Food represents culture, and in Azerbaijan, besides caviar, they love their sweets. So it made sense that the Four Seasons Baku’s acclaimed pastry chef, Suraj Karmakar, takes it next level. Chef Suraj’s desserts are a meal in themselves, so yes, you can skip dinner. Here’s his recipe for a cannoli, that is maybe the best dessert in the world. Or pretty darned close to it. It’s as much fun to make his creations as it is to eat them.
Next Level Dessert Talent
We didn’t know what to expect out of a trip to Baku, other than the quest to eat caviar. However, we did know that we would have a luxurious hotel (the Four Seasons Baku) and a city filled with culture and architecture. For example, Zaha Hadid’s last project, the stunning Zeydar Aliyev Center is in Baku, as are the famous Flame Towers. What we were surprised to learn though is that Baku is also a foodie destination. Where hotel cuisine is not always the top in a city, that’s not the case at the Four Seasons Baku. Their pastry chef creates the best dessert in the world. Actually let’s make that plural, with desserts. His desserts are molecular art, and they are a reason to to desserts for dinner.
CANNOLI DOUGH
Ingredients
Bread Flour – 1000 Gms
Sugar – 100 Gms
Salt – 8 Gms
Egg Yolk – 2 Nos.
Whole Eggs – 2 Nos.
White wine – 200 Gms
Marsala / Sweet wine – 60 Gms Soft butter – 80 Gms
Egg Yolk – 1 (to be used for egg wash)
Directions
- Mix the bread flour, sugar & salt together in dough machine with hook attachment.
- Add the egg yolk & whole eggs, little at a time.
- Then add marsala wine/sweet wine & white wine. Addition of wine makes the dough crispy and gives unique taste.
- Finally add in softened butter. Resultant dough will be of crumbly texture, which is absolutely fine.
- Keep the dough overnight in refrigerator for at least 8 – 10 hours. It is a secret tip that cannoli dough should always be made one day in advance.
- Roll the dough next day, as thin as possible. Then put it back in refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours to rest.
- Dock the dough (prick the sheeted dough) with a fork. Then cut them in round shapes/ desired shapes with cutter. Roll them around oiled cannoli tubes.
- Close the ends of round dough with egg yolk wash. Press the ends gently with a fork, so that the dough does not open while frying process.
- Next step is to fry them in hot oil (around 370 F) until golden brown in colour.
10. Let the cannoli shells cool at room temperature.
CANNOLI FILLING
Ingredients
1000 grams Grated hard ricotta cheese –
200 grams Crème Patisserie
200 grams Mixed candied fruit peel
1 Lemon peel
200 grams Chocolate chips
Directions
Mix all the ingredients together to prepare the cannoli filling.
GARNISH
Ingredients
Icing sugar / powdered sugar for dusting Chopped pistachio
Chocolate flakes
Orange segments
To Assemble:
The key to the best dessert in the world is to fill your cannolis right before you are ready to serve. This will keep the shells crisp, which is the secret to a good cannoli recipe. You can even have guests help you as a break from the table at the end of the meal.
- Pipe the fried cannoli tubes with the prepared filling.
- Dust with icing sugar/ powdered sugar.
- Decorate with chopped pistachio, chocolate flakes & orange segments.
