The dough crackles, so fine you can see light through it. Then there’s the ooze of creamy ricotta. It might be classic, sweetened cheese with chocolate at the end. Or it might be black sesame in a black cocoa shell, as darkly nutty as the ice cream at Annandale’s Snocream Company on which it’s based.

There are few pleasures quite like biting into cannoli, yet for devotees of the real deal, it’s not always easy to find a version that’s just right. Nicole Liberatore’s own pastry journey began due to the dearth of Italian sweet options in our area. She and her husband, Dominick, met at George Mason University and have lived in NoVA for a decade. Italian pastry was full of important nostalgia for the couple, and making it at home seemed like the only option.