips from under cake.  Enjoy!

See, a gooey, sticky mess.  It ended up tasting decent enough.  Mine had too much zest, the cakes were too firm, and the ricotta was a little sandy because I didn't press it through the sieve, but overall, for a fake cannoli, it wasn't that bad.  And the Chocolate glaze makes up for it. 

You can find the real recipe on delish.com