Holy Cannoli! Someones gonna have to bring me a slice of humble pie because I’m on a bit of a high from how cute these Torah Cannoli are! (by the way that’s not a typo – the plural form of cannoli is cannoli…a little Wikipedia for you!)
I always say, food is my passion but my kids are my priority. I love being a mom and I don’t ever want being a foodie, blogger, chef, or whatever it is I am, get in the way of that. SO while I try to come up with fun and sophisticated holiday dishes, I also do my best to tap into my inner child and do something fun for the kiddos too.
In the past, I’ve made Torah franks in blanks like these (photo by Tzivi Brick Jakubovic), but this year, I wanted to do something fun with my daughter’s class in honor of her 8th birthday, which is just a few short weeks before Shavuot. One night when I couldn’t sleep (I have terrible insomnia these days), these cannoli torah’s hit me and I was only too excited to make them! I used a cream cheese mousse filling instead of the more sophisticated classic ricotta filling to make it more kid friendly, and the kids went gaga!
They all took turns prepping the recipe – whipping up the cream cheese and heavy cream, folding the mixture together, and giving out the ingredients for everyone to make their own. They “glued” the cannoli wafers with marshmallow fluff and we made a few Ziploc piping bags of filling so they could all pipe their own. Needless to say, the most fun was dipping the Torah’s in the assorted toppings.
Some of the kids wrapped up their Torah Cannoli to take home, but most of them couldn’t wait it out and gobbled it down on the spot. One kid said it was the best thing she ever tasted! I knew I had a winner, I just didn’t know if it was blog-worthy so I figured I’d skip on posting. Until, I was making my rosewater cheesecake mousse parfaits at a cooking demo recently, and I decided to show the audience the Torah cannoli idea with some of the leftover cheesecake mousse. After an audible “wow” from the audience (the best sound EVER when you’re giving a demo), I decided it was too good not to share with you all too.
I love to check things off my bucket list and making things like homemade goat cheese ice cream or a sophisticated dish like brie marsala pizza gives me a huge sense of satisfaction, but seriously, nothing, and I mean nothing, makes me more proud or excited, than coming up with something fun and original that my kids absolutely love!
So kiddies, this ones for you! And that classic citrus-zest-spiked filling is my little touch for the adults too :)
If you want to skip on the filling, fill it with your favorite mousse or plain-old whipped cream. The important thing is to have some fun, for the kids, and for you too! Happy Shavuot y’all!
Torah Cannoli
1 pkg cannoli wafer rolls (18 rolls), such as Presidor
2 cups ricotta cheese (drain if watery)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1/2 tsp lemon or orange zest (optional)
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup melted chocolate or marshmallow fluff
assorted sprinkles, mini chocolate chips and nonpareils for topping
powdered sugar, for finishing
Method:
Place melted chocolate or warmed marshmallow fluff in a piping bag and pipe a thin line onto half of the cannoli wrappers. “Glue” pairs of cannoli wrappers together to resemble Torah scrolls.
In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, citrus zest and chocolate chips. Place in a piping bag. Pipe the filling into both sides of the cannoli wrappers, working one at a time. Over a plate, sprinkle your favorite toppings over the exposed ricotta filling (dipping the ends causes them to flatten, so I prefer pouring the toppings over). Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
NOTE: The filling causes the cannoli wafer to soften, so if preparing in advance, it’s best to freeze rather than refrigerate.
VARIATION: You may use this cream cheese mousse, your favorite mousse, softened ice cream or whipped cream instead of the classic ricotta filling.
DIY OPTION: If you cannot get cannoli wafer rolls, you can make your own or use wonton wrappers. You will need cannoli molds to form the wrappers.
Related Posts:
Shavuot paper napkin roses
passion fruit cream horns
rosewater cheesecake mousse parfaits
halva and ricotta stuffed figs
Please NOTE: This post contains affiliate links which means that a small percentage of every purchase made through the links above goes to help support the BIB blog!
This is such an awesome idea! The kids will love it!
Thanks Shoshana!
amazing idea and i’m very excited! Any ideas about making in advance (if possible) and storing? Freezer? Fridge? And any ideas about how to store them so they don’t get ruined?
I’m assuming I’m probably too late with this response (sorry!)…but these freeze great. They soften in the fridge so I don’t recommend refrigeration. If you freeze on a baking sheet, you can stack them neatly once frozen with pieces of parchment paper in between.
do these freeze well??
I’m assuming I’m probably late with this response, but yes :)
Beautiful original idea.
Thanks!!
Any way to make this parve?
pareve whipped cream or pareve ice cream (soften to pipe and then refreeze) or make my cheesecake mousse with tofutti cream cheese.
Dear owner of B&B.
Currently I am a culinary and hospitality student At Schenectady
County Community College.I have been assigned to make a demo on may 10, 2017 for a Bat Mitzvah. Please how can I purchase the Torah cannoli?
Thak you Best wishes
Yolanda
Hey Yolanda, do you mean the wrappers that you can use to make them?
How long to defrost these?
Not too long. You can take them out 2 hours before serving or so.
Where can I get the rolls?
I buy them from my local kosher supermarket, from the company Paskesz.
How long do they take
Really quick