I decided to revisit the cannoli I made many months ago, mainly as a response to "cannoli be one" by Cassadaga Liquids that hit the market recently. So why not make something that puts it to shame and doesn't punish the wallet? It needed simplification and I knew I could improve on it, so I went for it.
Anyway, introducing the new
Holy Cannoli!
- CAP New York Cheesecake 3.00%
- FLV Vanilla Custard 2.00%
- INW Shisha Vanilla 1.00%
- CAP Sweet Cream 0.75%
- FA Meringue 0.60%
- INW Biscuit 1.50%
- FA Joy 0.40%
- INW Waffle ~0.05% (1drop/30ml)
- INW Lemon Cake ~0.125% (2drops/30ml)
Optional Additions -
Sweetener - If you're looking to match the sweetness of Cassadaga's you will need to use a bit of sucralose. 0.25%-0.50% of TFA Sweetener is enough for my personal taste.
Toppings - 1 drop/10ml MF Dark Chocolate if you want to add chocolate chips. Pistachio flavors pair quite well with flv's custard, so if you want a pistachio variation it works. TFA if you want a pistachio ice cream type flavor, FA if you want to bring out more of a nutty pistachio flavor.
Flavor Analysis
So I figured it was worth a post because the development notes may benefit mixers looking for insight into some new/nuanced flavors from INW (at least those that have become more readily available in north america)
Specifically I want start it off with looking at INW Lemon Cake and Waffle. Both are part of the "yummy classic" line, and while they are definitely yummy, they are quite strong. Particularly Waffle, if you are familiar with the odor intensity of FA Condensed Milk, it is more than a worthy rival. The difference between 1 drop and say 3 drops is incredibly pronounced. INW Lemon Cake on the other hand I've pushed as high as 1.50% without an issue thus far, but its still very concentrated.
You REALLY taste the pastry shell in this one, way more than I anticipated I would get. INW Waffle has a few similarities to joy in its application, I think it even does it better when it comes to giving bakery flavors a "fried" flavor. I'd described waffle as "oily", "fatty", "buttery", "bready", "doughy". Where Joy excels similarly but as a sweetener, with a little fried dough, and a bit of a yeasty nuance, Waffle gives really authentic fried flavor. They play off each other really well. It's probably a little less versatile overall, but when you find the right application, it delivers. I can also see INW Waffle finding applications (likely used as a 5-10% dilution) in more complex tobacco flavors.
INW Lemon Cake is more lemon than cake, which wasn't that much of a surprise to me. It does however, still have pretty rich unique cake notes underneath it that warrant use. I'm using here because I really like the actual lemon flavor in it, its clean and subtle which is what I was looking for. On top of that, the richness under the lemon flavor supports the cannoli shell and elevates biscuit up a bit higher. I'd say the absolute max for this flavor in the context of this recipe is 0.25%.
So overall the combination of biscuit + joy + waffle + lemon cake give you a very nicely rounded out cannoli shell that carries through towards the middle-end of the exhale.
On the more common flavors -
I decided to really bump up NY Cheesecake considering it faded too much in older versions, and its absolutely essential to the foundation of an authentic tasting cannoli flavor. CAP Sweet Cream is a perfect match for it, it allows you to boost it higher and round it out, so I suggest its use over FA Fresh Cream.
FLV Vanilla Custard has a stronger dairy/cream flavor and doesn't as easily overpower a mix as CAP Custard. CAP Custard overpowered the shell too much, so I decided to go with it. Keeping it at 2% keeps cheesecake as the front note flavor without overpowering it while smoothing it out and giving it extra richness.
Shisha Vanilla sweetens the combination and pushes the vanilla flavor in flv's custard way up. It's rich and heavy which is necessary to help push the overall cannoli cream above the shell and sit prominently there, the lemon in lemon cake also helps create that separation. FA Meringue is the obvious choice for powdered sugar, which joy also enhances.
So that's the run down of it. I'd suggest mixing this 80/20 VG/PG and waiting about a week for everything to settle and develop.
Cannoli pastries for everyone!
Wow this is a fantastic share. Going to try it for sure.
I like a hint of pistachio in canolli flavors, may try a touch of that too.
Try FA Pistachio 0.25%-0.30% to start. really like the accent it gives.
That fuckin' INW Waffle. Only one I'm missing.
I'm glad to see INW Shisha Vanilla getting more use. I love that flavor. This looks super good, so I'm gonna have to try it without waffle for now. I always look forward to your stuff since it's usually something "risky" and unique. Thanks for the share!
Can't wait to place an order now fuck.
Thanks for this v2. I had two canollos last night & they're always so good. My Publix lately seems to be putting a random sprinkle of cinnamon here or there in the dough. I got one very random note of it last night in both of them, & it happened last time I picked some up, too. Might try a dilution of Rich Cinnamon in this sometime.
Sounds great, will try when I get those CAP flavors. Thanks for sharing.
Maybe the strength of INW Waffle explains the funky ass smell I get from the bottle (haven't mixed it yet). Do you also have crystals building up on the surface of the bottle and inside the cap? It seems like there's more every day and I haven't ever used it...
I'll run the crystals through the infrared at work tomorrow, maybe I'll get a match (probably not). I'm thinking they might be vanillin.
The strength is incredibly strong, it's up there in concentration with FA Condensed Milk.
I am curious as to what the crystals are, let me know if you figure out. I mean, it is a very different flavor, so I am interested in seeing if they are anything out of the ordinary.
Here you go: http://imgur.com/a/fYqQJ
So they appear to be vanillin. We usually call a correlation over 90% a positive ID but considering the crystals are far from pure/dry, 70% is already more than I'd have expected. They may also be ethyl vanillin, I suppose their spectra are quite similar but I don't have any to compare at the lab.
I just hope there's been some spillage when they were conditionning the bottles or something along those lines, but really those crystals seem to appear from nowhere as if they were seeping through the plastic, super weird. Makes me wonder about reproducibility when using this concentrate.
Weren't you waiting for this, u/Enyawreklaw?
I made this last month, and polished off all 15ml this weekend. Really delicious stuff! Looking forward to trying it with the new edits now! Thanks for sharing it /u/joesphaa.
glad to here you liked it! I feel like the changes overall made for a better balance between the major elements of the doughy shell and filling.
Thanks, I liked v1 and have everything for this. I'll make it next time I mix. And that Waffle is great, as long as you know it's really more waffle cone, not American breakfast waffle, and is crazy strong. I need to make a dilution of it. 2 drops can definitely take over a mix.
I did make a 10% dilution today to see if I can find more uses for it (I'd like to see how it performs in donut type recipes at slightly lower strengths). 1 drop is a little bit on the high side but it does calm down (similar to joy) after a couple days. If you want to taste a little less of the shell, I'd say like 0.20-0.30% of a 10% dilution would also work. I do like it at where its at right now in the overall picture but definitely there is always room for fine tuning and improvements.
Looks great, thanks for sharing.. at least I can get to use 0.05% of the 100mls of waffle I have here.
First time I used it was at 5% standalone & it nearly melted my face ;-)
**edit
Mixed and steeping, I did have a small taste before it went on the shelf & it's insane how potent that waffle is. 1 drop and it's the most prominent flavour in the mix!
As if I needed another reason to be pissed that I forgot to put INW Lemon Cake into my last order. Will be ordering that AND Waffle, even though that one scares me a little, because this recipe looks like a dream come true. Thanks for sharing it!
A friend and I have been working on a clone of cb1. I really enjoy the flavor even if it isn't spot on for a cannoli (also not a fan of the sweetener). Is this close to it or a different take? I'm missing shisha vanilla and waffle so I'll have to put in an order for those.
Damnit, I have everything needed except INW waffle :-\ Is there anything I can sub it out for?
Sounds terrific and very different from v1.
It's also a good news/ oh fuck me scenario on my end.
the good news is when i looked over this recipe and saw the INW lemon cake, it reminded me that i got in an order from Poland a while ago. It arrived during a very crazy time at my house, so I put the box in the basement to deal with later and promptly forgot about it.
which leads to the oh fuck me that i didn't get waffle. If it is like a waffle cone rather than breakfast waffle type, I think I'll sub in a little Amoretti Sugar Cone instead.
Thanks for the share, I do love a cannoli :)
Where can we get the Amoretti Sugar Cone? That sounds great for ice cream recipes.
I really appreciate the depth of your description. As a mixer not yet on this level, it really is helpful in getting me where I want to be.
I thought I had a huge stash of flavors but I'm missing 3 and will have to make an order before I can make this.
I'm not Italian so I don't know if it's authentic but I like almond much more than pistachio. Can that be used instead?
So, I mixed up a batch of this about 15 days ago. Just tried it today. The only difference was I didn't have FLV custard. I'm in Moscow, and getting supplies to DIY is a PITA. So, I subbed CAP van custard v1 at 1.5% and added 0.25% TFA pistachio for some nuttiness. And sweet baby night elf, Santa on a pancake.....
That's some damn good cannoli!!!
So I tried this once without the INW Lemon Cake since I couldn't get it, figured it wasn't that necessary since it was only .125% and wasn't a big fan. Got the INW Lemon Cake in finally and the 1:1 recipe is miles different. Really good stuff dude. Just trying it now at shake-n-vape. What would you say the steep time is on this?
Can I sub FLV Vanilla Custard with lets say, CAP Vanilla Custard?
Yeah, if you don't have flv vanilla custard just do ~2% CAP Vanilla Custard. Also I've changed this a bit since sharing. One of the big ones was I made a 10% Dilution of INW Waffle and use about 0.25% of that, as well as upping lemoncake to 0.20%. Also I'd probably drop shisha vanilla to 0.75% revisiting it now. I edited it to what I would currently do now.
Thank you for the recipe man ! Can't wait to try it ! Regarding the Cap vanilla custard, is a v2 good enough ? and, do you think i can use a capella waffle instead of the INW ?