This recipe is a different take on a classic Italian feast day treat; simpler than the traditional cannoli but with similar flavors. Making cannoli is a big process and it to great way
to get the flavor of cannoli without the work. Use a pre-made pie crust, flavor it a little, cut into small circles and make mini cups to fill with the cream.
Cannoli Bites
Ingredients:
Cannoli cups:
1 refrigerated pie crust
3 tablespoons coarse natural sugar (Turbinado)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
dry white wine
Cannoli Filling:
16 oz whole milk Ricotta cheese, strained
4 oz Mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)
Directions:
For the cannoli cups - Heat oven to 400°F. Thaw pie crust. Unroll
the crust onto a lightly floured surface. Brush lightly with wine and sprinkle
the top of each crust with the sugar and spice mixture. Lightly roll over it with a
rolling pin so that sugar and spices are pressed into the dough.
With a 2 – 2 ½ inch round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter,
cut out circles and lightly press them inside a greased mini muffin cup to
create a pastry cup. Bake for 8-10
minutes until golden brown. Cool.
For Filling - In
a mixing bowl, blend together Ricotta and Mascarpone cheese to mix well and
remove lumps. Add sugars and vanilla and mix in. Cover and chill 30 minutes.
After mini shells/cups are cool, remove cannoli filling from
refrigerator, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a tip (or you can use a
large resealable bag and cut the tip off one end). Pipe filling into cups and
sprinkle with chocolate chips and dust with powdered sugar.
For best results
serve within 2 hours. Store in refrigerator. Makes approximately 20 cannoli bits.
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