Cannoli Tart – The Perfect Special Treat

Today was bound to be a stressful day for our family and I wanted to do what I could to try and reduce that stress.  Let’s face it food has a way of calming troubles – at least in our family.  We all seem to be on different “diets” but for today, we didn’t care.

We struggle with the loss of my father and my husband’s father.  Mine passed away a little over two years ago and my husband’s passed away a year ago today.  There are two years in our married life that have been really really hard and this was the second.  The first was the loss of my husbands grandfather and shortly afterwards my grandmother passed away.  I am totally not looking forward to the next cycle of loss.

But for today we are okay.  As a special treat I decided to make this Cannoli Tart.

The cannoli tart is really easy to use.  First I use this tart pan – it is incredibly non stick and a high quality pan at an affordable price.

CRUST

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
5 1/2  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

Sprinkle mini semi-sweet chocolate chips on top!

This recipe is very easy but there are several steps.  I find it easiest to have all my ingredients out and ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees – if your tart pan is non stick like mine, you are ready to go.  If not, please remember to grease your pan.

Take all the crust ingredients and mix together thoroughly – press well into the tart pan (across the entire bottom and sides) and place in the oven and bake for 7-8 minutes.

While that is baking, start making the whip cream.  Whip the heavy cream until it starts to thicken and at that point add in 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and whip for another 5 minutes or so until it all starts to thicken up nicely.

In a separate bowl – mix on low speed, the mascarpone cheese, the rest of the powdered sugar and the vanilla and cinnamon.

Once mixed, slowly fold in (by hand) the whip cream mixture.

Place all into cooked crust.  Sprinkle mini chips on top and a little powdered sugar.  Serve after sitting in refrigerator for at least three hours.