490 Grafton St.
Worcester, MA 01604
(508) 753-0224
August 23, 2014
Holy moly … where’s the cannolis?
Mom and I are never in the Worcester area, but since we
had just eaten dinner in nearby Millbury, we decided to have our dessert at the
popular bakery Wholly Cannoli.
I had been to Wholly Cannoli years before, but not since
they redid the place. What was once a
tiny brick building filled with several different kinds of cannolis is now a
large bakery loaded with cakes, cookies, pies, tarts and very few
cannolis. In fact, there were only about
six different kinds to choose from aside from the mini versions located in a
separate case.
Now Mom and I love cannolis, but we enjoy a plainer shell
versus one covered in chocolate or other toppings. Nearly everything was coated in something, so
we had to suck it up if we wanted to buy some.
We chose four large cannolis (white chocolate raspberry, Limoncello,
caramel fudge swirl and Symphony Chip – all with dipped shells) and two mini
cannolis (pistachio filling with plain shells) for a total of $18. We ate the two pistachio cannolis right there
at one of their small tables. We both
remembered the strong pistachio flavor from years ago, and it was still the
same smooth cream that we had been craving.
The shell was perfectly plain with a slight crisp which allowed the
cannoli to be bitten without completely falling apart. An absolutely delicious dessert. We couldn’t wait to taste the others.
The next day we decided to cut up the remaining cannolis and
sample them at our kitchen table. The
first one we tried was the Symphony Chip, which was made with chocolate, peanut
butter, butterscotch and white chocolate chips.
Even the shell itself was coated in white chocolate. Although it was tasty and the shell was
pretty good, both Mom and I felt that there was too much going on with this
cannoli. We couldn’t tell what the components
were, and it simply came across as overly sweet. To be honest, we expected it.
Next up was the Limoncello and the white chocolate
raspberry. We liked both, but both Mom
and I noticed that each cannoli only had cream at the edges. It seemed as though the bakers weren’t
actually filling the entire cannoli. All
of the middles were completely hollow, which means that they were probably only
giving a squirt to each side. For $18, I
want that thing STUFFED. As for the
taste, each of their cannoli shells was filled with either lemon or raspberry
cream, which was zesty and refreshing.
The shells were OK, but a little on the hard and crunchy side.
Lastly, the caramel fudge swirl was our biggest
disappointment. I didn’t like the taste
of the chocolate covered shell at all.
It seemed like it was made with a low quality chocolate, which seems
weird considering the prices of all the pastry.
Even the filling wasn’t that great.
It was extremely sweet and really not enjoyable. Mom and I tried to scoop out the filling
since it was better than the shell, but we left most of it on our plates.
Wholly Cannoli’s signature cannoli is called the Dynamite
Stick – their famous filling covered in caramel and dipped in a chocolate
crunch shell. We did see those in stock,
but we didn’t get one. We tried it years
ago and really didn’t like it. To us, it
wasn’t a cannoli. It was a big blob of
chocolate with a dollop of cream lost in the center.
I’m surprised that Wholly Cannoli seems to be getting
away from the cannolis and focusing more on prepared foods and other
pastries. (Click here to view the menu.) Perhaps it works for them, but
we just wish they carried more plain flavors over the “loaded” versions. We’d actually like to taste the cannoli and
not the ingredients.
