Introduction: Cannoli Cups

This idea came about when I decided to try my hand at making cannolis. For all of you that don't know cannolis are an Italian dessert made of a think hollow tube like shell filled with a whipped cream that is made most commonly with ricotta cheese. Ricotta cheese can also be substituted for cream cheese or similar cheeses. This idea to make cannoli cups was brought about when i didn't have enough cooking oil to fry the shells as well as I did not have the cannoli tubes that are used to make the hollow shells. instead I improvised, I but the dough into a cup cake pan and baked the dough. this actually have it a cookie like texture and taste. I am going to post the recipe below (not exact recipe:  there will be more cream left over than there are pastries this can be fixed by stretching the dough thinner causing the resulting pastries to be thinner and crunchier and giving you more pastries.)

Pastry Recipe:
    4 cups of flour
    3 oz of shortening
    3 oz of sugar (add more sugar for a sweeter pastry)
    1/4 teaspoon of salt
    1 teaspoon of cinnamon
    1 teaspoon almond extract
    1/2 cup water (or if desired use 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup vinegar)
    2 eggs

1) Mix all dry ingredients into a bowl or electric mixer including the shortening. ( you can cut the shortening into smaller pieces to help it mix better but include all shortening.)
2) Add two eggs and water to the mixture blend until smooth dough is formed. ( if using an electric mixer use the medium speed setting.)
3)  Put the dough on a lightly floured surface such as a CLEAN counter or a CLEAN cutting board. Knead for about 5-10 minutes.
4) Put the dough in a bowl and cover it for about 20-30 minutes.
In the mean time while you are waiting on the dough to set you can now start on your cannoli filling.

Filling Recipe:
   4 cups whole milk ricotta cheese (same if using cream cheese or similar cheese such as mascarpone cheese.)
   1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
   1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (you can use regular confection sugar but powder sugar tends to blend smoother without it being grainy.)
   1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (i used pure vanilla extract because i prefer the taste over the artificial extract)

1) In a bowl or electric mixer add the powdered or confection sugar and the heavy whipping cream. whisk until smooth and there are no lumps.
2) Blend in the ricotta cheese slowly adding a little at a time to prevent any lumping or a grainy texture to develope.
3) whisk until the ricotta is fully incorporated. if using an electric mixer again use the medium setting.

Finishing:
To finish the cannoli cups take the dough that you set aside and roll it out again. I used a circular lid that was about 3-4 inches in diameter to cup the shapes. This all depends on how big of a cup cake pan you are using. After you cut out the shapes stretch them into the cupcake pan. I then put the pans into the freezer for about 5 minutes just to help the dough set inside the pan a little. This is completely optional. While finishing putting the dough in the pans preheat your oven to 4000
IMPORTANT: put the cream filling into the fridge to keep it cold while waiting for the cakes to cook.
when the oven is finished preheating put cakes in the oven for about 5 minutes. after 5 minutes if the cakes are still not done put them in for a few more minutes. There is no exact time because each oven is different and it all depends on how dark you want your cakes to be. After the cakes are finished cooking pull them out of the oven to cool down. I was able to get about 2 1/2 dozen out of the dough. While you are waiting for the pastries to cool down i put the cream filling to into a pipping bag to help fill the cakes. After the cakes are cooled fill the pastries with the cream filling. You now have finished cannoli cups. You can add powdered sugar to the top as a little garnish or you can use a double boiler to melt chocolate to dribble on top. I actually used a food processor (a magic bullet) to grind up chocolate chips into a powder to sprinkle on top.

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