Fruit Salad Cannoli and Chocolate Cannoli

Strawberries and blackberries were on sale when I went to the market the other day. So I bought some. I thought maybe I’ll try to make Giada De Laurentiis’ “Fruit Salad Cannoli” served in dessert bowls or parfait glasses; and Michael Chiarello’s “Chocolate Cannoli,” in cannoli shells. Making shells are time- consuming so I picked up some when I was at the market.  I also added cashew nuts instead of almonds, because I picked up a bag of raw cashews from the market as well and roasted them myself.  The filling is very easy to make, I even topped them with crushed oreo cookies.

 

Serves 4 dessert glasses or 14 cannoli shells

For the cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk ricotta

2 tablespoons sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream with the sugar until it holds a soft peak. Gently fold the ricotta with the cream. (This can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate).

For the Fruits:

2 ½ cups strawberries, hulled, quartered

2 cups blackberries or raspberries

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a medium bowl, toss the strawberries, blackberries, and sugar and lemon juice to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the garnish:

1 cup chopped cashews, roasted; or you may use chopped almonds or pistachios

1 cup chopped dark chocolate or chopped milk chocolate if you prefer

Crushed oreo cookies, optional

14 cannoli shells

Powdered sugar for dusting

If serving in parfait glasses:

Layer the cream on all the parfait glasses, top with the fruit, layer some cream, and repeat layering. Then top all the glasses with chopped dark chocolate, crushed oreo cookies and roasted cashews.

If serving with the shells:

When ready to serve, combine the cream mixture, ½ cup chopped dark chocolate and ½ cup roasted cashews, spoon the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a fat round tip. Fill the cannoli shells from each end. Blend the remaining chopped chocolate and cashew nuts on a plate. Dip each end of the cannoli into the chocolate nuts mixture. Dust them with powdered sugar.

Cannoli can be filled and stored in the refrigerator no more than 1 hour ahead of time.