Cannoli with Mascarpone Ricotta Filling

Cannolis are one of my favorite Italian dessert recipes! My homemade cannolis start with a scratch made shell filled with the best creamy ricotta mascarpone filling! This heavenly treat definitely takes time and patience, but every ounce is worth it!

If you’re a fan of a rich ricotta filling, you should serve these for dessert after making cheese manicotti, stuffed shells, or a classic sausage lasagna.

Why this recipe works:

A cannoli is an Italian pastries in the form of hard tubular shells filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and often containing nuts, citron, or chocolate bits.

• The wonderful flavor and texture of a good cannoli is so hard to describe. It’s something you should really experience.
• The shell is a pastry that you fry. It is only slightly sweet. I suppose it’s taste is similar to an unfrosted donut, but the texture is crisp and thin.
• The filling isn’t overly sweet either. Some people might have a hard time with a pure ricotta filling. I wanted mine lighter and creamier, so I also used heavy cream and mascarpone cheese.
• Since I think every cannoli needs a good crunch, inside and out, I used mini chocolate chips and crushed pistachios. YUM!

Making homemade cannolis isn’t exactly difficult, but there’s some equipment needed in order to make the process easy and consistent. It takes a bit of time, too, since you have to make the cannoli shells and the cannoli filling.

I highly recommend grabbing a friend and making an experience of the process!

Ingredients needed:

There are two main components: the cream and the shells.

My filling recipe consists of:

• heavy cream
• mascarpone cheese (I prefer the Trader Joe’s brand and use it for my mascarpone frosting)
• ricotta cheese
• confectioners sugar
• pure vanilla extract
• lemon zest and orange zest
• pistachio flavor – optional but highly recommended

My shell recipe consists of:

• flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon
• butter
• an egg plus an egg yolk
• sweet Marsala wine – it ain’t a cannoli if you don’t use this ingredient!
• vinegar and water

How to make them:

I’ll try to simplify the process of how I make my Italian cannoli and give you a good summary, since the recipe below is super thorough and I included a ton of process photos.

1. Start by making the filling. I like to use the stand mixer to get it light and fluffy. The filling needs to chill at least a couple hours or over night before it gets stuffed into the shells.
2. Next you’ll make the dough for the shells. This dough will need to be kneaded for about 10 minutes. You can do this by hand or in a stand mixer with a dough hook. You’ll want to wrap the dough and let it rest for about an hour, refrigerated, until you’re ready to make the shells.
3. The dough must be rolled out extremely thin. The thinner the dough, the crisper and lighter the shells will cook. I like to use my pasta roller, but if you’re talented you can roll by hand.
4. To cook the shells, you must first wrap the dough around cannoli tubes. Then, you’ll deep fry the dough while wrapped around the tubes for only about a minute. Once they’re removed from the oil and cool enough to handle, you’ll slide the tube out and repeat, repeat, repeat. This is why it’s best to make the shells with a friend.
5. Now you can finally fill the shells with the cream filling. Add as many chocolate chips and nuts to the filling and then dip the ends in the chocolate to make them extra pretty.