Chocolate chip cannoli cake
Say that ten times fast. Mac decided he wanted this cake for his birthday, so I had to create a recipe. Elizabeth’s, a small Italian restaurant on the way home from church, has a cannoli cake listed on the menu but never has it when we go there. I wrote down the description then set out to make my own version. The original cake recipe I found is superb, so I recommend checking it out with the author’s comments. They were also helpful. Because I planned to fill the cake, I opted for two smaller cakes instead of one large one layer.
The layers of the cannoli cake are genoise cake: light, spongy, and just-so-perfectly sweet. You whip the eggs into total submission, so they create a fluffy protein structure that supports the cake sans normal leavening. My Jewish father-in-law declared this Kosher for Passover (update: according to my research, it’s probably not totally Kosher). While my filling is not even remotely Italian (ricotta and vanilla Cool Whip), it’s creamy and sweet without overpowering the cake. I originally used a Cool Whip frosting for the cake, but that is no longer available. I substituted plain whipping cream in its place.
Chocolate chip cannoli cake
Ingredients
Genoise cake
- 1 cup of flour
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 6 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used a whole tablespoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- KitchenAid mixer
Cannoli filling
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup vanilla Cool Whip
- 1.5 cups mini chocolate chips, divided
Frosting
- 1 pint of cold whipping cream
- 2 tbsp. powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
Genoise cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch round pans and line with parchment.
- Sift flour and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk eggs and sugar together in mixer bowl. Heat over a double boiler for several minutes to dissolve the sugar completely and to incorporate air. The mix should be light and foamy. The original recipe says to heat to around 120 degrees. I took mine off at 75 degrees, and it was just fine.
- Attach the balloon whisk to your KitchenAid mixer. Then add vanilla to the bowl. Beat the eggs-sugar mixture for 8 to 10 minutes. It should triple in volume and cool to room temperature. You want the mixture to ribbon (like a thick cake batter) and to be light yellow in color.
- Fold in the flour in three even portions, mixing well between each addition. Don’t overstir the batter: this will deflate the eggs, so it won’t rise properly. Make sure you reach the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any flour that fell to the bottom.
- Push the batter gently into each greased pan. Bake 17-20 minutes until golden brown and cake springs back when touched.
- Turn out of pans after 5 minutes and cool completely.
Cannoli filling
- Blend ricotta cheese and vanilla Cool Whip until smooth and lump-free.
- Fold in one cup of chocolate chips. Chill until needed.
Frosting
- Combine whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
- Whip with a mixer until soft peaks form. Chill until needed.
To assemble the whole cake
- Place one completely cooled cake on your cake stand or platter.
- Spoon the chilled ricotta filling over the cake layer then spread evenly. You can spread it the whole way to the edges as the top layer won’t squish it out too much.
- Carefully place the second cake on top of the filling. Make sure excess filling isn’t spilling out the sides.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake layers with frosting. Garnish with remaining chocolate chips.
- Chill until ready to slice.
