Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (2024)

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This Cannoli Tart has all the great flavors of a cannoli wrapped into one simple tart! With a touch of cinnamon and mini chocolate chips, it’s got all the things I love most about cannolis.

Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (1)

Table of Contents

  • Cannoli Tart
  • How to Make a Cannoli Tart
  • Get the Recipe

Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (2)

Cannoli Tart

So I spent most of my baking time this past week on this one darn recipe for the cookbook. It just would not cooperate. It wasn’t bad, per se, but it also wasn’t just right. And truly, I’m quite picky. Especially when it comes to a book that’s going to be published. Talk about scary.

So I had several versions of said recipe stacked in several cupcake carriers around the kitchen. Saturday morning I came down early to keep working on it. Several hours later when the hubs came down, he revealed that he’d had trouble sleeping the night before and when he came downstairs to watch tv, he got into the cupcakes.

Of course my brain immediately went into panic mode – for about 5 seconds. Did he eat ones I needed for comparison purposes?! Oh no!

But then he followed up with, “But I ate ones from different tiers so they weren’t all the same batch.”

Phew! 😉

He could see my relief – and laughter – and claimed that he was proud of himself because he now knows how to properly steal cupcakes from me. Ha! Thief!

It was also his birthday, so I couldn’t be too mad. 🙂

Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (3)
Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (4)

This cannoli tart is absolutely worthy of some major thievery.

If you’ve hung around this blog for a while, you’ve probably realized that I love cannoli desserts. I don’t always love getting cannolis from bakeries. I find they tend be to super sweet, which is weird to hear me say, but it’s true. But I love making my own cannoli-inspired desserts. A cannoli poke cake, cannoli icebox cake and now a tart. And I’m sure there’s more to come. I can make them just sweet enough with just the right amount of cinnamon. Mmm mm mm!

And this particular dessert is nice because it’s so easy. It’s almost completely no bake, but I did actually bake the crust. I wanted to be sure it held together a little better when sliced.

How to Make a Cannoli Tart

The filling is made first by making homemade whipped cream. It lightens up the tart filling nicely.

The next step is to combine the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. I love using mascarpone cheese. It’s so darn yummy. Some cannolis actually use a combination of mascarpone and ricotta, but because ricotta can be a little finicky with the amount of water I stuck to mascarpone. Feel free to replace some of it with ricotta if you prefer.

Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. You want to use a folding motion so that you don’t deflate the whipped cream.

Spread the filling into the tart, top with some mini chocolate chips and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Refrigerate it until firm and devour! Such an easy to way to enjoy a wonderful cannoli dessert! Yum!!

Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (5)
Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (6)

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Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (7)

Recipe

Cannoli Tart

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 7 minutes
  • Total Time: 17 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

This Cannoli Tart has all the great flavors of a cannoli wrapped into one simple tart! With a touch of cinnamon and mini chocolate chips, it’s got all the things I love most about cannolis.

Ingredients

CRUST

  • 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 5 tbsp butter, melted

CANNOLI FILLING

  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided
  • 12 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • mini chocolate chips, for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9 inch tart pan.
2. Combine ingredients for crust and press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
3. Bake crust for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
4. To make the whipped cream, whip heavy whipping cream on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Cream will initially bubble a little bit, then start to thicken.
5. As the cream starts to thicken, add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
6. Whip on high until stiff peaks form, for a total whipping time of about 5-7 minutes.
7. Set whipped cream aside and combine mascarpone cheese, remaining powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Mix on slow speed until combined. Do not over mix.
8. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.
9. Spread filling into the tart crust and refrigerate until firm, 3-4 hours.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Silce
  • Calories: 459
  • Sugar: 19.1 g
  • Sodium: 157.1 mg
  • Fat: 35.9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 31.3 g
  • Protein: 4.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 98.3 mg

Filed Under:

  • Christmas
  • Easter
  • Holidays
  • No Bake Desserts
  • Other Sweets
  • Recipes
  • Sweets and Treats

Enjoy!

Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (8)

Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (9)

Cannoli Tart | Quick and Easy Homemade Tart Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between custard and ricotta cannoli? ›

The cream horn has a puff pastry shell that's filled with sweetened whipped cream or custard. The cannoli, meanwhile, has a fried pastry shell that's filled with a ricotta mixture that tends to be denser than cream horn filling.

What can I use instead of cannoli tubes? ›

If you don't have metal cannoli tubes, create your own while you wait for the dough to be ready. For each tube you make, you'll need a 12×12 inch sheet of aluminum foil. Fold the sheet in half, then wrap it tightly around a dowel that's about 1 1/4 inches in diameter.

What Italian dessert is made from sweetened ricotta stuffed into crispy pastry tubes? ›

Cannoli (singular cannolo) literally translates from Italian to “l*ttle tubes.” Cannoli are hand-formed, crispy little pastry tubes filled with a decadent ricotta filling. Marsala wine added to the pastry dough creates the perfect texture, and when fried, you end up with golden, flaky, slightly sweet cannoli shells.

What is traditional cannoli filling made of? ›

Traditionally, cannoli filling is a sweet, simple filling made with ricotta cheese and powdered sugar. We also use vanilla and a hint of cinnamon in our cannoli filling recipe.

How unhealthy is a cannoli? ›

Made with sweetened ricotta cheese and deep-fried pastry shells, cannoli are typically high in calories. While these Italian desserts may be hard to resist, they're best left for rare occasions if you're trying to manage your weight.

What is the English version of cannoli? ›

In English, cannoli is used for the singular and the plural, but the plural cannolis is also common. In Italian, cannoli is plural; the singular is cannolo ( Italian: [kanˈnɔːlo]; Sicilian: cannolu, Sicilian: [kanˈnɔːlʊ]), a diminutive meaning 'little tube', from canna, 'cane' or 'tube'.

What can I use to thicken cannoli filling? ›

To thicken, add cornstarch 1 tbsp. at a time until desired consistency is reached.

What is the shell of a cannoli made of? ›

What's In a Cannoli? These are the ingredients you'll need for this classic cannoli recipe: For the shells: all-purpose flour, white sugar, ground cinnamon, shortening, Marsala wine, water, distilled white vinegar, one whole egg, one egg yolk, one egg white, and a quart of oil for frying.

What is the most eaten dessert in Italy? ›

Perhaps the most iconic Italian dessert, tiramisu appears on menus at restaurants not only throughout Italy but also all over the world.

What brand of ricotta is best for cannoli filling? ›

Classic Cannoli Ricotta | Galbani Cheese.

What is the most frozen dessert in Italy? ›

GELATO, GRANITA AND SORBETTO: THE MOST POPULAR ITALIAN FROZEN DESSERTS.

What is the meaning of ricotta cannoli? ›

Cannoli (/kəˈnoʊliː/, Italian: [kanˈnɔːli]; Sicilian: cannola, Sicilian: [kanˈnɔːla]; sg. : cannolo) are a pastry consisting of a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta—a staple of Sicilian cuisine.

Are there different kinds of cannoli? ›

Many Italian pastry shops will have several varieties of cannoli on offer. A lesser-known type of cannoli, called Venetian cannoli, has a flaky puff pastry shell and is filled with vanilla or chocolate custard instead of ricotta. The classic flavors and textures of cannoli can also be translated into a cake or pie.

What is the difference between Italian cannoli and Sicilian cannoli? ›

Here are a few distinctions: The Venetian shell is in a cylinder shape while the Sicilian shell looks like a bow tie wrap. While the Sicilian dough is deep-fried, the Venetian dough is baked. The traditional Venetian filling is made of heavy cream cheese mixed with vanilla bean.

What is cannoli in Godfather? ›

It's culturally specific. It's not, "leave the gun, take the dessert." Cannoli — crusty tubular pastries with sweet ricotta filling — happened to be director Francis Ford Coppola's favorite when he was a kid. That's why he left the line in.

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