I’ve said it before, but my friends are absolutely amazing.
First, my friend Sara. On Friday night, a group of my book club girls gathered together as we bid a tearful but oh-so-exciting farewell to Sara as she moves across the ocean to be with her love. It’s true. After leaving her job as an English teacher to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter (you must check out her beautiful music — she was even featured on the show “Private Practice”!), her leap of faith also landed her in the path of an amazing man with a rockin’ accent from Britain who…pretty much instantly fell in love with her. And then proceeded to win her heart from halfway around the world. Theirs is truly an amazing love story that has been inspiring to see unfold. Grateful and so excited for her.
So for my contribution to the evening full of wine, sweets, and (always) great conversation, I decided to modify a traditional Italian dessert recipe from one of my other amazing friends — Lisa. I met Lisa years ago when she auditioned for a choir I was directing, and have been inspired and amazed by her story as well. After coming out of a really difficult season in life, this gal met and married another amazing man. And then decided somewhat on a whim to launch her own foodie website, dedicated entirely to Italian dessert recipes. (Hint hint – that’s the name of the site!) Literally, people, every single one I’ve tried has been nothing sort of fantastico!
So when I had the idea for making some little cannoli cups for Sara’s party, I immediately knew whose filling recipe to try. Sure enough, Lisa’s cannoli filling was absolutely amazing! As my friends said to tell the blogosphere, it was subtle, sweet, and really delicious. And they thought they were so tasty that a “wizard” must have made them. Ha – ok, long story. But trust us — they are crazy good. And really easy. So I’m pretty sure you should try them.
Grateful once again today for amazingly talented friends and the amazing joy found in courageous leaps of faith!
Cannoli Cups
Ingredients
- 1 package (16 oz.) wonton wrappers
- 1 container (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/3 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
- powdered sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
- In a bowl, slowly whisk *1 cup* of the milk into the cornstarch until smooth. Let sit about 20 minutes.
- Transfer mixture into a sauce pan, and then add in the remaining milk and sugar. Heat on medium-low, stirring constantly until it is very thick and smooth (about 7-10 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in the almond and vanilla extracts. Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the filling to avoid “skin”, and let cool until the mixture reaches room temperature.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then press 30-35 wonton wrappers (you can do this in multiple batches) into a mini baking cup pan to form the “cups”. (Be sure that the corners do not fold in after the pan sits for a minute!) Bake the cups for 10-15 minutes, or until the wrappers are golden brown. Remove and let cool.
- After the milk mixture has reached room temperature, whisk in the ricotta and cinnamon until smooth. (You can also do this with an electric mixer on low.) Use a pastry bag to pipe the mixture into the baked wonton cups, or use a spoon to scoop it in. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, then dust with powdered sugar. Refrigerate, or serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Source: Filling recipe slightly adapted from Italian Dessert Recipes.
Lovely little sweet treat! I cannot wait to make them for my 3 year old & myself to nibble on. Question, Is the almond extract necessary? My son has a tree nut allergy. I wonder if puff pastry shell could be used as well as the wonton papers or do you think it would get soggy?
Thanks Carla! The almond extract isn’t totally necessary (you could just use vanilla if you wanted). We would still recommend using the wonton papers though. We hope you and your kiddo enjoy!
Have you tried making these in advance and freezing? Any tips or tricks? Thanks! Love your site. :)
Hi Monica! Unfortunately we don’t think these would freeze well, because of the cream. It’s so delicate, and it will likely separate. We hope you enjoy these though!
Hi
I love this idea! Quick question, can I bake the wonton earlier in the day and then stiff them later? I just want to make sure they won’t get soggy since I’m doing them early.
Thanks!
Hi Melissa, yes you can definitely do that! We hope you enjoy these!
Ii didn’t have whole milk and only buy skim so I used vanilla coffee creamer for the milk with great success still using the vanilla extract. Dusting the cups with powdered sugar when they come out of the oven is a must!!
Oooh, we love that idea, way to be resourceful! : )
Just finished making these and they are in the fridge for a party tomorrow! I’m curious if anyone has found a replacement for the wonton shell…they are perfect for tiny desserts, but lack a bit in the taste department. Thank you so much for this recipe!
We hope you enjoyed these, Allison! Egg roll wrappers, maybe?
I just made these and they were so good! I had eggroll wrappers and did a test but didn’t like the flavor or lack of. I had an extra puff pastry sheet so I cut little rectangles (for dipping), covered with egg wash and sprinkled with cinn and sugar and cooked according to box. They taste great with the cannoli cream. I followed the recipe exactly minus the almond extract bc I didn’t have any so I increased the vanilla a little bit. The recipe is delicious! Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks Ali :)
We are having some family & friends over for a BBQ for my hubby’s birthday next month so I’, going to make these little beauties as part of a desert platter!
They look great & so easy to make. I have always wanted to make cannolis and now I will :)
Thank you, Anita xx
Thanks for the great recipe! I made this for a very Italian family party last week, and they were a hit!
Some tips I learned: I dusted the cups with powdered sugar before filling them, which I think helped make them taste more dessert-like. I also drained the cheese overnight.
Yummy!! Tasted just like a cannoli and I will defiantly be making these cannoli cups again!! So good and I totally recommend these because they are quick,easy,and delicious!!
I made these and they looked great but they didn’t taste at all like canoli. The shell just tasted like wonton….