Baking & the Big Screen: Cannoli and The Godfather
The fact that it took me a year of these movie/baking combos to come up with this one is a bit embarrassing. Does this movie really feature the cannoli enough to warrant making some? Probably not, but it has to be one of the most popular references to a dessert in pop culture. It’s iconic! And the fact that I love movies as much as I do and had made it this far without watching The Godfather is not something I’m proud of. In an interesting twist, where I expected to find the movie outdated and the cannoli delightful, it was a bit of the reverse.
The Godfather
Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Richard S. Castellano
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Released in 1972
Available to watch on Paramount Network channel
I feel like writing a review of this movie would almost be an insult considering how much I knew about it before ever watching it. It’s truly incredible how much this movie has been seamlessly woven into pop culture. I knew roughly 5-10 lines of this film verbatim solely due to watching Gilmore Girls. And the most impressive thing about The Godfather is that it ages surprisingly well. There isn’t a ton of unnecessary gore, and while it was a bit difficult for me to get all the Tony Soprano-esque men sorted in my mind, it held my interest far more than I ever expected a movie of this length to do. Despite having a solid idea of the plot of this series, many moments took me by surprise.
That being said, the thing that shocked me most was actually a baby Diane Keaton (well, young, anyways) that looked nothing like the version of herself that I’d seen in every role she’s played since Annie Hall. I know this has next to nothing to do with the actual plot of The Godfather, but it’s one thing that stuck with me. Overall, despite my concerns that a 50-year-old movie would feel stale and I would have so many other recent mob-related movies to compare it to that would outshine it, I really, really enjoyed this film. Especially when I compare it to a mobster film I’d seen more recently, The Irishman, I actually believe it’s really hard for this classic to be dethroned.
A cannoli, however, is a classic I don’t fully understand. While I’ll admit the taste was halfway decent by the time I finished (and I used real, homemade ricotta cheese for the filling!), and I did manage to make a couple of pretty beautiful ones by the end, I just don’t think it was worth it. As someone who makes macarons on a monthly basis, I can say right now that I did not expect these to defeat me. The frustration of shaping the shells themselves and getting them to stay that way while frying was enough for me to decide that while I’ve glad I tried making them. Also, when you aren’t making them for a party and therefore cannot fill them and serve them immediately, it is a bit ridiculous to make these things. Go for it if you want, but I’d recommend other bakes if you’re just making some sweet treats for yourself.