Monday, September 17, 2012

Pumpkin Filled Cannolis

It’s September which means for me, it’s time to break out the pumpkin recipes!

I was fortunate enough to start my pumpkin bingeing a little early this year. At the end of August, I traveled to Australia to visit our younger sister. To my pleasant surprise, almost every menu there had something with pumpkin in it! I tired all sorts of pumpkin things- pumpkin & feta pizza, chicken & pumpkin risotto, pumpkin & sweet potato white wine pumpkin sauce over pasta. All of which were delicious! I guess the Aussies love pumpkin as much as Grace and I do.  

Here’s a picture from the trip:

Sydney Harbor Bridge- Me & Kelsey
Now that the reality of summer being over has set in, I figured this past weekend was the perfect time to try a new pumpkin recipe from Pinterest. Enter the Pumpkin Filled Cannoli from Laurenslatest.

Lauren's Latest
Lauren filled her cannoli cream into sugar cones (so creative!). I decided to make the pie cups that I used for the mini cannoli cups. I didn’t take any new pictures while making the shells. If you’d like to see, check out this older post.

Start by whipping the cream.


Move the whipped cream to a separate bowl. Then stir the pumpkin, ricotta cheese, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, & vanilla together.

Then whip for 1 minute.

Fold in the whipped cream- here is the step I winged. I don’t really know what fold means in the cooking sense. I just plopped the whipped cream in and used a spatula to move the pumpkin mixture over the cream. I continued until it was completely incorporated.

I spooned the cream into a plastic bag, snipped the corner and piped the cream into the cups.


The Verdict: These were delicious! They were very light and the taste of pumpkin was subtle.  This was definitely my best cannoli cream to date. What's even better is that they only took 15 minutes to make.

Things to Note/Consider: Nothing!


Pumpkin Filled Cannolis
adapted from Lauren’s Latest

¾ cup pumpkin puree
¾ cup ricotta cheese
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon vanilla
Sugar cones or mini cups
Mini chocolate chips –to garnish

  • In a large bowl, whip heavy whipping cream until firm peak forms
  • Spoon whipped cream into a separate bowl and set aside.
  • In the same bowl you used to whip the cream, stir pumpkin, ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, & vanilla together.
  • Scrape sides and whip for 1 minute.
  • Carefully fold in whipped cream.
  • Pipe into sugar cones or mini cups and top with chocolate chips.
  • Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

S'more Cups

Who doesn't love a S'more? From girl scout camp, to backyard fire pits, to microwaving marshmallows in a microwave in college (almost to the point of explosion), I've been eating s'mores for years. Of course the best version is with a freshly toasted marshmallow over a fire, but that isn't always the most practical. I pinned this delicious looking picture awhile ago and finally had a couple opportunities to make them:

.
Sally from Texas Cottage made them look simple but tasty. The best part was I actually had everything I needed already in my pantry.
First I mixed up the "crust" batter and smushed it into my mini muffin pans.


Then bake for 5 or so minutes to get the butter bubbling.
Once out, place 1 rectangle of chocolate bar on top then cover with half a marshmallow.


Back in the oven for a couple minutes to get the marshmallow to puff up a bit.
Then allow to cool, remove from pan, and once set, dunk the top in more chocolate.



Don't they look delicious?!




The Verdict: One of my favorite Pinterest Recipes to date. They were so good, so easy, and so quick. I made them the night before I needed them, and was a little concerned they wouldn't be as good the next day, but they were still delicious. From start to finish it took less than a half hour. These could easily become my go-to "throw something together last minute" baked good.

Things to Consider: The second time I made them I ran out of chocolate to dunk so I just melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips. Still tasty, but Joe was a little weirded out by the two different chocolates. I think I would try all chocolate chips next time to see if I like the semi-sweet better. The recipe made about 22 cups when I made them the second time, but they are small so they go fast. You may want to double the recipe.


S'more Cups
7 whole graham crackers (1 cup finely crushed)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
4 bars (1.55 oz each) milk chocolate candy, divided
12 large marshmallows
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and butter in a small bowl.

Place 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture in each cup of a mini muffin pan. Firmly press crumbs to form shallow cups. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.

Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using shears dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly softened. Remove pans from oven to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely.

Break remaining candy bars and place in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 to 60 minutes or until set. Makes 24 cups.
I know s'mores are more of a summer treat and its almost fall, but I plan on making these all year round! I am so ready for fall - how about you guys? Bring on the pumpkin recipes!!
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