Cannoli Tart

I've had this recipe pinned on Pinterest (follow me *here*!) for ages now and after much deliberation I decided that today was the day! I was finally going to attempt to bake this glorious cannoli tart. If you don't know what a cannoli is then please let me offer you my most sincere condolences, because they are wonderful and you need to try one. A cannoli is a dreamy, little Italian pastry that is made with a pastry dough shell filled with a creamy ricotta filling. Absolutely lovely!

What I really like about this tart is that it isn't too sickly sweet. The light and fluffy ricotta filling adds a rich creaminess that pairs quite well with the crispy cinnamon crust. The recipe is simple to follow and it doesn't take too long to put together.

I followed this recipe but made a few minor changes.

Ingredients -

Crust:

1 cups of sifted all purpose flour

1/2 of a cup plus 1 tablespoon of white sugar

1/2 of a teaspoon of salt

1 heaping teaspoon of cinnamon

1/3 of a cup of cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

1 tablespoon of milk

Filling:

2 and 1/4 cups of ricotta

1 egg

3 teaspoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of almond extract (recipe originally called for Amaretto, but I didn't have any)

1/2 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Garnish:

1/2 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

icing sugar

Method - 

In a large bowl add your sifted flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Using a pastry cutter, cut in your butter until the mixture is nice and crumbly. Add in your egg and milk and use your hands to knead it all together until the dough forms a ball. Between two sheets of parchment paper roll out your dough to fit your pie pan, I used a 9 inch pie plate. Carefully lift your dough and press into your pan. Refrigerate your crust whilst you make your filling and the oven heats up.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In the bowl of your stand mixer add your ricotta, egg and sugar. Blend until smooth and creamy. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into your crust, smoothing over the top with a rubber spatula. 

The original recipe calls for 25-35 minutes in the oven. I baked mine for about 40, so keep your eye on it as it may need to bake for a while longer. When it's done the crust should be golden brown and the filling should be pale yellow in colour. Once out of the oven allow to cool completely, you can pop it in your fridge to quicken the process. Before serving melt some chocolate chips and drizzle over your entire tart and sprinkle generously with icing sugar. Cut into nice large slices and enjoy!

I do hope you give this one a try, it truly is so tasty! As always, thank you for reading! x

Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats

It's nearly Halloween and to pick up where I left off with my last post, I have another seasonable treat to share with you today. I have seen these candy corn Rice Krispie treats all over Pinterest for years now and I finally decided to try my hand at them. You need very few ingredients (marshmallows, Rice Krispie cereal, butter and food colouring) and a round cake pan (I used a ten inch springform pan) and you are good to go.

I used this recipe here as a point of reference and sort of played around with my measurements in order to fill up my pan. The directions are simple to follow it just takes a bit of time and as easy as this is to just throw together, it is very messy. Be sure to have loads of butter nearby to rub on your hands to keep the marshmallow from sticking all over you. From my experience I found it to be a lot easier to let the marshmallow and cereal sit for a few minutes after mixing together before starting to mould into the pan. If you act quickly it will be far too sticky to deal with. Let it firm up a bit and it wont be quite as messy.

So I hope you have enjoyed this quick little post. I'm so excited for Halloween to come and these would be just perfect for a quick and cute Halloween snack. As always, thank you for reading!

Bye x