Flavors aplenty at Holy Cannoli in downtown San Jose

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The identify “Holy Cannoli” is far more than apt for a cafe and bakery in downtown San Jose: the eatery’s product is as light as a cloud in Heaven. The slim, crisp shell presents the dessert some crunch, but the ethereal cream is a wonder of sweetness with a easy rich texture.

With two dimensions, 9 flavors and 18 toppings, you could have a diverse cannoli variation almost each working day of the 12 months. And when you have operate out of cannoli versions to consider, there are still refreshing-baked pastries and an array of breakfast and lunch possibilities on the menu.

“My grandmothers have been equally residence bakers and my father was a chef,” claimed operator Jamie Whitmire, who started Holy Cannoli in 2013. “I grew up cooking with them and I went to culinary faculty, in part, mainly because I by now understood I was a good cook and I understood how to pair flavors jointly. But I needed to learn the fundamentals of cooking and baking and knife competencies.”

Proprietor Jamie Whitmire at Holy Cannoli with her signature desserts. Photograph by Robert Eliason.

Soon after graduating from culinary faculty, she began catering and operating a food items truck, however her most important organization. She opened her storefront in 2021.

“I opened at the top of the pandemic,” Whitmire mentioned. “That turned out, amazingly, to be a good time. At any other time, a cafe and bakery would not have gotten a whole lot of publicity basically for opening—and people today have been extremely supportive.”

Staff Genesys Skye piping cannoli. Photo by Robert Eliason.

With a consumer base built through her catering company, and a locale just a block from San Jose City Hall at 138 E. Santa Clara St., Whitmire has a completely ready forum for her numerous expertise.

“I connect with myself a chef and a baker,” she claimed. “It is a ability established that not everyone has, but I adore carrying out each. I have a sweet/savory taste profile so the two go hand in hand for me.”

Her cannoli recipe will come from the Italian aspect of her family members, with her possess contemporary twists. The product starts with a base of mascarpone, blended with ricotta cheese, cinnamon and powdered sugar.

“The freshness of the product alone makes you want to appear back again for far more,” reported Toni Saldivar, regional baker and operator of The Sugar Desk. “And the distinctive toppings like pistachios and coconut give you a ton of options.”

Individuals decisions get started with the assortment of lotions, all centered on the common basic cream, including fruit-flavored, chocolate, Nutella and pistachio. The product is piped into shells that are handmade day by day and then the finishes of the cannoli are dipped in a extensive range of toppings like toasted nuts, milk or white chocolate chips, fresh new raspberry or strawberry, candied orange or lemon, toffee and even espresso beans.

“I retain having men and women telling me that what I make are not real cannoli,” Whitmire claimed.  “But I needed to be inventive and make them a specialty merchandise that no one else was undertaking in the place. So I stepped out of the box to develop all these distinctive flavors. I also have the flexibility to generate flavors people could want to special get.”

Holy Cannoli! Photo by Robert Eliason.
A dozen cannolis from Holy Cannoli. Image by Robert Eliason.

Whilst cannoli are the apparent emphasis of the shop, Holy Cannoli is a total-menu cafe as perfectly. Whitmire delivers a breakfast menu alongside with assorted pastries and a lunch menu that consists of selfmade ravioli, sandwiches manufactured with clean-baked focaccia, calzones and salads.

Even now, the cannoli is the huge attract, notably to regular shoppers like San Jose resident Colm Crafty who has been coming given that opening day.

“My spouse and I observed they had been opening and we are both equally addicted to cannoli, so we stopped by,” he advised San José Highlight. “Everyone listed here is friendly and the cannoli are brilliant. I just experienced a panini for the first time and it was truly fantastic too.”

Consumer Colm Crafty at Holy Cannoli. Photo by Robert Eliason.

Cunning’s favorites are the traditional cannoli and the chocolate with toffee topping.

“I can go via 6 of the minis or two of the regulars,” he stated. “I would tell people they have to check this put out if they are in any way, shape or form interested in cannoli.”

For Whitmire, while she finds new ways of serving cannoli, she is also respectful of the traditions she learned from her grandmother.

“There is a certain nostalgia to getting a cannoli when you are from Boston or New York or Italy,” she explained. “I have people today traveling from all about the Bay Spot and they inform me about how their families made use of to make cannoli or the bakeries they utilized to go to when they were more youthful. When they arrive in and see us piping, it brings them again to one more time and it is a good relationship we make with our prospects.”

Call Robert Eliason at [email protected]

Holy Cannoli!

Cellphone: (408) 561-2223

Place: 138 E. Santa Clara St. in San Jose

Website: holycannolisj.com

Hrs:

  • Open up Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Shut Sunday and Monday

What places them on the map: All the flavor and topping versions