Several weeks ago I was invited to a small dinner party that turned into a bit of a surprise birthday celebration for one of the hosts. Since I’m known for my love of baking, I was asked to bring a birthday dessert. I then proceeded to scheme for the rest of the afternoon, trying to decide what to make.
My first thought was this gorgeous blood orange loaf cake that I made at the beginning of February and had wanted to make again ever since the last slice of that loaf was consumed. But a loaf cake didn’t seem “birthday” enough, even though it is absolutely stunning and delicious. So I decided to make blood orange loaf cake AND something else.
After more brainstorming, the idea of cannoli stuck in my head. Since I don't have cannoli forms, I contemplated cannoli cups, but those can’t be filled until just before serving, and I needed something I could prepare ahead of time. I looked into a cannoli tart, but then remembered I don’t have a tart pan with me. And then I landed on the answer: cupcakes, cannoli cupcakes.
I thought for sure there would be some killer cannoli cupcake recipe out there, one with tons of rave reviews. But I could not find such a killer recipe. Nothing looked quite right. I didn’t just want a yellow cupcake with ricotta or mascarpone frosting. And recipes that called for pistachios were out because I can’t eat them. I decided to chance it and come up with my own recipe for cannoli cupcakes, knowing that if they failed, the blood orange cake would be enough to fulfill my dessert obligations.
My first thought was this gorgeous blood orange loaf cake that I made at the beginning of February and had wanted to make again ever since the last slice of that loaf was consumed. But a loaf cake didn’t seem “birthday” enough, even though it is absolutely stunning and delicious. So I decided to make blood orange loaf cake AND something else.
After more brainstorming, the idea of cannoli stuck in my head. Since I don't have cannoli forms, I contemplated cannoli cups, but those can’t be filled until just before serving, and I needed something I could prepare ahead of time. I looked into a cannoli tart, but then remembered I don’t have a tart pan with me. And then I landed on the answer: cupcakes, cannoli cupcakes.
I thought for sure there would be some killer cannoli cupcake recipe out there, one with tons of rave reviews. But I could not find such a killer recipe. Nothing looked quite right. I didn’t just want a yellow cupcake with ricotta or mascarpone frosting. And recipes that called for pistachios were out because I can’t eat them. I decided to chance it and come up with my own recipe for cannoli cupcakes, knowing that if they failed, the blood orange cake would be enough to fulfill my dessert obligations.
I started thinking about what would make a good cupcake base for cannoli cupcakes. Yellow cake seemed too … yellow. Brown sugar, it had to involve brown sugar. And maybe chocolate chips for added interest. With the addition of cinnamon and Marsala wine to bring in some of the flavors of cannoli shells. The base from Annie’s chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes seemed the perfect starting point.
For the frosting, I ruled out ricotta because I wanted a smooth, creamy frosting, and ricotta is too grainy. Mascarpone and cream cheese sprinkled with chocolate chips sounded divine. But after trying a cupcake with just the frosting, I was disappointed to discover it didn’t really taste like cannoli. To fix this, I knew I would need to fill the cupcakes with a traditional ricotta cannoli filling. This time, when I tasted the finished cupcake, it had the cannoli flavor profile that I was after. Perfect.
Both the blood orange cake and the cannoli cupcakes were a great success and rounded out the Italian theme of the dinner quite nicely.
For the frosting, I ruled out ricotta because I wanted a smooth, creamy frosting, and ricotta is too grainy. Mascarpone and cream cheese sprinkled with chocolate chips sounded divine. But after trying a cupcake with just the frosting, I was disappointed to discover it didn’t really taste like cannoli. To fix this, I knew I would need to fill the cupcakes with a traditional ricotta cannoli filling. This time, when I tasted the finished cupcake, it had the cannoli flavor profile that I was after. Perfect.
Both the blood orange cake and the cannoli cupcakes were a great success and rounded out the Italian theme of the dinner quite nicely.
Cannoli Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons Marsala wine or vanilla extract
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
For the Filling
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
½ cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons miniature chocolate chips
½ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
For the Frosting
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
16 ounces Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
Miniature chocolate chips for garnish
Waffle cones dipped in chocolate for garnish
Directions
For the cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition until just incorporated. Stir in the wine. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Divide the batter between the cupcake liners. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
For the Filling
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the ricotta on medium speed for 1 minute to cut down on the graininess of the cheese. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla, if using, and beat until smooth, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar to taste. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Set a fine mesh strainer lines with cheesecloth over a bowl large enough that the strainer is not touching the bottom. Empty the filling into the cheesecloth. Place in the refrigerator and allow to drain for 5 hours or overnight to remove excess liquid.
To fill the cupcakes, use either a cupcake plunger or a paring knife to remove a section of the cupcake. For the paring knife method, use the paring knife to cut a cone-shaped section (made by cutting a circle in the top of the cupcake with the knife angled at 45ª) out of the center of the cupcake. Remove this section and slice off the top of the cone to create a cap, leaving a thin circle that can be used to “plug” the hole left in the cupcake, and discarding the rest. Fill the hole in the cupcake with the ricotta filling and then place the cap over the hole. If too much of the filling leaks out the top, scrape it off so that you have a smoother area to frost.
For the Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, mascarpone, and cream cheese together on medium speed until well combined. Add powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Using a spatula, stir in vanilla extract. Chill until ready to use.
After the cupcakes have been filled, frost as desired. (Note: I found this frosting too thick and finicky to use with a closed star tip). Garnish with miniature chocolate chips and waffle cone (or bowl) shards dipped in chocolate.
Cupcake base adapted from Annie's Eats
Frosting adapted from Tasty Kitchen
Garnish from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons Marsala wine or vanilla extract
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
For the Filling
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
½ cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons miniature chocolate chips
½ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
For the Frosting
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
16 ounces Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
Miniature chocolate chips for garnish
Waffle cones dipped in chocolate for garnish
Directions
For the cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition until just incorporated. Stir in the wine. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Divide the batter between the cupcake liners. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
For the Filling
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the ricotta on medium speed for 1 minute to cut down on the graininess of the cheese. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla, if using, and beat until smooth, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar to taste. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Set a fine mesh strainer lines with cheesecloth over a bowl large enough that the strainer is not touching the bottom. Empty the filling into the cheesecloth. Place in the refrigerator and allow to drain for 5 hours or overnight to remove excess liquid.
To fill the cupcakes, use either a cupcake plunger or a paring knife to remove a section of the cupcake. For the paring knife method, use the paring knife to cut a cone-shaped section (made by cutting a circle in the top of the cupcake with the knife angled at 45ª) out of the center of the cupcake. Remove this section and slice off the top of the cone to create a cap, leaving a thin circle that can be used to “plug” the hole left in the cupcake, and discarding the rest. Fill the hole in the cupcake with the ricotta filling and then place the cap over the hole. If too much of the filling leaks out the top, scrape it off so that you have a smoother area to frost.
For the Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, mascarpone, and cream cheese together on medium speed until well combined. Add powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Using a spatula, stir in vanilla extract. Chill until ready to use.
After the cupcakes have been filled, frost as desired. (Note: I found this frosting too thick and finicky to use with a closed star tip). Garnish with miniature chocolate chips and waffle cone (or bowl) shards dipped in chocolate.
Cupcake base adapted from Annie's Eats
Frosting adapted from Tasty Kitchen
Garnish from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen