Mini Cannoli – Perfect For Parties

These mini cannoli are the easiest, most good and may we say cutest mini desserts ever. One of the ultimate Italian sweet treats in mini form, can it get much better than this?No. Make these mini cannoli in around 10-15 minutes and serve them up for game day treats, party food or well, because.

Did we mention how cute these are?…

We have had a cannoli obsession recently so when we came across mini cannoli shells in the supermarket, our little heart skipped a beat and we HAD to buy them.

Because, how cute?!

Did we say these were great for parties because eating them with a cup of tea on the sofa watching movies is totally ok too.

Cannoli Shells

You can if you want make cannoli shells from scratch they aren't that hard but making the shells can be quite time-consuming. You need to make the sweet pastry dough, let it rest, roll it out, cut it to size, wrap it around the cannoli tubes or moulds and fry them.

Now that's all great fun for a relaxing Sunday afternoon baking but if you want an impressive, quick and good dessert for entertaining and parties then these store-bought mini cannoli shells are solid.

The cannoli filling

Use good quality ricotta and whip it with a hand whisk until smooth. Add the sugar, chocolate chips and orange or lemon zest.

We prefer to use orange zest but lemon zest works great too. Also, you can use whatever flavoured chocolate chips you prefer. For these mini cannoli we used dark chocolate chips and reserved some for topping.

Transfer the filling to a piping bag with a smooth or star-shaped nozzle and place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Alternatively, you can place the mixture into the fridge if you're not using filling them straight away.

When the mini cannoli shells have dried, pipe the ricotta filling into each one and top each end with candied orange peel or chocolate chips.

Enjoy!

More sweet treats to try

• Homemade Sicilian Cannoli (shells and filling)
• Italian Hot Chocolate
• Homemade Nutella Chocolate Spread
• Chocolate Panna Cotta
• Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream
• Tiramisu Ice Cream

Ingredients

Makes 20 mini cannoli

• 20 mini cannoli shells
• 14.1 oz (400g) good quality ricotta cheese
• 1.7 oz (50g) dark chocolate
• 1.7 oz (50g) white chocolate
• 1/2 cup (110g) extra fine caster sugar
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/2 cup (80g) dark chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp chopped candied orange peel

Method

1. Place a heatproof bowl over a small pot of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water and the water doesn't boil). Break the chocolate into pieces and melt, you'll need to do this twice if using two different types of chocolate.

2. Once melted, dip each end of the mini cannoli shells into the chocolate and set aside on baking parchment to set and dry.

3. Whip the ricotta with a hand whisk until smooth. Add the sugar, around 2/3 of the chocolate chips and orange, stir everything together.

4. We prefer to use orange zest but lemon zest works great too. Also, you can use whatever flavoured chocolate chips you prefer. For these mini cannoli we used dark chocolate chips and reserved some for topping.

5. Transfer the filling to a piping bag with a smooth or star-shaped nozzle and place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Alternatively, you can place the mixture into the fridge if you're not using filling them straight away.

6. When the mini cannoli shells have dried, pipe the ricotta filling into each one and top each end with candied orange peel and remaining chocolate chips.

Kitchen notes

• Try dipping the cannoli shells in chopped nuts or dried candied fruit whilst the chocolate is still wet. Chopped hazelnuts and pistachios are best.
• Try decorating the shells with sprinkles, think pink for Valentines Day, red and green for Christmas etc.
• Calories are per cannoli.