Cannoli - T.Cavallaro & Sons Pasticceria
Phone: 03 9687 4638
Could this be Melbourne’s best cannoli? Well…I’d have to say it comes pretty close, if not nails the title quite squarely.
T.Cavallaro & Sons have been dolling out these little tubes of custardy goodness for many years. And they aren’t on display getting all soggy like in most other shops. You sidle up to the counter and place your order - vanilla, chocolate, vanilla and chocolate, or traditional ricotta. The staff then whip out back and pipe your cannoli fresh. That’s right - on demand cannoli.
The pastry - oh my - the pastry. It is crisp, crunchy and bubbled from the boiling oil, but more of a surprise is the taste of marsala. Mmm. And the crema pasticcera (custard) piped into the cylinders is divinely and wickedly sweet. Some poor sod has stood over a hot pot of milk, egg, sugar and flour and stirred this baby till it thickened.
One can also purchase the equally good Brutti ma buoni - which literally transaltes as the “ugly but good” cookie. Yes, they may not be pretty, but these Italian chocolate and nut meringue cookies are crisp on the outside and gloriously chewy, nutty and sweet on the inside. The perfect treat with a good cup of espresso.
Written by mellie on
April 15th, 2007 | Tags: bakery | Category: Uncategorized
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April 17th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Hi Mellie,
If you like Cannoli you should try the O’Hea’s bakery and deli at 203 O’Hea street in Coburg. Their Ricotta Cannoli are wonderful. Bloody good baked cheesecake too.
April 17th, 2007 at 3:31 am
Hi anon - thanks for the tip. I go absolutely weak at the knees for a good baked ricotta cheesecake, so I’ll definitely make a trip that way soon.
April 18th, 2007 at 10:11 am
As a local, can endorse the thumbs up for O’Hea’s bakery. Do a good line in breads too.
April 18th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Thanks lord sedgwick - is the bread of the artisan variety (ie. sourdoughy etc.)?
April 18th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Most is Italian fare - or should that be ‘farinaceous’? :0) - but fresh as, crusty as … enough to trap this gluten intolerant lad into putting up with the side effects of his few guilty moments of breadly pleasure.
BTW, try as they might, no one has come up with a gluten free bread that is within coo-ee of the real thing. *Sighs!*
However gluten free bread does make for good bread crumbs - either the soft for stuffing or the dry for coating variety.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Oh…I hear your pain lord sedgwick. Gluten intolerance is a pain in the glutes ;-), so to speak.
There are not many things I have found gluten free bread to be good for, and unfortunately none of them are culinary (ahem…door stop).
May 24th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Cavallaro pasticceria in footscray, I know it well have been going there for years, so have my parents, my parents parents etc etc. They are truly the best , supposedly using the same cannoli reciepe for the last 50 or so years. I have been to O’Hea’s bakery too and they are fairly good too, but sorry to say no match really for the Cavallaro’s cannoli though!
May 27th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Hey anon - glad to hear those cannoli have been enjoyed by your family for many years. Yes, there is a sense of history and nostalgia to the place, which seriously, makes them taste that whole lot better
May 31st, 2007 at 3:59 am
As The Age Cheap Eats say of T.Cavallaro & Sons if Tony Soprano were in town this is where he’d be buyin his canoli…..O’hea’s for canoli are you sure? should’n't it be guiness? but this is Melbourne afterall.hehehe
June 7th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Cavallaro Cannoli are definitely the best by far! I have even travelled to Italy in search of better but to no avail. My parents and in-laws have been going to Cavallaros for over 30 years. Perfect with an espresso on a cold winter’s morning…or in fact, anytime!
July 1st, 2007 at 2:38 am
The best Cannoli I have ever had, both standard custard and ricotta (Sicilian) are from Pino’s Pasticceria in Adelaide, SA (Shop 1, 403 Grange Road, Seaton). We are talking about 147 year old traditional family recipes with an active family pasticceria still operating back in Sicily.
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Thanks latest bunch of anons!
Anon #3 - uh huh, Tony Soprano would be mighty pleased with these cannoli!
Anon #4 - yup, they are absolutely perfect anytime
Who needs an excuse to eat such good cannoli?!
Anon #5 - thanks for the tip. Next time I’m in Adelaide I’ll check it out. Or can you send me some by post?!?
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:15 am
Mellie!, (Anon#5 here)
Yep, if you’d like? I’m not joking either.
It is common for people here in SA to send “Sfogliatelle” (& in case you are wondering what they are see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sfogliatella)
- via air freight to Western Australia (to their family) from this same very store.
That says something about the quality of their work.
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Cavallaro’s cannoli, i have been eating them since i was a kid, they are fantastic!
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Hey anon #6 - ooh, I wrote this post a while ago, but I am now hankering anew for one!
July 18th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
[...] time we visited was for a post-shopping pick-me-up coffee and cannoli (we already know how much I love a good cannoli). The coffee provided the required hit of caffeine with a decent crema, and the [...]
August 8th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I cannot do Cavallaro Cannoli the justice it deserves. They are the absolute best I have ever had and now being three generations in the family the recipe ,the name ,the shop, the technique passed down from generation to generation, has not changed and cannot be beaten as they have mastered the unique taste in there cannoli , I have eaten them for the last 35+ years and cannot eat any other type when it comes to perfection it has to be Cavallaro. If ANYONE thinks they have eaten the best Cannoli it has to be only from this small shop in Footscray as other shops don’t even come close.
And now with Tom taking over the business one day , I hope he can still read the old little recipe book from his grandfather using the old scales to measure the quantities that has made Cavallaro the best Pastery shop possibly in the world. Good luck guys wishing them every success
November 15th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I love Cavallaro’s Cannoli and every other cakes they make. Everyone should try their continental cakes, with just the right amount of alcohol in every bight! You can’t go wrong with Cavallaro & Sons. I’ve been eating their goodies for over 30 yrs and have never been disappointed. No other store compares. Good on you Cavallaro & Sons! It’s good to still find traditional quality shops.