#whathappenswednesday! My favorite day. And today, I've got a really compelling "what if" question to ask.
Full disclosure: perhaps in all honesty I should revise that title to be "what happens when you put slightly faulty cannoli cream in an ice cream maker?".
You see, I have recently been working a lot with a homemade cannoli recipe, trying to perfect it, make it interesting, make it mine. Finally, I did it. You'll see it shared soon, I promise.
Along the way, there have been some good batches, some bad. One thing in particular that I have learned is that you should not mix the ricotta filling in a stand mixer. It becomes too liquid. Every time. Even with whipped cream added as a stabilizer, though that did help--a bit.
But before I realized that hand mixing was the way to go, I found myself with a bunch of delicious--but slightly too liquid--cannoli cream.
Naturally, my first thought was "what would happen if I put this slightly faulty-textured yet deliciously flavored cannoli cream in my ice cream maker?"
And so I did. I piped the entirety of the pastry bag filled with cannoli cream (2 cups or so) into the chilled drum of my ice cream maker. Then I let it churn for 15 minutes.
At first, it was still rather liquid. I thought maybe this hadn't worked out.
But then, I put it in the freezer, and after a few hours, it set to about this consistency:
Softer than traditional ice cream, more like a firm pudding. With a taste that is 100% cannoli. Perfect for serving a cookie or brownie a la mode, or for mixing with a scoop of regular vanilla ice cream.
Oh, happy day.
Cannoli cream churned in the ice cream maker
Note: your ice cream maker may require that the drum be chilled for several hours or overnight before using. Do that before making the cream.
- About 2 cups cannoli cream, your favorite recipe, or this one that is slightly too liquid:
- 1 container (15 ounces) whole milk ricotta
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2-3 ounces finely chopped chocolate, or chocolate chips
Combine the ricotta and olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix to combine.
Add the confectioners' sugar, and mix thoroughly. It will be rather liquid.
Stir in the chocolate.
Let the mixture chill in the fridge for oh, two hours.
Pour it into your ice cream maker. Let churn according to the manufacturer's directions.
Turn the mixture into a bowl, and let it freeze for several hours before enjoying.
