strawberry & almond cannoli

This is a great little dessert and is fairly easy to prepare if you can find pre-made cannoli shells at your grocery store.

I recently served these as part of a trio of strawberry desserts which included a shot glass of finely chopped marcerated Strawberries and an alcoholic strawberry spider (which I will post in due course).

They’re great little dessert canapés and would easily suit a picnic, buffet or large family meal.

But best of all they taste good.

Strawberry & Almond Cannoli
Anna’s very own recipe. Makes 16.
Ingredients:
450g ricotta
100g mascarpone
250g strawberries, halved
½ cup icing sugar
½ teaspoon orange rind
1 tablespoon orange juice
¼ cup flaked almonds, toasted and chopped
50g white chocolate, grated
16 cannoli shells
Method:
1. Separate one fourth of the strawberries and cut them into small pieces. Reserve.
2. Heat the remaining strawberries, sugar and orange rind with orange juice until the sugar melts and strawberries soften. Cook until syrup thickens a little.
3. Put the cooked strawberries into a blender and puree.
4. Strain strawberries with a fine sieve to remove excess liquid.
4. In a bowl, beat together the ricotta and mascarpone.
5. Fold in strawberry purée. Taste mixture. If needed add some sifted icing sugar or strawberry juice to sweeten. Be careful not to make the mixture too runny.
6. When you have reached the desired flavour, carefully fold through the strawberry pieces, grated chocolate and flaked almonds.
7. Put mixture in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
8. Spoon ricotta filling into a fluted piping bag and pipe into cannoli shells. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Note: You can turn the leftover strawberry juice into syrup by cooking it a little longer. Pour over ice cream or use as a cordial.

by Anna