Cannoli Cupcakes

I absolutely adore cannoli's, and have made them once in school. Cannoli's take a lot of time and love, especially in the shell. The shells take a lot of muscle when rolling them out. When we were in culinary school we used the sheeter to roll them out, this being said, I do not have a sheeter at home, and wanted a taste of a cannoli. :) I know stores provide pre done cannoli shells, but I'd really prefer one made from scratch, so when in doubt, make cupcakes. I decided to try a cannoli cupcake recipe I found on pintrest, as always, I did change it up a bit. The recipe that inspired me, can be found, here.

So let's bake!

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and set out your butter and eggs to come to room temperate.  I am using cake flour instead of all purpose flour. I will never use all purpose flour in a cake ever again, after learning cake flour is perfect for cake, thus the name. Seriously, if you have never tried cake flour in cake, do it, I swear you will love cake this much more! It makes a perfectly moist cake, as well as contains the proper leavening agents to create the perfect rise a cake should have.

 

 

 

In a separate bowl, let's place 1 and 1/2 cup of cake flour, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and a 1/4th teaspoon of salt inside. Once all ingredients are together, whisk them very well. In all reality this should be sifted with a sifter. I do not have a sifter, and side note, I need to buy one really bad, especially with how much I love to bake. A whisk will do just fine, for now though, make sure you get all the lumps out, this will create a smooth cake. Set aside the bowl for now.

Now, in a stand mixer, attach the paddle attachment, and add in 1/2 cup of that room temperature butter. It is super important to have room temperature butter, to again create a smooth cake. Mix your butter and 1 cup of granulated sugar on a low medium speed. Mix the two together until light, fluffy, and pale yellow.

Next, you are going to want to add in our eggs. This recipe calls for two eggs, and you will want to add them in one at a time, while mixer is going. Keep the speed on a low medium while doing this, adding the second egg after the first one is mixed in well. 

 

 

After the eggs are mixed in, you are going to add 1/2 cup of sour cream, as well as 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I wanted to use vanilla paste instead, because I love a very rich vanilla flavor, especially in my cakes, however; I could not find vanilla paste. I used an extra rich vanilla extract instead. After you have added the vanilla and sour cream, give it a mix, not too long, just until mixed through.





Now, remember that bowl of flour we set aside earlier? Well, now it is time to grab it. You are going to want to slowly add this in intervals of three to your batter. Do not forget to scrape the bowl between adding in more flour. Mix this together, only until it is incorporated and nothing more. It is important to not over mix your batter. Over mixing cake batters can result into a drier cake, as well as affecting the rise. After it is mixed, give your batter a taste test. ;) I promise it will be delicious! Now, line your cupcake pan, and spray the liners with some nonstick spray.

Bake these babies for, the recipe said 21-24 minutes, but I baked mine for exactly 20 minutes, and they were perfect! You are going to want to keep an eye on them, and to tell if they are done, stick a tooth pick in the middle of a cake, if it comes out clean, you are in good business and it's done. Also you can smell, when they are just about done. While they are baking, you can get the filling ready for your cupcakes. With the filling you can either hollow out the cakes and fill them, or just spread it on top. I choose to spread it on top because I love cake, and don't like to waste any cake!

 

 

For the filling, it is very simple. We are going to mix in a bowl 2/3 cup of soft ricotta cheese, and 2/3 cup mascarpone cheese with a rubber spatula. Be sure to push down on it when mixing to get all the lumps out of the ricotta. The recipe calls for 5 tablespoons of powdered sugar, however just 5 tablespoons did not taste sweet enough to me. I probably ended up adding about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, this did not mess up the consistency, actually it probably helped it. This is not in the original recipe, but I also added about 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter. WHAT is a cannoli filling WITHOUT chocolate chips?!?!?!  Am I right?!  :p

 

 

This did not take long to make, and my cupcakes were still baking at this point, so I placed it in the refrigerator to keep it chilled, and started on the whipped cream topping!

 

So for the whip cream you will need 1 and 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and the original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons cocoa powder. Let me just say I like very like chocolate things, so I only used 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, and even that tasted too chocolately to me! If I made this again, I would use only a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Mix all of your ingredients with a stand mixer on high until you have stiff peaks.

 

I let this sit in the refrigerator as well while the cupcakes cooled. When the cupcakes are done, allow them to cool completely before you begin to assemble them.

 

 

Once they are all cooled, oh this makes 12 by the way! Once cooled, begin to assemble, I spread a generous layer of the filling on all the cakes.

Then I placed the chocolate whipped cream in a piping bag, with a star tip from wilton, I piped the whipped cream on all the cupcakes.

 

After this I garnished these lovelies with some mini chocolate chips, I tried one, and it was missing something, I was a little disappointed. And then.. it hit me.. they were missing.. wait for it.

 

CINNAMON!

They were missing cinnamon. Cinnamon on a cannoli, really makes it pop.

 

After adding the cinnamon, and closing my eyes when trying it, it was amazing and tasted like a true cannoli. I was so much more pleased after adding the cinnamon. It is a very small change, but makes a world of a difference. The cake is super moist. The only downfall about these, is you are going to want to eat them quickly as the method of storing these is in the refrigerator. They need to be refrigerated for two purposes. The first reason is because of the cheeses, and the other reason is so the whip cream doesn't fall. The refrigerator, however, dried cakes out, so store these in an air tight container in the refrigerator and eat fast! I recommend when consuming one to let it come to room temperature first, for a more enjoyable cake.

 

 

Cannoli Cupcakes

   

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

 

Cannoli Topping
• 2/3 cup Mascarpone cheese
• 2/3 cup Ricotta cheese, strained slightly*
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

 

Sweetened Chocalate Whipped Cream
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, for garnish
• Cinnamon for garnish

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter and sugar on medium high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 - 4 minutes, occasionally scrapping down the sides of the bowl. Stir in eggs one at a time mixing until combine after each addition. Mix in sour cream and vanilla. With mixer set at low speed, slowly add dry ingredients and mix just until combine, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Divide batter among 12 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup batter per each). Bake in preheated oven 21 - 24 minutes until lightly golden and toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. Cool cupcakes completely.
For the cannoli topping
• In a small mixing bowl, using a rubber or silicone spatula, blend together Mascarpone and Ricotta cheese while running and pressing mixture along bottom of bowl to create a smooth texture while removing any lumps. Add in 1/2 cup powdered sugar and mix until well blended.
For sweetened chocolate whipped cream
• In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend together heavy cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, cocoa and vanilla until combine. Increase mixer to medium-high speed and whip until stiff peaks form.
To assemble cupcakes
• Spread about 1 1/2 Tbsp cannoli filling over the top of each cupcake, then pipe sweetened chocolate whipped cream over cupcakes. Garnish with mini chocolate chips and cinnamon. Serve within the next 3 hours (as the whipped cream will begin to break down after that). Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.