These gorgeous Sicilian sweets are perfect for a Saturday morning treat. They do require a little of your time but once you tuck in, you will be pleased you made the effort!


Cannoli Siciliani

Ingredients (makes 12 Cannoli):

1 tsp Freshly ground Caffe Ginevra coffee (why not keep it all Sicilian!)

250g Plain Flour

1 tsp Cocoa powder

1 Beaten Egg

Olive oil (to deep fry the Cannoli)

30g Softened Butter

Icing Sugar (to decorate the Cannoli)

60ml White Wine

25g Sugar

For the filling:

600g Ricotta

150g Icing Sugar

25g Chocolate chips

50g Finely chopped candied fruit

Method:

1. Prepare the filling by placing the icing sugar and the ricotta into a large bowl and whisk until smooth and creamy. Fold in the candied fruit and choc chips, then set aside.

2. Now for the pastry, in another large bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, Sicilian coffee, butter and sugar then mix well. Gradually add the white wine to the mixture to form a pastry dough. Form the pastry into a ball shape, wrap it in cling film and leave it for 1 hour.

3. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pastry to a thickness of roughly 3mm then cut circles from the dough that have a diameter of around 7.5cm. Then wrap the pastry around a metal cylinder shaped object (perhaps a little steel tubing from your local hardware shop or even something you have in the garage, as long as it''s clean!) securing the edges with the beaten egg.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large pan to 180 C. Fry the Cannoli until golden brown, drain on kitckell roll and slowly remove the cylinder moulds.

5. Leave to cool and then fill the cannoli with the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve. Delicious!

Recipe by Gennaro Contaldo.

 

Gelato al Limone

Perfect for summer weekends! This recipe is so simple and all you need to prepare is an ice crem maker and a bowl.

Ingredients (for 6 bowls of gelato):

Juice of 3 lemons and zest of half a lemon

160g of sugar 

1 pint of water

Method:

Add the lemon zest to the sugar and water together in a pan, then simmer for 10-12 minutes.

The mixture must then cool and now you introduce the lemon juice.

Add your gelato mix to your ice cream maker, following the instructions for sorbet (different ice cream makers may vary when it comes to timing).

Serve with fresh raspberries or even a thick cremy dollop of Caffè Ginevra Crema di Limone spread, scrumptious!



Watermelon granita

As we know, watermelon is very refreshing so when you make a granita with it you know your taste buds will be left tingling! Here is what you need.

Ingredients for 6 people:

2kg watermelon cut in to small cubes, seeds removed.

80ml water.

1/3 cup of sugar.

A little squeeze of lemon juice.

Method:

In a saucepan dissolve the sugar in the water to create a syrup, then turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

In the mean time you need to blitz the watermelon and lemon in a blender or food processor but do half at a time. Once the two are completely combined add the syrup and mix again. Once it is mixed, push the ingredients through a colander or similar strainer in to a glass dish which ideally should be 30 x 20 cm in size.

The mixture now needs to be frozen, every 25-30 minutes give it a stir until it needs to be scraped (as it starts to freeze). Repeat this process for 3-3 and a half hours, giving it one final scrape before serving - delicious!


Pistachio cookies

Pistachios are very popular on the island of Sicily and they grow in abundance. They are slightly different from pistachios grown in the middle east, their taste is said to be helped by the volcanic rock and they are even a different shape, normally a little longer.

We love pistachios and they taste great with coffee, these cookies are perfect with a cappuccino…

Ingredients for 20 – 25 cookies:

200g Pistachios – shelled but not salted.

50g Ground almonds

100g Granulated sugar

1.5 teaspoons of Honey

0.5 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of Lemon zest

1 egg white, large

65g Icing sugar


Method:

Preheat to oven to 180*C. In a food processor, pulse the ground almonds, pistachios (keep 25g for garnish) and half of the sugar measure until finely chopped (but not fully ground). Transfer to a large bowl and combine with the vanilla, lemon zest and honey. Add the whites and mix. Add the sugar and gently combine. (You might find it easier to use your hands.) Form into tablespoon-sized balls and roll in the powdered sugar to coat. Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment, leaving about a 3cm distance between each cookie. Press a pistachio into each cookie for garnish.


Bake 15-18 minutes until fragrant, crackled and golden brown. When cooled, transfer to an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.

Don't forget to dunk them!