Mini Cannoli Cream Cups

I took a trip to Waldoboro, Maine a few years ago, which I loved and fell in love with Maine afterwards.  We took long trips in the car every day and my favorite place (besides Acadia National Park) was Rockland, Maine.  There was a cafe called Rockland Cafe (http://www.rocklandcafe.com/)

I would love more than anything to take a trip back there, they had the best Clam Chowder soup ever, first time I had ever tried it too!  We drove from Waldoboro (which is a 30 minute drive) on the last night just so I could get another bowl of that creamy deliciousness!  Well they also had an oh so wonderful dessert that I had never tried before... Cannolis.  They were delicious and I never knew they had ricotta cheese in them.  But I was searching around on Pinterest and saw these cute little cups filled with cream and realized that they were cannolis.  It instantly brought my back to my trip to Maine and made me want to try making them.

They were easy to make, had very few ingredients, but I found that once I had the cream made, that it was lumpy.  Which the recipe didn't mention, so I have to find a solution to that problem (which was the only problem with them), nonetheless they are DELICIOUS!  I ended up mixing chocolate chips in with the cream mix and inside the cup before I put the mixture, and on top of the mixture (I love chocolate!).  I did find a recipe that did say to mix really well then run it through a colander to get the rest of the lumps out, which I will try next time.  But making them was a big deal because I had just found out I passed my NCLEX-RN exam, which means I am now a licensed Registered Nurse! :)

Mini Cannoli Cream Cups

The woman that created this recipe also has a video on her web page (link is at the bottom of this post) that shows step by step instructions, but I didn't watch it.  I'm more of a read the directions and look at pictures type of gal.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Start to Finish: 40 minutes

Servings: about 16 mini cups

Ingredients:

For Cups
Flour for dusting surface
1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts
3 tablespoons coarse natural sugar (Turbinado)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For Filling (If you want the cream to be extra thick see my tips below)
1 (15oz) container of whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting finished cups
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl with an electric mixer combine all ingredients for the filling except the chocolate chips and mix well until creamy. Place the filling in a 1-gallon plastic storage bag and chill while you make the cups. Filling may seem thin but will firm up slightly when it’s refrigerated. For thicker cream see notes below.

Heat oven to 425°F. Unroll the piecrusts onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle the top of each crust with the natural sugar and the cinnamon. Lightly roll over it with a rolling pin so that sugar and cinnamon are pressed into the dough.



With a 2 1/2-3 inch round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, cut out circles and lightly press them inside an ungreased mini muffin or mini cupcake pan to create a pastry cup.





Bake for about 10 minutes or until cups are golden. Remove from oven and allow cups to cool. Once cups are cool they can be removed from tin and filled.

Remove filling from refrigerator, cut one of the bottom corners off the bag and pipe a little less than a tablespoon of filling into the cooled cannoli cups.



Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, dust with powdered sugar and serve.



Cups should be filled shortly before they are eaten so the don’t get soggy. If you wish to make them ahead of time, you can make the cups and the cream and keep them separate. Once you are ready to eat, you can fill, decorate and serve.

Cooking Tips:

If you want the cream to be extra thick you can stain the ricotta in some cheese cloth placed in a bowl and covered over night before you mix your sugar to make the cream. This will remove any excess water and give you a thicker consistency.

Filling can be made a day or two ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.

A variation in the cannoli cream that works well is a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract and or orange extract.

Other toppings that go well with the cannoli cups are chopped toasted almonds, chocolate sprinkles, candied orange pieces, chopped candied red cherries, as well as a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Recipe from http://www.cookingwithsugar.com/mini-cannoli-cream-cups-recipe-how-to-make-cannolis-the-easy-way/ and by no means credit myself to creating the tutorial.