Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Ricotta Frosting (Cannoli Cupcakes)

Yes! I did it! I had the BEST cannoli I've had in a long time last weekend and have been OBESSED with making a cupcake filled with the frosting. Tonight - I did it!

But... it gets better... try making it with these



Pretty epic if you ask me. I believe that is the smallest cupcake pan I've ever seen! And seriously - who really has one of those egg beaters? Honestly! I looked and looked but my uncle doesn't have one anywhere in sight. So I figured - we'll make it work!

The cake recipe is from www.how2heroes.com, it's call Basic Hot Milk Sponge Cake so you'll have to go there to check it out.

The frosting recipe is a combination of a few different recipes I've found online and some genius ideas out of my own head.

Frosting Ingredients:
1 tub of whole milk ricotta
1 cup of powered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest (about two lemon's worth)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Pinch of coco for garnish

Other item's you'll need
- cheese cloth
- strainer
- arm muscles if you're using an old school beater!



Step 1:
Grab a bowl, the cheese cloth and a strainer. You're going to want to strain the water out of the ricotta. Grab the strainer and put it on top of the bowl, then line the strainer with the cheese cloth. Put the ricotta into the cheese cloth, cover with plastic, then a towel, then with a few cans to keep the pressure up. Put the whole mess into the fridge and let it site for a few hours (or however long you can wait - for me it was about two hours.)

Step 2:
Make the cake! The Basic Hot Milk Sponge Cake recipe that's featured on www.how2heroes.com really is awesome so please check it out.

The key to the cake is that it's a bit thicker so it's a nice compliment to the frosting.

The one thing i'll note is that I made the cake WITH THE EGG BEATER! Oh yes! My arm's will be nice and sore tomorrow! Also, having to cook in a kitchen with out ANYTHING made for cooking, I of course couldn't locate the potholder... Mittens come in very handy for this. Crazy, i know, but hey! I didn't burn myself!



The cupcakes came out great using that old school pan - I wish I had filled them a little higher but it all worked out. I cooked them for about 15 min - a few minutes less than listed in the recipe.



Step 3:
FROSTING TIME! (the ingredients are excited too, see the smiley face?)
After waiting for about 2 hours for some of the water to drain out. You want to pop the ricotta in a big bowl.

You want to prep the lemon and the sugar so they are ready to go. Mix up the ricotta so it's a bit smoother - then add the lemon zest and vanilla. Mix these well. Then add the sugar a bit at a time. I would add about 1/4 of a cup at a time because you don't want to over sweeten it. Make sure you taste it while you're mixing. After all the ingredients have been incorporated - you want to MIX MIX MIX!



Now it's time to assemble the cupcake!

Step 4:
Here's why it's important to have a bit of a thicker, firmer cake - you want to carve out a little section through the middle of the cake so you can put the frosting! Kinda like a cannoli...

Save the little top section you cut out because you'll want to then pop that back on top and frost the whole thing.



Step 5:
Garnish - I just used a little coco powder (yeah, I love chocolate) and just some of the lemon zest.

Fun times in my Uncle's kitchen - mittens and old school egg beaters. Love it.