Holy Cannoli! Vaccaro's Is Turning 60

This is the original cannoli recipe that Mr. Jimmy brought over from Sicily. By the way it's in Italian!

Holy Cannoli, the home of one of Baltimore's sweetest treats is turning 60.

Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop is marking its 60th anniversary on March 19 by celebrating all week starting March 14. Owners Nick and Maria Vaccaro have been recalling all the hard work and fun moments that the family-run business has produced in the past 60 years.

LISTEN:



Nick Vaccaro says his father Gioacchino Vaccaro, known as Mr. Jimmy, established Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop in 1956 when Nick was just 6 months old. Mr. Jimmy was born in Palermo, Italy and brought with him the original recipes and the knowledge of how to make what many in Baltimore consider the finest Sicilian pastries that this city has ever tasted.

Vaccaro says he has been a part of the family business for as far back as he can remember. He recalls being behind the counter helping customers when he was 8 years old. Nick says " I hated it. After school I couldn't go out and play with other kids because I had to fold boxes or help to put cookies onto trays." The younger Vaccaro, who is now 60 years old, says he didn't decide to go to work for his father until the last semester of his senior year of college. Nick says that surprised his dad because his dad knew that he hated working in the pastry shop but adds, "today the rest is history."

Vaccaro says the day he actually took over the business from his dad was a summer day in 1980. Nick and his dad were weighing out cannoli cream and got into an argument on how best to do it, as was often the case. Nick says Mr. Jimmy slammed a 40-quart bowl of cannoli cream on the table. Some of the cream went as high as the 10 foot tin ceiling in the bakery. Vaccaro says usually when the two argued, Nick would storm out, and not return until cooler heads prevailed a few days later. But this time Mr. Jimmy ripped off his apron and walked out. Nick says "he never came in to bake again." Mr. Jimmy passed away a few years later but a portrait of him hangs on the wall overlooking the day-to-day operation of the Little Italy pastry shop.

VIDEO: Behind The Scenes at Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop

Nick and his wife Maria have expanded the business to several locations including Canton, Hunt Valley and Bel Air. Today, Nick is also proud of the fact that his son and daughter are now involved in the business with the hope that they will continue the family-owned legacy and tradition.

Vaccaro's is best known for the cannoli, a shell made with flour, shortening and sugar bound together with red wine or wine vinegar. The dough is deep fried and then filled with ricotta cream and chocolate drops. Vaccaro says if he had to guess he would say that Vaccaro's has produced about 30 or 40 million cannoli in the past 60 years. You can see the original recipe brought to this country by Mr. Jimmy in a picture at the top of this page.

VIDEO: The Making Of A Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop Cannoli

People come from all over the country just to taste a Vaccaro's cannoli. Megan Cole, who grew up in Baltimore but now lives in Atlanta, says she has learned how to sneak the cannoli cream onto the plane when flying back to Atlanta. She says TSA allows it on if it is frozen. Her brother, Ryan told WBAL's John Patti that a Vaccaro's cannoli is "probably the best cannoli in the world, or at least on this side of the Atlantic."

Vaccaro's cannoli can be found in dozens of area restaurants as well as at festivals and fundraisers sponsored by St. Leo The Great Roman Catholic Church in little Italy. Vaccaro's donates about 6,000 cannoli to those fundraisers each year. Nick Vaccaro says he believes in giving back to "the neighborhood" that has been good to his family.

VIDEO: Stuffing a Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop Cannoli