Cannoli Tart
As much fun as making cannoli is, they’re quite a lot of work. So this week’s project was trying to get that delicious cannoli flavor into something less labor intensive. I’m really pleased with the final result! This creamy cannoli tart features a rich, creamy filling nestled into a toasty cinnamon graham crust.
Make the crust
This tart crust comes together just like a graham pie crust, except instead of a pie plate, this recipe calls for a tart pan with a removeable bottom. Since cannoli traditionally includes a little cinnamon, I used cinnamon grahams for this tart, along with some brown sugar.
Both make this crust toasty and delicious!
Make the filling
The real hero of this cannoli tart is the filling. Most cannoli recipes just call for sweetened ricotta, but when there’s no crispy fried shell to crunch, the filling becomes much more important.
Use the best ricotta you can find, with the least amount of stabilizers and extra ingredients. I used Salvatore Bklyn, (thanks to a wonderful friend!) but some good supermarket alternatives are Calabro and Kroger’s Simple Truth brand.
Apart from the ricotta, this filling has a silky smooth custard base that has a dash of lemon zest and sprinkle of cinnamon. It’s so good that I had to stop eating it by the spoonful, seriously. Once the custard has cooled, fold in the ricotta cheese and spread the filling into the graham crust.
Garnish and serve
Top the finished cannoli tart with some mini chocolate chips and just a little powdered sugar! This tart keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge.
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Cannoli Tart
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert, Pies & Pastry
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American/Italian
Description
This cannoli tart is light, creamy and delicious with a perfectly toasty cinnamon graham crust.
Ingredients
For the tart crust:
- 1 1/4 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
- 3 TB brown sugar
- 5 TB unsalted butter, melted
For the cannoli filling:
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 TB vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 2 1/4 cups ricotta cheese
- mini chocolate chips, for garnish if desired
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Make the crust.Β Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease a 9 inch tart pan, combine the crust ingredients together in a small bowl and mix until evenly moistened. Press the crust mixture into the prepared tart pan and pack it firmly to the sides and bottom, getting everything as even as you can. Bake for 7-8 minutes and allow to cool completely.
- Make the filling.Β In a medium sized saucepan, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together until well combined. Add the egg, egg yolk and milk and whisk again until smooth.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly to dissolve the sugar and thicken the custard. It should take about 5 minutes. When the custard begins to thicken, it may appear lumpy and curdled, but just keep whisking vigorously until the entire saucepan is silky smooth. It will happen. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla, lemon zest and cinnamon.
- Add the custard to a baking dish or pie plate, and spread into a thin, even layer. Cover the surface with a sheet of plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate for an hour until thickened and cool.Β
- Scrape the cooled custard into a stand mixer bowl, and use the paddle attachment to beat until smooth, just a couple minutes. Fold the ricotta into the custard, and refrigerate the completed filling until needed. You can prepare this filling up to 3 days in advance.
- Assemble the tart.Β Add the prepared filling to the graham crust and spread evenly into all the edges. Top with mini chocolate chips and a dusting of powdered sugar. Refrigerate any leftovers for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 371
- Sugar: 27.2 g
- Sodium: 181.1 mg
- Fat: 18.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.9 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 101.6 mg
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