Chocolate Cannoli

Recipe's preparation

Cannoli Shells

Place all ingredients into the Thermomix bowl.

Set to Closed Lid position ("Closed lid" ), Interval Speed "Dough mode" , 2 minutes.

Remove dough from Thermomix bowl, and lightly knead by hand to create a ball.

Doughshould be smooth and soft.

Wrap in plastic cling wrap, or place in a plastic zip-lock bag, and place in the refrigerator to rest for one hour.

Remove from plastic wrap, and cut dough into four equal pieces.

Working with one piece at a time, ensure the remainder of the dough is covered in the plastic while you work.

Flatten the piece of dough, and very lightly dust with a little extra plain flour if it feels sticky.

Feed through the widest setting of the pasta machine, rolling through, then folding and re-feeding.

Be sure to add a little extra flour between this step if the dough still feels damp or sticky.

Continue feeding the pasta sheet through the pasta machine, reducing the setting each time, until the sheet is approximately 2mm thick, or until the second last setting on the machine.

Note: You don't want it to be too thick at this stage, nor too thin and soft. Only feed the pasta through once each time - there's no need to fold over and re-feed at each setting.

Lay pasta sheets on a lightly floured surface, to ensure they don't stick.

Continue with the remainder of the dough balls, rolling out until all sheets are flat.

Cut out 9cm square pieces from the pasta sheets, and work with one piece at a time, keeping the remainder covered by a tea towel to prevent them from drying out.

Assemble the cannoli shells on the cannoli mould by holding the square sheet in your hand, and placing the mould diagonally from one corner to another.

Join the corners of the pastry around the cannoli mould, and lightly brush with eggwhite to hold in place, if required.

Heat the oil in the deep-fyer or a deep saucepan to 180C.

Tip: to test the oil is ready, drop a small piece of the pastry in to the oil. If it sizzles, bubbles and floats to the top, the oil is hot enough and ready.

Carefully drop the cannoli moulds in small batches (three to four at a time) inthe oil, turning to cover, until crisp and lightly coloured, for no more than 2-3 minutes.

Note: The cocoa can be deceiving, and it might be hard to tell if you've over-fried the cannoli. Keep a close eye on the shells, and ensure that once they've bubbled and floated they are consistently fried and not burnt.

Remove the cannoli from the oil and rest on a paper towel to cool.

Carefully remove the cannoli mould from the shell.

Your cannoli shells are now ready for filling!

Chocolate custard

Place the sugar, flour, cocoa and orange (if using) in the Thermomix bowl.

Set to Speed 9, 20 seconds.

Add the egg and milk.

Set to 90C, 7 minutes, Speed 4.

Once cooked, remove from Thermomix bowl and place in a bowl to cool.

Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming on the top.

Assemble Cannoli Shells

Carefully pipe the custard mixture in to the cannoli shells.

Dust cannoli shells with icing sugar, serve and ENJOY!