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This Cannoli Tart has all the great flavors of a cannoli wrapped into one simple tart! With a touch of cinnamon and mini chocolate chips, it’s got all the things I love most about cannolis.
Table of Contents
Cannoli Tart
So I spent most of my baking time this past week on this one darn recipe for the cookbook. It just would not cooperate. It wasn’t bad, per se, but it also wasn’t just right. And truly, I’m quite picky. Especially when it comes to a book that’s going to be published. Talk about scary.
So I had several versions of said recipe stacked in several cupcake carriers around the kitchen. Saturday morning I came down early to keep working on it. Several hours later when the hubs came down, he revealed that he’d had trouble sleeping the night before and when he came downstairs to watch tv, he got into the cupcakes.
Of course my brain immediately went into panic mode – for about 5 seconds. Did he eat ones I needed for comparison purposes?! Oh no!
But then he followed up with, “But I ate ones from different tiers so they weren’t all the same batch.”
Phew! 😉
He could see my relief – and laughter – and claimed that he was proud of himself because he now knows how to properly steal cupcakes from me. Ha! Thief!
It was also his birthday, so I couldn’t be too mad. 🙂
This cannoli tart is absolutely worthy of some major thievery.
If you’ve hung around this blog for a while, you’ve probably realized that I love cannoli desserts. I don’t always love getting cannolis from bakeries. I find they tend be to super sweet, which is weird to hear me say, but it’s true. But I love making my own cannoli-inspired desserts. A cannoli poke cake, cannoli icebox cake and now a tart. And I’m sure there’s more to come. I can make them just sweet enough with just the right amount of cinnamon. Mmm mm mm!
And this particular dessert is nice because it’s so easy. It’s almost completely no bake, but I did actually bake the crust. I wanted to be sure it held together a little better when sliced.
How to Make a Cannoli Tart
The filling is made first by making homemade whipped cream. It lightens up the tart filling nicely.
The next step is to combine the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. I love using mascarpone cheese. It’s so darn yummy. Some cannolis actually use a combination of mascarpone and ricotta, but because ricotta can be a little finicky with the amount of water I stuck to mascarpone. Feel free to replace some of it with ricotta if you prefer.
Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. You want to use a folding motion so that you don’t deflate the whipped cream.
Spread the filling into the tart, top with some mini chocolate chips and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Refrigerate it until firm and devour! Such an easy to way to enjoy a wonderful cannoli dessert! Yum!!
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Cannoli Tart
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Cannoli Tart has all the great flavors of a cannoli wrapped into one simple tart! With a touch of cinnamon and mini chocolate chips, it’s got all the things I love most about cannolis.
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 5 tbsp butter, melted
CANNOLI FILLING
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided
- 12 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- mini chocolate chips, for topping
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9 inch tart pan.
2. Combine ingredients for crust and press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
3. Bake crust for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
4. To make the whipped cream, whip heavy whipping cream on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Cream will initially bubble a little bit, then start to thicken.
5. As the cream starts to thicken, add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
6. Whip on high until stiff peaks form, for a total whipping time of about 5-7 minutes.
7. Set whipped cream aside and combine mascarpone cheese, remaining powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Mix on slow speed until combined. Do not over mix.
8. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.
9. Spread filling into the tart crust and refrigerate until firm, 3-4 hours.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Silce
- Calories: 459
- Sugar: 19.1 g
- Sodium: 157.1 mg
- Fat: 35.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.3 g
- Protein: 4.9 g
- Cholesterol: 98.3 mg
Filed Under:
Enjoy!
I made this Cannoli Tart for the first time yesterday. It is delicious. Do you know if I can freeze it for a party on Sunday? Thank you.
I’m glad you’re happy with it! I think freezing it should be fine.
What kind of tart pan should be used? How do you remove the tart from the pan?
I used a tart pan with a removable bottom, like this tart pan.
Can ricotta cheese be used in place of mascarpone?
I imagine it would be fine. I might just be sure to strain it well.
How far ahead can this be made and stored?
It should be good for about 3 to 4 days, so feel free to make it however far ahead while keeping that in mind.
I needed an Italian dessert to accompany my freshly made pasta dinner. This was the perfect ending. My husband enjoys chocolate sauce drizzled on his cannolis so whipped up some while my pie was chilling. That drizzle of chocolate sauce took this perfect dessert over the top.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I have 8 ounces of Mascarpone, do you think the filling will still set nicely if I use 4 ounces of cream cheese in addition?
Yes, it should set fine.
When do the mini chocolate chips go on? Prior to chilling or afterwords?
Either way should be fine.
Hey! First, my apologies for my english. I saw your recipe and I want to do it but I don’t know which measures to use. I try through internet and it is very complicated beacase in Croatia and UK or US isn’t the same fore grams or cups…So have you measures in grams instead of cups or tbsp. If u don’t have, nevermind but it will much better for me and my calculating and searching over the internet. Thank You very much. Luna
Check out my conversion chart.
I have a tart pan with a removable bottom. Can that be used for this recipe?
Definitely
Do you think this could be made two days in advance and sit in the fridge or would it not last that long?
Yes, I think that would be fine.
OMG just made this. Didn’t have time to make the tart crust so I used a pre cooked chocolate pie crust. So easy to make. Can’t wait to try this later. I go Gaga for anything Canolli.
My dessert did not look like this, it wasn’t as deep, think I could have just doubled the ingredients and definitely 1/1/4 cups of crust wasn’t enough , other than that it tasted delicious
Why did my heavy cream/powdered sugar turn into liquid and clump? What did I do wrong?
Like, it clumped as you were whipping it? That would be very strange.
You over whipped the cream and made butter!
I saw this recipe this morning since I wanted to try something different with cannoli cream instead of making a cannoli cake that I usually make. I’m definitely going to try this recipe but I’m going to modify it a bit. I have a yummy cannoli cream recipe that I use and I want to stick with it so I’m just going fold the whipping cream in it.. and use 1/2 sugar & 1/2 powder sugar when I’m making the cannoli cream.. it doesn’t have that powder sugary taste.. plus I add a splash of fresh squeezed orange juice to it and it’s so good!! I can’t wait to make it after work today 😊
Hi! Do you think I could use half mascarpone and half ricotta for the filling? Thank you!
I would think that’d be fine.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe! I made this last year for a holiday gathering, and it received rave reviews. I would like to make it again for a work function, but I’m not sure how far in advance it can be made. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! You should be able to make it two to three days in advance and cover it well and it last fine.
I tried this recipe and love the taste of the filling, but for some reason, I couldn’t get it to set! Any idea why?
There are two possibilities. One is that I know people often like to reduce sugar amounts, but you want to be sure to use the powdered sugar in the whipped cream to help with stability. The other possibility is that the mascarpone cheese was over mixed or got too warm. “Room temperature” can kind of vary from home to home, so you want it to be soft enough to mix into the filling, but still have a little chill to it. If it gets too warm or is over mixed, it often softens and doesn’t firm back up well.
Can you make this tart fit an 11 inch tart dish? Like what kind of adjustments in terms of ingredients would I have to do in order to fit a tart that size? I’m asking since I don’t currently own a 9 inch tart and it’s impossible for me to find one in store where I live.
I’m not really sure, since I haven’t made it at that size before. You could try using 1 1/2 recipes worth. If there’s a little extra filling, you don’t have to add it all.
How many slices are generally cut for the 9″ tart? I don’t want to appear ‘cheap’, but if possible would like to only bake 1.
With decent size slices, I’d say 8-10.
I tried this recipe and love the taste of the filling, but for some reason, I couldn’t get it to set! Any idea why?
One possibility is over mixing. Mascarpone cheese can thin out if over mixed and it doesn’t really firm back up when that happens.
This recipe looks amazing and I plan to make it for a dinner party, I only have an 11 inch tart plan..do you by any chance have the recipe adjustments for this size pan?
Do you know how/if this recipe might freeze?
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure.
I only have 8oz of mascarpone on hand, is there anything I can add or do you think the 8oz would work? Thanks!
You could try a little ricotta, if you have that.
I made this yesterday and it’s sweet but found it tastes nothing like cannoli filling. I think I just miss the ricotta. Thank you for the recipe, it was definitely worth trying.
You could certainly swap out some of the mascarpone for ricotta. I find most cannoli fillings are some mix of the two, I’ve just had people who have issues with the water in it so I went with all mascarpone in this tart.
i made a cannoli cake using your cannoli cream recipe. THANK YOU for not using ricotta!! I made a cinnamon spice cake and your cannoli cream recipe as the frosting with mini chocolate chips to decorate. It looked and tasted amazing.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! The cake sounds delicious!
Yet another winner Lindsay – thank you! My daughter is the resident cannoli-lover in the family and agrees this tastes just like the inside of a cannoli 🙂 Blogged about it and linked back to your recipe.
https://www.weirdlittlefrenchcookie.com/cannoli-tart/
Thanks so much Tiffany! Glad to hear everyone enjoyed it! 🙂
I’m making their recipe and using 4” tart pans. Thinking of using some Baileys Irish cream in filling. Nit sure how much because I don’t want to thin it down too much.
Hi there,
Going to an Italian themed party and this sounds soooo good. The hostess isn’t a graham cracker fan. Have you ever tried it with a different crust like almond or something?
Thanks for the recipe. I’m going to try it regardless of crust!!
You could try a vanilla cookie – like a vanilla wafer. It should be a 1:1 swap for the graham cracker crumbs.
I made your awesome Cannoli Tart this weekend with the vanilla wafer crust. It was a huge hit! Served it with coffee and cinnamon gelato… YUM!!
I appreciate you!
Kathy ????
PS there were no leftovers so I’m making it again today for Valentine’s Day for my husband and son ????
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The coffee and cinnamon gelato sounds perfect!
Agh i need to make this tomorrow and I don’t have mini chocolate chips cause it’s not in the ingredients. 🤦😂
I had this at a friend’s house and it was absolutely delicious! I’m going to make it for my family today. 🙂
Wonderful! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
A Cannoli Tart!! You had me at hello! Shared on my Chat’s Meow – Cats, Crochet, Coffee, and Chocolate facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/chatsmeowandmore
Oh wow, this tart looks way better than any cannoli! The filling looks so rich and creamy, mmm 🙂
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have made your cannoli poke & icebox cakes. We love a great cannoli but they are hard to find in Arizona. Thank goodness we have relatives in New Jersey. We eat real cannoli the whole time we are there.
We received Cabello from Carlos’ Bakery in Hoboken for Christmas. Delicious! They made in trip in great condition. We highly recommend them.
Just curious: why did you choose a graham crust over a buttery pie crust?
It’s been along time since I created this recipe. I can’t say I remember exactly why. But either would probably taste great.
JUST YES!
Oh man, where’s my shovel? I mean fork! This tart looks amazing!
I love that your husband knows the rules of cupcake tiers. Food blogging families probably could start a support group about the weird food rules in their houses, like how my kids know not to touch anything until they confirm that it’s been photographed. Or how my husband tolerates all of my baking crap, even though he hates all that wasted cabinet space.
This looks better than any cannoli I’ve ever seen. Totally agreed about the bakery ones being kind of meh. I’ll do this one anytime!
This tart look heavenly! Love your blog. Your pictures are gorgeous!