Cannoli Layer Cake uses a tender, vanilla cake base with a light creamy filling, and smooth rich frosting for an airy and indulgent dessert.
This stunning Cake Recipe is delicious and elegant twist on the classic Cannoli Pastries, turning them into a decadent layered cake perfect for any special occasion.
Sabrina’s Cannoli Layer Cake
My homemade Cannoli Cake recipe incorporates all the key elements of the classic Italian dessert so you get all the flavor in a showstopping dessert. You’ll find the same delicious ricotta filling with mini chocolate chips mixed between the layers. Then it’s all topped off with mascarpone frosting, which creates a sweet, tangy flavor similar to Cream Cheese Frosting. Everything in this decadent recipe comes together into a beautiful, rich, and absolutely irresistible cake. Feel free to try my variations below if you want to personalize this cake to make it yours.
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk , room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Ricotta Filling:
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Mascarpone Frosting:
- 16 ounces mascarpone cheese , softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy cream
To Finish:
- 4 waffle cones , broken into chunks
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Vanilla Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour three 8″ cake pans.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then set aside.
- To your stand mixer add the butter and sugar and beat them together until light and fluffy on medium speed, 2-3 minutes, then add in the eggs one at a time 15 seconds apart along with the vanilla then lower the speed to low. Add the flour mixture and milk, alternating a little of each at a time.
- Pour into the cake pans evenly and baked for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool cakes completely before frosting.
Ricotta Filling:
- In a large mixing bowl add the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and mini chocolate chips.
- Whisk well to combine.
Mascarpone Frosting:
- Add the mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar to your stand mixer at medium speed for 1 minute until stiff peaks form. Remove from stand mixer and set aside.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla to the stand mixer and beat on high speed until soft peaks form.
- Add in the cream cheese mixture and beat on medium speed until creamy, 1-2 minutes.
To Finish:
- To your cake stand add a spoonful of Mascarpone frosting.
- Level the cakes with a large serrated knife and discard the cake pieces.
- Brush off excess crumbs.
- Add the first layer of the cake to the cake stand.
- Spread with ½ of the ricotta filling, spreading evenly.
- Add the second layer of the cake.
- Spread with ½ of the ricotta filling, spreading evenly.
- Top with third layer of cake.
- Add 1 cup of mascarpone frosting to the top of the cake and spread evenly.
- Add 1 cup of mascarpone frosting, coating the outside of the cake.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow to harden.
- Frost the cake with half the remaining frosting.
- Pipe swirly mounds onto the top of the cake.
- Press the waffle cone pieces and mini chocolate chips up against the side of the cake coming up halfway on the sides of the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
Sabrina’s Tip
To get the best results when frosting your cake, it is imperative that you let your cakes cool completely before frosting. Especially because of the ricotta and mascarpone in the frosting and filling. I promise you you’ll love the results when you give them time to cool off.
Table of contents
Can this be made ahead of time?
This cake is best made fresh, especially because of the delicate nature of the frosting and filling, so I don’t recommend making it in advance.
How to Store
- Serve: Due to the mascarpone cheese in the filling, you should only leave this recipe at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Store: To keep the cake fresh, cover it gently in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge. It can stay good for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Unfortunately, the cheese filling means this cake won’t freeze and defrost well. So, it’s better not to try to freeze it.
Variations
- Chocolate topping: If you want to add a layer of chocolate flavor to the cake, you can pool rich Chocolate Ganache over the top. First, add the cake filling and frosting as usual. Then add the rich chocolate ganache to the center of the top cake layer and circle it out so it covers the whole top.
- Orange filling: Mix fresh orange juice and orange zest into the mascarpone filling. You could also do the same with lemon or lime juice.
- Chocolate: Try different kinds of chocolate chips like dark, milk, or white chocolate chips to replace the classic semisweet.
Related Recipes
More Decadent Layer Cake Flavors
