My family loves Italian Cannoli and ltalian Cheesecake, whats better than combining these two desserts into one?
Cannoli Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 7 oz pkg cannoli shells
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 5 large eggs
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
- Confectioners sugar for sprinkling
- Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch springform pan with parchment. Crush canolli shells in a food processor, add butter and 2 tablespoons sugar and continue to pulse until med-fine crumbs. Press crumbs firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool.
- Beat ricotta cheese, remaining sugar and flour in bowl of electric mixer on medium until well blended. Add heavy cream, vanilla and zest; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing just until blended after each addition. Pour over crust.
- Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, then sprinkle top with the chocolate chips delicately, pressing chips in lightly. Continue to bake 10 more minutes or until center is almost set and edges are turning golden/light brown. Remove from oven and run knife around rim of pan to loosen edges of cake. Refrigerate 4 hours or more. Remove rim of cheesecake pan. Before serving sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Top with whipped cream if desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator, serves 10.
Enjoy!~
If there was such a thing as Whoopie Pie Heaven, thats how I would describe Hershey Farm Inn's Whoopie Pie Festival that was held yesterday. I was lucky enough to attend this year, dragging my family with me (who aren't as crazy about whoopies as I am) to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I enticed my daughter with the all you can eat buffet - she's in love with the mashed potatoes, and my husband and son with also going to the annual Cherry Crest Amaizing Maize Maze. So we arrived at Hershey Farm Inn late Friday night, anticipating the festival the following morning. When I woke up in the morning, the staff were busily setting up and here is what it looked like. As I strolled down towards the pond there was a huge tent with tables upon tables filled with WHOOPIE PIES
YES THOSE ARE ALL WHOOPIE PIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a beautiful sight! I moved from table to table becoming a bit dizzy - there were so many flavor varieties! The traditional delicious chocolate cake shell with many inventive fillings, including cookies and cream and coffee; and other flavored shells with a variety of creamy fillings: red velvet, coconut, pumpkin, carrot, lemon. I lost count of all the flavor varieties! When the crowds starting coming people were buying up whoopie pies like crazy!
The kids ended up having a fun time with the whoopie pie treasure hunt, my daughter found the golden whoopie and won a whoopee cushion! They also liked the whoopie pie launch, creating their own whoopies and witnessing the largest whoopie pie ever made.
Wow, they said this weighed in at over 600 lbs!
Unfortunately I did not get to stay for the whoopie pie eating contest. The compromise with my family was to leave at 2pm to go over to Cherry Crest Farm for the Amazing Maize. I kind of wanted to compete in that, maybe next year ........
My son and husband loved the maze so much I heard them saying lets make this an annual event - whoopie pie festival and the maze, so maybe I'll have a chance next year!
Some of the goodies I brought home, strawberry, pumpkin, turtle, chocolate chunk and raspberry whoopies; peach jam, and I found a whoopie pie scented candle! I am so full from all the delicious breakfast and dinner buffets I could barely eat whoopies that day, guess who was eating them all day-my husband - I think he caught the whoopie fever! Since they stay good in the freezer, I plan on freezing them and sampling 1 at a time. Now that I'm home I keep thinking about all the other flavors, I wish I would have bought them all and froze them to sample all year long. Well theres always next year, right?
