Making cannoli runs in the family

Carina Moran grew up making cannoli with her nonna, and always had them packed in her lunchbox.

She and her husbandJoeldecided to turn the family recipe into a family business, starting out at home and then opening Sweet Capone's Italian Bakery in historic downtown Lacombe, Alta.,with her parents,Deborah and Claude Solda.

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With its brick and sandstone buildings, Lacombe's charming main street is a perfect place to bring the generations-old recipe to locals and visitors.

Having had their grand opening on Canada Day last year, they've already moved to a larger location down the street, taking over a space in the 1906 M&J Hardware building that had been occupied by a photography studio and a Subway.

They pulled off the dropped ceiling to reveal the original tinunderneath, and broke down three walls to expose the original brick walls.

Warm wood furniture and rich brocade wallpaper adds to the charm, as do the photos of their extended family, including Moran's dad as a child with his nonna.

Moran's great-great grandmotherpassed her recipe on to her grandmother, who then taught Moran.

Another portrait documents the day her dad boarded a ship to come to Canada from Italy, his family following to settle in Calgary with him a few years later.

Made with higher-fat cream than the norm, there are about 10 flavours of cannoli on offer at any given time at Sweet Capone's. Vanilla the flavournonna madeis the most popular.

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The pastry is shaped around tin moulds and baked, then filled by hand. Some like them freshly made, but Moran likes them after they've had some time to sit and soften a bit.

She and her team make about 1,000 every day and used to close once they sold out, which often happened quickly.

Thebakery isn't limited to cannoli, however. There's also torta, zeppole (an Italian doughnut or fritter), biscotti, sfogliatina (a shell-like flaky filled pastry), and pesche dolci (Italian sandwiched peach cookies that resemble tiny peaches).

There's also coffee brewed with Fratello beans to wash it all down and wake you up for the drive home.