I have been working on perfecting a Cinnabon cinnamon roll recipe for a while, the hardest part about perfecting the recipe was the frosting. Well I was able to mimic it and modify it to work for a cannoli giving the cinnabon taste an Italian flair. If you have never had a Cinnabon defiantly try one, In my opinion they are some of the best cinnamon buns out there.

Step 1: The Ingredients

To make the filling for the cannoli you will need the following:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces of ricotta cheese

The hardest part about making this frosting is getting all of the ingredients to whip and aerate correctly, I will break down the process as best as I can in the following steps.

If you need some shells you can find my recipe for them here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Cannoli-Shells/

Step 2: Techniques and Tips

All of the ingredients will be added in order to get the right consistency.

To whip the butter it will need to be softened and will need to be whipped at high speed for about 3 minutes.
After it is creamy you will need to set the bowl on ice water for about 5 minutes to slightly stiffen up the butter.
Now that it has slightly stiffened up you will need to whip it for an additional 4-5 minutes. You will know it is ready for the next ingredient when the butter has turned almost white and has increased in volume.
You can now add all of the remaining ingredients except the ricotta cheese. You will want to slowly increase the speed of the mixer until you are out of the danger zone of having powered sugar fly everywhere, after that whip on high for about 2 more minutes.
Now you can add in the ricotta and blend for about a minute, after that it will be done and it should be light and fluffy.

Step 3: Filling the Cannoli

Now comes the easy part take the cannoli shells and either spoon or pipe the filling into them. I used a 1M star tip and a large piping bag to fill them. After they are filled just sprinkle some cinnamon and powered sugar on the top and serve.

I would only fill what you want to eat at the time. Any leftover filling you have can be put in a container and placed in the fridge and used at a later time, it should stay good for about a week in the fridge. Any leftover cannoli shells can be placed in an airtight container and be stored for about a week as well.