Cannoli Cake

This past weekend was the wedding of a friend of mine and my brother-in-law.  I volunteered to make their cake.  They wanted a red velvet and cannoli cake for their tiered cake.  The red velvet recipe I used can be found on a previous post and here is the cannoli recipe I used.  After making this a few times, the one thing I learned is the quality of your ricotta makes a huge difference in the texture of the filling.  I found Walmart's generic made the filling grainy, but Sargento was pretty good.  The cake is lighter than many cannoli cake recipes, but it does require separate bowls and a lot of whisking.  Be sure your batter doesn't have any lumps from the yolk mix, since they will be lumpy when the cake bakes.  It should be smooth and velvety. 


Cannoli Cake

6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
3/4 cup all purpose-flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla, divided
1 orange
2 tbsp orange liqueur, optional (substitute more orange juice if you choose to omit)
15 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 bag mini chocolate chips
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

1. Open ricotta cheese container the night before.  Pour into a cheesecloth or dishcloth lined strainer over a bowl.  Return to refrigerator for a few hours or overnight to drain whey from cheese.
2. Preheat oven to 350 and line/grease pans (10"x3" round springform, or two 9" round).
3. Add all egg whites into a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form.  Gradually add half of the granulated sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
4. Combine yolks, flour, half of vanilla, salt, powder in another bowl, mixing until combined.  Fold in 1/3 egg whites to lighten.  Repeat twice more until all whites are incorporated, being careful to not deflate.
5. Pour batter into pan(s) and bake until golden brown and tops spring back when touched (15-18 minutes for 9" rounds, 30-35 for 10"x3" springform).
6. Remove to cooling racks.  Allow to cool in pans about 5 minutes, then turn out onto racks to finish cooling.
7. Zest orange into bowl with ricotta cheese and then juice it, placing juice in a separate cup.
8. Add liqueur to orange juice and brush onto cooled cakes (torte cakes as desired).
9. Mix ricotta, zest, powdered sugar, remaining vanilla and mix to combine.
10. Whip cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold into ricotta mixture and add chocolate chips.
11. Spoon filling onto cakes and stack.
12. Frost with favorite frosting (buttercream or a whipped cream frosting).