Cannoli with Vanilla Custard

Ingredients

• 12 San Remo instant dried cannelloni tubes
• Vegetable oil, to deep-fry
• Icing sugar, to serve

• Cannoli dough

• 270g (1 3/4 cups) plain flour
• 45g (1/4 cup) icing sugar
• 50g unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 tbs marsala

• Vanilla custard

• 1L (4 cups) milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 215g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 105g (3/4 cup) cornflour
• 60g unsalted butter, chopped

Method

1. To make the cannoli dough, process flour, sugar and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg, egg yolk and marsala. Process until mixture just starts to come together. Turn onto a clean lightly floured surface. Knead until just smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.
2. Meanwhile, to make vanilla custard, bring milk almost to boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Use an electric beater to beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until pale and creamy. Stir the cornflour into vanilla mixture. Whisk in milk. Transfer milk mixture to a clean saucepan. Whisk over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until mixture boils. Reduce heat to low. Whisk for 3 minutes or until custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Stir in butter. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl. Cool slightly. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
3. Divide dough into 2 portions. Cover 1 portion and place in fridge. Use a rolling pin to roll remaining dough until 2mm thick. Cut dough into 9cm squares. Wrap each square of dough around a cannelloni tube so opposite corners overlap. Brush overlapping corners with egg white to seal (do not get any egg white on cannelloni or the dough will stick).
4. Add enough oil to a saucepan to reach a depth of 8cm. Heat to 180°C over medium-high heat (when the oil is ready, a cube of bread will turn golden brown in 15 seconds). Deep-fry half the tubes for 2-3 minutes or until lightly golden. Use tongs to transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Cool slightly. Remove cannoli shells from cannelloni tubes. Discard tubes. Deep-fry cannoli shells for a further 1 minute or until golden brown. Transfer to the plate to cool. Repeat with remaining tubes, reheating oil between batches. Repeat with the remaining dough and tubes.
5. Whisk custard until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle. Pipe into cannoli shells. Place on a serving platter and dust with icing sugar. Serve immediately.