Cannoli class at Egidio's Pastry Shop

Egidio's Pastry Shop opened on 187th Street in the Bronx in 1912. It's still there today under the helm of Carmela Lucciola who honors the history of this Italian bakery every day.

Egidio's Pastry Shop on 187th Street and Hughes Avenue, right near Arthur Avenue in the Bronx

The pastry shop was first opened by Pasquale Egidio, an immigrant from Salerno. The shop grew over decades and established a loyal following under the care of Pasquale's children, in particular his daughter Annie. In 2004 the New York Times wrote a long feature story about the Egidio family titled, "Love, Discord and Cannoli."

Today, Carmela who is also an Italian immigrant maintains the very old Southern Italian traditions  like soft chocolate mostaccioli cookies and cuccidati. She also serves the new neighborhood around Arthur Avenue in the Bronx with dulce de leche birthday cakes and black and white cookies. She has long been wanting to start a series of baking classes and so we've teamed up with her to make it finally happen.

On January 15, 2017, Christian and I will join Carmela for a cannoli class in her 104-year old bakery kitchen. We don't often host events during the winter, but we can think of few things more warm and cozy than drinking wine and stuffing cannoli near the sugary warmth of the bakery ovens.

The class includes:

• How to make authentic ricotta cannoli cream

• How to make cannoli shells from scratch using historic cannoli rollers that have belonged to Egidio's since it opened.

• How to fry the cannoli shells and then stuff them

Carmela Lucciola showing off her gingerbread house construction in the kitchen of Egidio's

During the class we'll serve you warm focaccia bread hot of the oven, salume, cheese and a few glasses of wine. You'll get a souvenir apron to take home as well as a box of your freshly made cannoli. Only 10 spots available.