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Pistachio and Cherry Cannoli Cups #SundaySupper

Jennifer @ PB and P Design

Hi Everyone,

Today is a fun day at #SundaySupper!  Our mission this week was to make something movie related.   Hmmm, I had a hard time with this one because there are some great movies that is related to food!  After asking around, my Husbands friend said how about the Godfather.  The Godfather!  A classic movie!  I love mafia type movies and I haven’t seen the Godfather in so long and I own the box set.  I remember years ago my Husband and I watched almost all of them on a Saturday!  Yes, I spent a Saturday snuggled on my couch watching the Godfather!  Crazy, but true!

So what does one make from the Godfather?  First thing that comes to mine is Italian food, you know things like pasta and pizza.  But nah, that is to traditional and with a classic movie like the Godfather, I needed something special, but what?  Remember the famous scene Leave the gun Take the cannoli?  Such a great and ever so popular scene!  Did you know that scene was a mistake it, was supposed to be take the gun and leave the Cannoli, but the blunder made it famous!  lol  So with that the Pistachio and Cherry Cannoli was made!


My cannoli’s are a little different from the standard cannoli’s for many reasons.  The main reason was I wanted a lower calorie cannoli so I can enjoy it without guilt, second was I didn’t have cannoli tube to wrap around the pastry and three I wanted something easy, so you can make these too!!  So I decided instead of a pastry shell, I would use Phyllo Dough for the cups, which would make the cannoli’s light and flaky, plus phyllo dough is pretty forgiving if you use it.  I had some tears in the dough, but that is ok, once you push them into a muffin cup, they will bake up nicely.  You don’t even need to make them perfect, once you fill them with the delicious filling, you don’t even notice any mistakes in the dough.

For the filling, I thought about going traditional and having plain with chocolate chips, but I have been craving pistachios and cherries for some odd reason?  Plus the Godfather is kind of a dark movie and I needed to lighten it up, so I make a pretty pink cannoli because you know you think of pink, when you think of the Godfather!  lol  The filling is so easy to make!  All it is fat-free Ricotta Cheese, Mascarpone Cheese, maraschino cherry juice and sugar.  I topped these little guys with some finely chopped pistachios and a maraschino cherry!  I couldn’t keep these on the plate!  I was getting ready to photograph them and my Husband took one that I plated, sure enough I plated a few more and he ate them too!  He was sitting on the couch saying these are so good!!  I must admit they turned out way better than I ever could have dreamed off!  Flaky dough, rich, creamy, sweet filling with the taste of cherries and almonds.  Oh man, it is good!!!!!!!!!!!

The filling is just amazing!  I thought it would be gritty but it wasn’t!  I decided to go with fat free Ricotta cheese because I was using full fat Mascarpone Cheese.  Do you want to know a secret?  This is the first time I ever had Mascarpone Cheese!  OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!  It was like pure creamy deliciousness!!  I can’t believe I have never had it!  It’s amazing cheese!  I thought it would be like cream cheese, but it’s not!  It’s so good and so much better!  But due to the fat and calories I only went with 8 tablespoons of it!  If you feel like splurging use 16 tablespoons.  It’s so good!!  Oh and if your feeling a little lazy and don’t want to make the Phyllo Dough Cups, just make the filling!!!  You can dip cinnamon pita chips in it, apples or fill little glasses with it and serve it as dessert, maybe tuck a cookie in it make it look pretty.  I had fun making, testing and tasting the filling, I kept eating it!  he he

I wanted to tell you that the calorie count for the Pistachio and Cherry Cannoli Cups are less than I posted.  I had left over phyllo dough, left over nuts and leftover filling, but I would rather be higher on calories then less.  Oh and the cannoli cup including everything only comes in at 130 calories!  Loves it!!  A traditional cannoli has almost 400 calories and is fried!!  To much for me!!  So I am happy to bring this recipe to you!  I guarantee know on will know it’s low-calorie.  My Husband had no clue and he is a picky dessert person and he couldn’t keep his hands off of them.

If you do decide to make them, don’t fill your cannoli cups until your ready to serve.  Other wise the cups will get soggy.  You can also make this ahead of time.  Make the filling and store in the refrigerator and the cups, can be stored in a sealed tight container at room temperature, but in my opinion the cups are best the first day you make them.

 

Pistachio and Cherry Cannoli Cups
 
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A healthy spin to the traditional cannolis, made with a flaky phyllo dough and filled with a light, fluffy cherry and almond ricotta cheese mixture.
Serves: 12 Cannoli Cups
Ingredients
  • To make Cups:
  • 6 sheets phyllo dough
  • cooking spray
  • To make Cannoli filling:
  • 1¾ cup fat free ricotta cheese
  • 8 tbsp. Mascarpone Cheese
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp. almond extract or vanilla
  • 1 tbsp. maraschino cherry juice (from the jar of cherries)
  • 2 tsp. pistachios, finely chopped
  • 12 maraschino cherries
Instructions
  1. To make phyllo dough cups
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  3. Spray a standard muffin pan with cooking spray; set a side.
  4. Layer 3 fillo sheets, lightly spraying each sheet with cooking spray. Cut into 8 equal squares to form Phyllo stack (8 squares with 3 sheets of Phyllo Dough). Place cut squares in the standard muffin pan. Carefully push fillo into pan, pressing firmly against bottom and sides.
  5. Repeat process 1 more time with remaining 3 sheets to make 12 tarts (you'll have some dough leftover).
  6. Bake empty fillo tarts in the oven for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove fillo tarts from pans.
  7. To make Cannoli filling:
  8. In a stand mixer add the paddle attachment, add ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese and blend until light and fluffy, about 2 - 3 minutes. Add sugar, almond extract and maraschino cherry juice. Mix until incorporated and filling is light and fluffy, about 7 minutes total time.
  9. Add cannoli filling to phyllo cups and sprinkle with pistachios and top with a cherry.
  10. Note: Fill the cups with cannoli mix when ready to use, otherwise the cups will get soggy. Store cups in a sealed container at room temperature.
Notes
Calorie per cup including toppings: 130, Fat: 5, Cholesterol: 22, Sodium: 99, Potassium: 7, Crabs: 14, Fiber: .03, Sugar: 8.3, Protein: 5.1

Please note calories are less than given do to the fact I had leftover ingredients:
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 Cannoli Cup
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This was such a fun #SundaySupper!  I can’t wait to see what others made that are movie related goodies!  So be sure to check them all out.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Toodles,

Jennifer

Toast (bready things)

No Reservations (soups and salads)

Today’s Special (fish, chicken, beef, and pork)

Forks Over Knives (veggie-heavy dishes and sides)

Udon (pasta and noodles)

Just Desserts (sweet treats)

Bottle Shock (beverages)

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday, April 14th to talk all about movies that have inspired us to head into the kitchen – and the food that comes from that inspiration (7pm EST)!  We’ll tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world.   Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, and include it in your tweets to join in the chat. Check out our #SundaySupper Pinterest board for more delicious recipes and food photos.

 

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