Easy Cannoli Cake Recipe
If you’re a fan of desserts, then you’re going to love this easy cannoli cake recipe! One bite and you’ll be hooked! Need a cake recipe that will impress? This Cannoli Cake is a sure winner!
This delicious three-layer cake is a twist on the classic cannoli featuring fluffy
Why isn’t it frosted?
It IS frosted. This type of frosting is a very rustic way to frost a cake. It’s called “naked frosting.” It lets the cake flavors shine through without a a lot of frosting getting in the way. If you LOVE frosting, double the recipe for it and fully frost the cake. There is no wrong way, in my opinion, to frost a cake.
What are Cannoli?
Traditional Cannoli are fried pastry tubes stuffed with creamy ricotta cheese filling. There’s often wine added to the pastry to make the cannoli shells lighter and flakier, think of adding vodka to your pie crust, it’s the same idea. And often citrus zest is included in the filling to give it a little heightened flavor against the ricotta cheese or if you’re using mascarpone. Chocolate also makes an appearance in a lot of cannolis you see in shops and recipes nowadays. Typically cannoli are finished with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
Cannoli Cakes echo the flavor of Cannoli but just in a cake form. A lot of recipes add a little splash of alcohol, or citrus zest, to grab some of those unique flavors. My easy cannoli cake recipe uses ricotta with a pinch of orange zest, whipping cream, mini chocolate chips, and chocolate ganache.
The cannoli cake filling is made with ricotta like a true cannoli filling and has a pinch of orange zest in it. The acidic tang of citrus zest helps lighten up the cream filling.
What you need for this homemade Cannoli Cake
- butter softened at room temperature
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- milk
- heavy cream
- vanilla extract or Almond extract
- orange or lemon zest
- confectioners’ sugar
- ricotta cheese
- mini chocolate chips
- chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate (for ganache)
- 3 8-inch cake pans, or use two and bake one double depth and cut in half
- parchment paper
- large bowl
- stand mixer with mixer bowl, paddle attachment, and whisk attachment
- rubber spatula
If you need a gluten-free version of this recipe, make a gluten-free vanilla cake and finish it with the filling and frosting from this recipe.
A note on the Zest
If you want to or need to, you can use lemon zest instead of orange zest. Or leave it out altogether. It’s not a make-or-break ingredient for the cake; it tastes great, but you can leave it out.
Cake Pan Help
If you only have 2 8-inch cake pans you can still make this recipe! Simply make one twice as deep as the other one, bake it longer, and then split it in two when cooled.
Or just do 2 9-inch layers but make them thicker layers. And, of course, be sure you don’t put so much batter in a cake pan that it bubbles over.
How to store This Cake
This cake should definitely be refrigerated. Refrigerate before serving and just let it come to room temperature 20-30 minutes before serving. Store all leftovers in the fridge as well. Use plastic wrap and toothpicks to cover the cake. Or store leftovers in an airtight container.
Easy Cannoli Cake
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake Recipe:
- ⅔ cup butter softened
- 1 ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ¼ cup milk
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Cannoli cream recipe ingredients:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Ganache topping recipe ingredients:
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º
- Grease and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans, or line with parchment paper, you can just put parchment on the bottom for easy cake release, set aside, see notes below if you only have 2 pans
- beat the butter and sugar together with a mixer or stand mixer until light and fluffy
- Beat in eggs, vanilla, and half the milk
- mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl
- stir half the flour into the wet ingredients
- Add remaining milk, and beat until smooth
- Then quickly beat in the remaining flour, until everything is fully incorporated and smooth
- Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans, 2 or 3 depending on what you have
- Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean
- if you baked a double thick cake layer because you only had 2 pans bake that layer longer
- Remove the cakes from oven when they’re done
- let cakes cool ten minutes, then loosen edges from pans, and turn onto a wire rack to finish cooling
- When the cakes are cool, split one of the cakes if need be, set the cooled cakes to the side
- Whip the cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar together until stiff peaks form
- Beat in ricotta
- stir in the mini chocolate chips
- Place the bottom cake layer on the cake board or plate or cake stand, and spread about ⅔ cup of ricotta cream over the stop (about ¼ inch thick)
- Place the second cake layer over the cream, and spread with another layer of ricotta cream
- Repeat with 3rd layer
- Spread the remaining ricotta cream over the sides of the cake, creating a semi-naked cake look
- In a bowl set over a small pan of hot water, gently heat chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate and cream until chocolate chips are melted, or microwave in a microwave-safe bowl for 15-second intervals until chips are just melted
- Stir mixture together
- If the mixture is hot, let it cool until lukewarm, do not pour the hot ganache over the whipped cream and ricotta frosting, see notes below about drizzling the ganache
- Spread chocolate ganache over the top of the cake, letting some drizzle down the sides
- Refrigerate until ready to serve
