We celebrated one of my best friend's birthday over the weekend and she loves cannoli. Even though I don't bake much, I took on the task of providing a birthday cake, plus I love cannoli too. Instead of a cake I thought an arrangement of cupcakes and cannoli would be cute. I made a vanilla bean cupcake, ricotta cannoli filling and chocolate whipped cream. I stuffed cannoli shells and the cupcakes with the filling then topped with the chocolate whipped cream. It came out beautiful and very tasty without being too sweet. It was definitely a crowd pleaser and made everyone smile :)

Makes 12 cupcakes. If just wanting to make cannoli, you can make the shells yourself, but it just so much easier to stop by your local bakery and pick up empty shells from them! Place the filling in a ziplock baggie then cut off a tip of the corner to fill each shell.
Ingredients

• Cannoli shells

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 3 tablespoons of butter, room temperature

• pinch of salt

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1 egg

Cannoli Filling:

• 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• lemon zest of one lemon

• few sprinkles of ground cinnamon

Chocolate Whipped Cream:

• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

• 1 2/3 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. Vanilla Bean Cupcakes- preheat oven to 325

2. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.

3. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat while gradually adding the milk then the egg, beat until combined. Careful not to over mix.

4. Line the muffin tray and fill each one half full.

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until they become a light golden color. Let cool completely then using a little knife or the correct tool for this, remove a little piece of the center. Cutting on an angle and a circular motion remove this small piece, it will look like a cone when you take this little piece of cake out

6. Cannoli Filling- In a mixing bowl, whisk the ricotta cheese, then sift in powdered sugar, add the vanilla extract and cinnamon. Stir in the lemon zest. Keep refrigerated until you need it. Fill each cannoli shell and cupcake with this. Then top each cupcake with the chocolate whipped cream.

7. Chocolate Whipped Cream- Using an electric mixer on high speed beat together the cream, cocoa and powdered sugar until it forms stiff peaks.

   We’d love to see your finished product! Post your picture on Instagram, tag us @danimade.kitchen and hashtag it #danimade