Ole's Cannoli Duo Bringing Home The Bacon To State Fair

When Ole's Cannoli returns to the 2013 State Fair later this summer, the Italian dessert stand will be also boasting one of the Great Minnesota Get Together's new foods.
Roseville's Pam Olson and daughter Marta Lindsey learned today that Fair officials have selected their candied bacon cannoli as one of this year's 47 new foods for the fair.   

"We wanted to make a cannoli in 2013 that was truly unique to the Minnesota State Fair,” Olson said.  “And it had to be just as delicious as our original cannoli.”

The answer: Bacon. But not just any old bacon. Candied bacon. 

"Candied bacon is made by covering bacon strips with sugar and baking them until they turn into chewy, caramelized perfection," Lindsey said. Ole’s Cannoli will pair candied bacon pieces with sweet, smooth ricotta cheese filling in a fried, crunchy pastry shell for its new Candied Bacon Cannoli, she said. 

Lindsey said her mom will make more than 200 pounds of candied bacon in preparation for the Fair.  Her special ingredient to make candied bacon extra flavorful is using palm sugar, she said.

Lindsey told Roseville Patch, "We are thrilled to be back this year because there were so many great moments in 2012.  Tons people tried cannoli for the first time ever at our stand last year- and like when we first ate cannoli in Boston a decade ago- they fell in love."  

Ole's Cannoli will be at the Fair's Heritage Square, a challenging location given that foot traffic there is about 25 percent than the rest of the fair, on average, Lindsey said. 

But she added, "People went out of their way to find us in Heritage Square and support our mother-daughter dream of having a cannoli stand at the State Fair. 

"I had a lot of Roseville Area High School (RAHS) classmates stop by, which was really cool," said Lindsey, who a 1996 RAHS graduate and currently is a communication specialist at a non-profit.  "I hope some current RAHS students will apply to work in the stand this year!"

To read about the origins of Ole's Cannoli, click on to this Roseville Patch story.

To see a video report, click on this link.  

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