From Baking to Breaking Bread: Why Cannoli Belong at Every Holiday Gathering
It’s that time of year again when you roll up your sleeves, dig out your recipe books, and scour the internet for new holiday cookies and baked goods to make. For many families, it’s one of the most wholesome and memory-infusing experiences during the holiday season. As you consider the lineup of options you’ll choose, don’t forget the cannoli, the quintessential Italian dessert for holidays.
Delicious Reasons Cannoli Belong on Your Holiday Table
If you need some reason to include cannoli, just think about all it offers:
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It’s the flavor for most people. After all, the holidays are all about decadent delights. There may not be an Italian dessert for the holidays better than this.
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It’s a little gift all wrapped up. There’s a lot of symbolism in Italian cooking, and this little bundle of love may be some people’s very favorite gift each year.
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They are nothing short of impressive. Having a holiday table with ready-to-go cannoli for celebrations makes it seem like you spent hours in the kitchen (we’ve got a great trick for that with our pre-made shells).
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Cannoli are a family tradition that you can update and modernize to fit your family’s needs and interests. Try a new filling ingredient or add edible decorations to update them for the occasion.
Holiday cannoli traditions are also essential to remember and pass down. Suppose you’re one of the many people who grew up in a home with a grandmother who wore an apron and always had a freshly baked snack for the taking. In that case, you know that traditions are everything in this culture. Even if you didn’t grow up in an Italian kitchen, cannoli can become your family’s new tradition.
Cannoli Is a Holiday Tradition
Both Italian and Sicilian cultures have a long history of including cannoli and other Italian treats in celebrations. Though often linked to Carnevale, the pre-Lenten festival, over the years, they have become more associated with every religious holiday. That includes Easter and Christmas. They are also very often consumed during the Feast of St. Joseph. In some accounts of this dessert, cannoli were crafted by nuns, reserved for celebrations like Christmas.
Having a tray of beautiful cannoli on the table after an excellent homemade meal is the ideal way to finish your day, especially with a cup of espresso. In some families, going without it is a sure way to disappoint your older family members when they visit.
In some Italian American homes, especially on the East Coast, leaving Santa a tasty treat had nothing to do with cookies. Instead, cannoli were left for Santa, and there was rarely ever any evidence of being left behind!
No matter what you love about the holidays, cannoli can make it that much better. What are your fondest memories of this sweet treat?
Not a Tradition for You – Yet?
Not all families celebrate the same way, but if you’re looking for a way to bring people together, this is one of them. Holiday cannoli traditions can start with you this year. You don’t need Nonna’s recipe book to make them either. All you need are the right ingredients and a few friends or family members to spend some time with, sharing them together. It may be easier than you realize to incorporate this new tradition into your family’s celebrations.
How to Incorporate Cannoli for Celebrations in Your Family
One of the hardest things for people today is to make time for traditions and simple memories. If you come from an Italian kitchen, though, you know that food is everything, and you may have very fond memories of spending time with your aunts or grandparents preparing dishes there. Why not give the same memories to your own children and grandchildren?
Cannoli may be a bit easier to make these days than they used to be. Ingredients for the filling are widely available, and it only takes a short time to whip it up. And, with Golden Cannoli’s cannoli shells ready to go, you can buy them now and be prepared for those visitors when they arrive.
Our trick for passing on this tradition is simple, even when you don’t have much time. Purchase our ready-to-go shells and keep them in the freezer. They will remain fresh and crisp, just as you expect. You can also purchase fillings to keep on hand. Our products make it easy to create mini cannoli flights or, for a more interactive experience, host a cannoli decorating party with a DIY cannoli bar.
When you learn – at the last minute – that your family is stopping by for a meal, take the cannoli ingredients out, let them thaw for a few minutes, and fill them. It’s fast and easy to have freshly made cannoli ready to go in no time. No one needs to know you weren’t in the kitchen all day making them, either!
Bring Back Traditions This Holiday Season
As the holidays approach quickly, it may be a good time to slow down. Welcome your family members to your home for a meal on a Sunday afternoon. Keeping some shells on hand makes it easy to celebrate your loved ones. You can break bread together, share conversations, and serve up a tray of cannoli to close the week with sweet memories.
Ready to start your own cannoli tradition? Pick up a box of Golden Cannoli shells at your local grocery store or online and make this year’s holidays extra sweet.