Cannoli with a Lemon Cream and Pistachio Filling

For the filling:

• In a mixer, add all of the ingredients for the filling, apart from the lemon, zest and pistachio nuts.
• Beat with the whisk attachment, until the mixture becomes light and fluffy and the sugar dissolves completely.
• Place a pan over low heat. Toast the pistachio nuts. As soon as it turns golden, remove from heat and set aside to cool. Crush into small pieces in a pestle and mortar.
• To the filling, add the zest and lemon juice and beat to combine. You should add lemon when your filling is almost complete because it helps thicken the mixture.
• Add the toasted pistachio nuts and beat a few seconds longer to distribute.
• Fill a piping tube with the filling. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight. Overnight is better if you have the time.

For the cannoli dough:

• Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda in a bowl. Add the melted butter, mavrodafne wine, 1 egg yolk, water, zest and mix with your hand. Add another spoonful of water, if needed.
• The dough will come out stiff and thick. Wrap it in plastic wrap and set it aside for 30 minutes at room temperature. Dust a working surface with flour. Cut a piece of dough and roll it out a little to help it fit through a pasta machine. Dust the pasta machine with flour and start to feed the dough into the pasta machine from the thickest part. Pass the sheet of dough through the pasta machine 1-2 times, until it starts to come together. Continue by passing the dough 3-4 times on each level, until you get to the lowest level and the sheet of dough is as thin as possible. When ready, dust some more flour onto a working surface. Spread dough out over it and use a 10-12 cm round cookie cutter to cut out dough.
• When ready, dust each circle with some flour. Stack one on top of the other and cover with a towel so the dough won’t dry out.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a pan to fry the cannoli.
• Tear off 4 sheets of aluminum foil. Fold each one in half to make it thicker and roll it into a roll. Use a pair of scissors to make little cuts on the ends of each aluminum roll. Tuck in ends to create 4 small cylinders.
• Brush the edges of a circle of dough and roll it around the aluminum cylinder. When it is rolled all the way around, press the edges together to seal.
• Fry each cylinder wrapped in dough for ½ a minute over medium heat. Careful not to let the dough burn. Use a pair of tongs to turn them until they are golden all over.
• Remove from pan and place them on a plate lined with paper towels. Allow them to cool and excess oil to drain.
• Remove the aluminum cylinders from the cannoli and repeat the same process with the remaining dough. Fry them in the same manner.
• When all of the dough has been made into cannoli and the filling has cooled, start to pipe the filling into each cannoli from both sides. Dip each end into a bowl full of chopped pistachio nuts.