Another baby, another batch of cupcakes for the office baby luncheon!

This time, the food was mostly Italian (gnocci, pizza, lots o’ garlic), and I wanted something to go with the theme. I came up with a Cannoli cupcake! I figured if I went a little Sicilian with my offering, no one would really notice (LOL)

I did not have the time, energy, or equipment to make proper cannoli shells, so instead I substituted the shells for a cupcake base. I found THIS great cannoli cupcake recipe after a quick google search, and with just a few teensy tweaks, I produced what my husband has deemed “the best cupcakes I’ve ever eaten”.

Pardon, all of these are taken with my iPhone

First, I started with my ricotta. I didn’t make my own this time, but I’m thinking I will for the next batch!

To strain, you need to wrap the cheese up in cheesecloth, set in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with a towel. Place heavy cans on top of the cheese to help it drain better. This was placed in the fridge for three hours.

While the ricotta strained in the fridge, I whipped up yellow cake cupcakes (yes I cheated with a box mix yellow cake!), and let them cool.

Then, I hollowed out a small section of each cupcake, so I could add the filling

Next, I made a chocolate ganache

Then dipped my cupcakes and swirled in the batter

I let these sit tight while I kneaded the ricotta to make sure it was ready to mix.

Orange zest – I added 2 1/2 Tbsp instead of 2 ( i like oranges )

I used 1 1/3 C powdered sugar, instead of the 1 2/3 C recommended, because I didn’t want it to be too sweet. Cinnamon and vanilla rounded it all out with a hint of warmth and spice

Then I piped the filling into the cupcakes, used the same filling as the topping, and dropped mini chocolate chips to give it the official Cannoli look

Mangia!

My coworkers seemed to enjoy them, and Tim is begging me to make them again – so, I definitely consider these a success!