Easy Cannoli Cupcakes

Classic Italian cannoli flavors come through in this easy dessert recipe that starts with a white cake mix.

Easy Cannoli Cupcakes

What’s not to love about cannoli? A fried pastry shell is filled with cream and finished with chocolate. Give me a cannolo (Italian for a single cannoli) on a plate with a cup of espresso and I’m very happy.

When the yen hits me, I plan a trip to The Hill, St. Louis’s Italian neighborhood. Of course, I never just buy one, but several for home and to share, plus fresh pasta, olive oil, mortadella (the list goes on). My favorite spot for cannoli is Vitale’s Bakery, a family-owned business that’s been a part of The Hill for several generations. I usually pick up a few of the cream horns, too.

But let’s be honest; nobody says the shells are the best part of a cannoli. It’s simply a vessel for the heavenly pastry cream made with ricotta or mascarpone (or a blend of both). Italian grandmas and other expert bakers add any number of ingredients after cheese: powdered sugar, honey, vanilla, orange zest, etc.

When I saw a Pillsbury recipe for cannoli cupcakes, I had to try it. Personally, the cupcake instead of fried shell was a welcome change. But the filling recipe was disappointing. The original recipe used prepared frosting plus whipped cream plus ricotta, but it just wasn’t the right flavor or consistency.

So, I went back into the kitchen and made a couple of tweaks for my Easy Cannoli Cupcakes. While Vitale’s has nothing to worry about, these cupcakes do make a quick Italian dessert, and it’s a fun mashup. They certainly brighten up my afternoon coffee break.

To make Easy Cannoli Cupcakes, which yields 18 cupcakes, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 1 box Pillsbury Moist Supreme white cake mix

• ½ cup oil or melted butter

• 3 eggs

• 1 cup milk

• ½ cup cold heavy cream

• 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese

• ½ teaspoon almond extract

• ½ teaspoon orange zest

• Mini chocolate chips or chocolate curls and salted, shelled pistachios for garnish

I always substitute milk for water when using a cake mix. This mix had the option of four egg whites or three whole eggs, so I chose the latter.

Directions Easy Cannoli Cupcakes

Mix and bake the cupcakes per box instructions and cool completely. My yield was 18 rather than 24 as the box suggested. Life’s too short for skimpy cupcakes. Each will be cut horizontally in half.

To make the luscious cream, beat the whipping cream with a mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. What the heck does that mean? You're whipping the cream just before it will become butter. When you lift the beaters out of the whipped cream, the tips on the beaters won’t curl over. Voila, stiff peaks.

Add the powdered sugar, ricotta, almond extract, and orange zest. Beat on low to medium speed until combined. Let stand in refrigerator to set up, about 2 hours.

Pipe about half the mixture on the bottom halves of cupcakes. Replace the tops, and pipe remaining mixture on top of cupcakes. Decorate with chocolate and nuts. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

How to store leftover cupcakes

Unless you’re having a block party, there will be leftover cupcakes. Keep them in an airtight container and store in your refrigerator. Mine were still good after four days.

Easy Cannoli Cupcakes are a lovely Italian dessert that any level baker can make. And it’s fun to experiment with other ways to decorate these lovelies. Next time, I’m adding a candied cherry on top, just like they do at Vitale’s. Or swap vanilla for almond extract when making your filling and leave the pistachios out. Either way, mama mia, these are delicious!

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Looking for more cupcake recipes?

My Lavender Blackberry Cupcakes are easy to make and so good!

Hard to believe my Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes start with a chocolate cake mix. Moist, rich, and perfect any time of year.

You can make a loaf cake or cupcakes using my Easy Moist Lemon Cake recipe. Such a good and simple dessert for an Easter gathering.

About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.

Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza

Shaved steak, cheese, onions, and peppers top a tender homemade crust in this delicious pan pizza mashup.

Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza

The mall. It can provide defining moments in a mother-daughter relationship. Chesterfield Mall in St. Louis certainly did that for my daughter and me. While there were occasional meltdowns in the dressing room of Abercrombie & Fitch, there also were delightful memories made, including sharing her favorite lunch at Charleys Cheesesteaks followed by a fruit smoothie from the bubble tea stand. Many rewarding mother-daughter talks happened in that food court.

When I’d forgotten to defrost something for dinner, we also were known to share a weeknight pan pizza from Pizza Hut that was near our home. The best part of those pizza nights were the conversations.

This recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza for me is not only a mashup of ingredients, but memories, as well.

While I’ve never had the experience of enjoying an authentic cheesesteak sandwich from the City of Brotherly Love, I know it includes great bread, tender shaved beef, onions, and plenty of cheese (Cheez Whiz, American, or Provolone). Pickled peppers are another popular topping, according to Visit Philadelphia, the city’s tourism entity.

Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza, inspired by a Food Network recipe, has all that and more. Although pizza purists may poo-poo this mashup, it makes an affordable meal for a family (just add a salad) and is the easiest homemade pizza you’ll make. So, let’s get cooking!

Homemade pizza dough, shaved beef, onion, peppers, and garlic are the basic ingredients for Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza.

To make Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza, which yields 6 servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons (one packet) instant dry yeast

• 1 cup (approximately) lukewarm water

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1¼ teaspoons salt

• 1 cup onions, chopped

• 1 cup green peppers, chopped

• 1 large garlic clove, sliced

• 12 ounces shaved beef

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend

• 1 teaspoon steak seasoning of your choice

• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

• 4 ounces grated mozzarella

• 4 ounces grated Colby Jack cheese

• 4 slices Provolone

• Non-stick cooking spray

• Pickled banana peppers to garnish

Yes, it’s a long list of ingredients but stay with me. It really is easy to put together, and first, we’ll need to make the pizza dough.

Directions for homemade pizza dough

Combine flour, instant yeast packet, oil, and salt in a large ceramic or glass mixing bowl. You will need about 1 cup of water to bring dough together (an 1/8 cup more or less, depending on how humid/dry your home is). You can combine this by hand or with a mixer; I went the manual route. You’re going for a smooth, soft dough. I mixed the dough until it came together and then turned it out on a floured surface and did a light knead for about 5 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl (I sprayed my mixing bowl with non-stick), cover, and allow it to rise 90 minutes. It should double in size. After the dough had risen, I stretched it into my 10-inch cast-iron skillet (see photo below).

I sprayed the stretched dough with a little non-stick and sprinkled the Italian seasoning blend and Parmesan cheese on the raw dough. Now it’s time to create the toppings.

Stretch dough in skillet before adding toppings.

Directions for Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza toppings

Bring a separate skillet up to medium-high heat and spray with non-stick. Add the shaved steak, sprinkled with steak seasoning, and cook about 3 minutes. The seasoning you use is your choice; Lawry’s Seasoned Salt would even work. I used my favorite coffee barbecue rub.

Remove steak from the skillet to a plate and add vegetables (garlic last). You want to just tenderize these, not brown the onions and peppers. When you smell the garlic, the veg will be done. Now it’s time to top your pizza.

I spread the vegetables first, added the shaved beef, and then the grated cheese. The sliced provolone topped everything, and I baked the pizza for 22 minutes at 425 degrees F. You want the cheese to fully melt and the crust to turn golden, so your oven may require a few minutes, more or less. Serve the pickled peppers on the side for a great garnish.

Can I make the dough in the morning and finish the pizza at dinner?

You can bake the pizza later. Just allow the dough to rise in the covered bowl for 45 minutes (while you finish getting ready for work or school). Refrigerate the dough for 4 to 24 hours; it will slowly rise as it chills. You may need to bring it out and allow it to set for 15 minutes before you try stretching the dough in your skillet.

I think the next time my daughter comes for Sunday supper I’ll make Philly Cheesesteak Skillet Pizza and we’ll plan a shopping trip to another mall. Of course, we’ll have to find a bubble tea stand afterward, and that’s alright with me.

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Want a more traditional pizza recipe? Try Heirloom Tomato Pizza!

When heirloom tomatoes aren’t available, just substitute sweet cherry tomatoes. Slice them in half and start building your pie!

Heirloom Tomato Pizza

About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.

Thai Meatballs in Red Curry Sauce

Create a quick weeknight meal with ground pork, a jar sauce, and familiar Thai ingredients including garlic, ginger, coriander, and lemon.

Thai Meatballs in Red Curry Sauce

College basketball fans look forward to this month every year because of two words: March Madness. It’s a flurry of playoff and championship games that take over the entire month.

I thought it might be fun to play with our own “madness” in the kitchen (not the courts) and present four March Mashups beginning with Thai Meatballs in Red Curry Sauce.

I don’t know about you, but my weeknight menu could use a little help. Throughout winter we’ve eaten stews, braised meats, casseroles, and so on. But it’s too early for the crop of tender spring produce. What’s a home cook to do?

She (or he) breathes a little life into dinner by combining different flavors into familiar dishes known in the culinary world as “the mashup.” You’ve probably seen some outlandish dishes in recent years come across your social feeds under hashtags like #foodporn or #foodie (and so on). But food mashups aren’t new. Cathy Kaufman, a food historian from New York, has said this practice goes back hundreds of years. Spaghetti and meatballs, a staple in the American diet, resulted in Italian immigrants adding meatballs to pasta in the 19th century (in Italy, the tradition was to keep these separate), according to Kaufman. Celebrity chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, in the 1980s jumped on the fusion food bandwagon.

An article in Southern Living two years ago explained the brain science that makes many of these mashups so appealing to us. Basically, the familiar part of the mashup hooks us into wanting to try the dish and the unfamiliar ingredients that’s pleasing to our palettes release the dopamine “pleasure amplifier chemical,” into our system.

I guess that’s why I danced around my kitchen after tasting my Thai Meatballs in Red Curry Sauce! I mean, who doesn’t love a good meatball? But instead of our favorite Italian flavors, this recipe presents you with heat, acid, and sweet notes that are familiar in Thai cuisine. And the spicy red curry sauce (from a jar, by the way, which is an awesome time saver), a replacement for the traditional marinara, really elevates the meatballs. Plus, it’s ready in about an hour, which makes it a great weeknight dinner. I think you’re going to enjoy this recipe, so let’s get cooking!

To make Thai Meatballs in Red Curry Sauce, which yields 24 meatballs for four to six servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground pork (80/20 fat content)

• ¾ cup panko

• 2 scallions (white parts), diced

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1½ teaspoons brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

• ½ teaspoon ground coriander

• ½ teaspoon minced garlic

• ½ teaspoon Sriracha

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon sesame oil

• Green scallion tops for garnish

Sauce

• ¾ cup Thai Red Curry Sauce

• 1 cup evaporated milk

The Thai Red Curry Sauce is made by Clean Plate Pantry. Amanda Calvert creates the sauces for this St. Louis-based company. It’s won a Good Food award (in the culinary world, that’s like being handed an Oscar).

This recipe is very versatile. You easily can swap ground turkey or chicken for the pork. No Sriracha? Your favorite hot sauce will work instead. While fish sauce has a unique flavor and funk, you might not have it in your pantry. Soy sauce will be fine as a swap. And ground ginger is a good substitute for fresh.

Directions for Thai Meatballs in Red Curry Sauce

To make your meatballs, combine the ground pork, panko, scallions, egg, lemon juice and zest, brown sugar, fish sauce, coriander, garlic, Sriracha, ginger, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Gently combine all ingredients with your hands (don’t over mix). I like to use my left (non-dominant) hand like a pitchfork to mix ground meat.

Let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

This is a one-pan recipe, so use a large skillet that has a lid. Bring skillet to medium-high heat and add oil.

Partially pan fry the meatballs in batches. Move them to a plate to make the sauce and add meatballs to finish cooking.

Form meatballs by scooping a tablespoon of mixture and lightly roll it in your hands to form a ball. Place into hot skillet. I did this in two batches, removing the first 12 meatballs to a plate to rest.

To make the sauce, deglaze your pan with a few tablespoons of water and add your curry sauce. The world of curries can be complex, but generally speaking, green curries are the most mild and red the most wild. That was the case with the Thai Curry Sauce. Taste the sauce from the jar to decide how much heat you can handle, but I found my palate needed to tone down the heat with the cup of evaporated milk. I had a bit of evaporated milk and canned coconut milk in my refrigerator from making Simple Coconut Bread Pudding (a 50/50 mixture), which brought out the coconut flavor from the prepared sauce. You also could substitute cream or even 2-percent milk here.

Stir the sauce in your pan and add the meatballs. Cover and cook 8 minutes, turning meatballs halfway through to be sure they are well-coated in the curry sauce. I served the meatballs with jasmine rice and garnished each serving with the green tops of scallions.

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Can I freeze the meatballs?

Absolutely, but I’d recommend freezing them before coating in the sauce. Allow the partially cooked meatballs to cool before placing them in freezer bag. When you’re ready to reheat them, defrost couple of minutes in the microwave before adding to the sauce.

If you mouth is watering for more Asian-inspired recipes, I’ve got you covered!

Juicy chicken is bathed in a sweet, spicy sauce, making Simple Asian Glazed Chicken a budget-friendly weeknight dinner.

Enjoy some of Korea’s favors in my easy Korean Beef Wraps.

About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.