Go to Google and type in "cannoli". They have a whole lot of sites with recipes and also places where cannoli can be bought.

Here is a link that might be useful: Italian recipes

Gail, we are lucky enough to live near several Italian bakeries here in New York, and we buy their cannolis on a regular basis. I'll look through my local cookbooks and see if I can find a recipe for you.

I don't really have a filling recipe; I drain ricotta cheese so it's a bit firmer, then stir in whatever I have on hand; nuts, fruit, chocolate chips and cocoa. (The mini-chips are best.) Citron is traditional, but I never liked citron. I used to make my own cannoli shells, but then I got lazy! Now I just buy a dozen and fix one or two per diner per dinner. But here's the recipe I used to use for the shells:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening
2 eggs
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons cold water
1 egg white
1/4 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts for decoration
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration
1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Sift together 3 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until pieces are the size of small peas. Stir in 2 beaten eggs. Blend in the white vinegar and the cold water one tablespoon at a time.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Wrap in waxed paper and chill in refrigerator for half an hour.

I roll the dough thru the pastry machine until it's about 1/8" thick. Cut out ovals of dough, and wrap them around the cannoli tubes, overlapping a bit to make a tube. (The first time I made these, I cut rectangles rather than ovals. Boy, were those hard to stuff!) Seal edges with a quick sweep of slightly beaten egg white.

Heat 2-3inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees and fry an uncrowded layer of cannoli for about 8 minutes, until golden brown. Take the cannolis out and let them drain on a rack for a few minutes. Slip the forms out and let the shells cool completely. Makes about 18 cannolis

Gail, I made cannolis last evening and this filling is a winner. The recipe I have for the shells is very similar to the one posted by Alison. I used store bought shells since I was in a hurry.

Here's the filling:

1 1/2 pounds Ricotta cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Whip all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Fold in any of the following ingredients to suit your taste...chopped fruit peel (orange or lemon), mini chocolate chips or grated semi-sweet chocolate, minced pistachio nuts, cocoa powder, or different colored sprinkles. Adding any of these ingredients will create a completely different-flavored cannoli.

Chill the filling, then place it in a large pasty bag. Fill the cannoli shells, smoothing out the ends. Sprinkle them with confectioners' sugar and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note: I added mini chocolate chips to the filling which is what most of the bakeries in our area do.

Cannoli Alla Siciliana

shells:
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon shortening
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup wine, marsala, burgundy, or chablis
1 vegetable oil

filling:
3 cup ricotta
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon
1/2 square unsweetened chocolate, grated or:
1/2 tsp. cocoa -- (both optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoon citron peel -- chopped
3 tablespoon orange peel -- candied,chopped
6 glace cherries -- cut up

SHELLS: Combine flour, shortening, sugar and salt, and wetting gradually with wine, knead together with fingers until rather hard dough or paste is formed. Form into ball, cover with cloth and let stand about 1 hour. Cut dough in half and roll half of dough into a thin sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 4 inch squares. Place a metal tube diagonally across each square from one point to another, wrapping dough around tube by overlapping the two points and sealing overlapping points with a little egg white. Meanwhile heat vegetable oil in large deep pan for deep frying. Drop one or two tubes at a time into hot oil. Fry gently until dough is a golden brown color. Remove from pan, let cool and gently remove shell from metal tube. Set shells aside to cool. Repeat procedure until all shells are made.

FILLING: Drain ricotta cheese in a sieve before using. Mix ricotta thoroughly with sifted dry ingredients. Add vanilla and fruit peel. Mix and blend well. (A little grated pistachio may be added if desired). Chil lin refrigerator before filling shells. Fill cold cannoli shells; smooth filling evenly at each end of shell. Decorate each end with a piece of glace cherry and sprinkle shells with confectioners sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve. These are best if they are filled just before your company arrives.

Cuisine: "Italian"
Source: "Polly-O Cooking with Cheese Recipe Book"

NOTES : To make cannoli shells it is necessary to have 3 or 4 metal tubes, preferably made from very light tin, about 7-inches long and 1 1/8 inches in diameter.

Thanks so much for the recipes. I can't wait to try them. The ones from the bakery in NY were so good; I hope I can reproduce them.

Thanks again.
Gail