mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets

mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.com

mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.com
You guysssszsszzz! Mother’s Day is this weekend!! Somehow that means it’s FREAKING MAY ALREADY. Yikes.
And new this year: I totally get to participate in MoDay stuffies as a momma. Yikes Part 2. Or maybe Yay Part 1? Because crudsmugglers, this whole parenting thing is spectacularly spectacular in the full-blown, John Leguizamo-as-The-Magical-Sittar kind of way. It’s at once beautiful and terrifying and easier and harder than I ever imagined and the last two weeks have passed in what I can only describe as a state of quasi-hypnosis. I’ve never been more fixated on another living thing. I’ve never been more fixated on my own boobs.

I’ve never had more pride in or respect for the moms in my life.

mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.com

mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.com
Speaking of moms, this Sunday, The Moms — who, blissfully, are buddies and actually elect to endure things like long car rides together — are making the trek to our place to spoil us with a feast of traditional family-style eats: chicken enchiladas and potato salad for Chris; Chinese sausage fried rice and BBQ pork ribs for me.

Boobs for Lana. (Sorry, husband. Gone are the days.)

If I can sneak into the kitchen between feedings (that is: stuffing both my own face and the piglet’s), we’ll wash everything down with these bite-sized pastries. As simple as store-bought pie crust cleverly baked into tiny tart shells (on the back of a mini muffin tin!) and piped full of decadent, honeyed cannoli cream. With Meyer lemon zest because we fancy. And mini choco chippies all over the plizzy.

SUUUR KYERRRRRT. I’ll take 400.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful mommas out there, including, of course Mommas Fong and Stoffel. We’re so blessed to have your unconditional love, good humor and support backing the (now) three of us in all we do. I’m honored (and more than a little humbled) to join your ranks. ♥

xoxo,
Em

mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.commini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.commini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.commini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.commini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.commini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.commini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.com

mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
By:
Makes: 20 to 24 mini tartlets
Ingredients
  • 8 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 4 oz mascarpone
  • 2.5 T honey
  • zest of one Meyer lemon
  • mini chocolate chips
  • prepared pie dough (about 1 premade frozen crust, defrosted, or generous ½ lb favorite dough)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450F .
  2. To make the mini tartlet shells, roll pie crust out to about ⅛" thickness. Using a 3" (or so) biscuit cutter or drinking glass, cut dough into circles; re-roll dough and continue until all dough is cut into 20 to 24 discs. Drape circles over the back of an ungreased mini muffin tin, pressing them down lightly to form inverted cups. (If necessary, drape the dough over alternating cups to prevent shells from touching each other and bake shells in batches.) Bake for 7 to 10 mins or until shells are golden brown. Note: if you're using a dark nonstick pan, the underside of the shells will brown faster than the tops.
  3. Allow shells to cool on the pan slightly before carefully removing them to cooling racks to cool completely.
  4. While shells are cooling, mix ricotta, mascarpone, honey and Meyer lemon zest in small bowl.
  5. To serve, spoon or pipe a small amount of cannoli cream into each mini tartlet shell. Top with mini chocolate chips. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe is adapted from a classic Italian cannoli cream I fell in love when Chris' friend, Paolo, potluck'd it a couple of years ago. Clever fella that he is, Paolo served the cream dip-style with broken sugar cones for dunking -- a totally genius option if baking off tartlet shells is not your jam. Thanks for the inspo, Paolo! 😉

Both the cannoli cream and the tartlet shells can be made one to two days in advance. Keep cannoli cream tightly covered in the refrigerator; (fully cooled) shells can be sealed in an airtight bag and kept at room temperature. Composed tartlets also keep relatively well in the fridge for up to two days. So easy!
mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets with honey + chocolate chips | via thepigandquill.com

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12 Comments on “mini meyer lemon cannoli cream tartlets”

  1. Whoa you’re a momma! That’s so crazy! You’re gonna be the best mom ever – I think I already told you that tho. 😉 Have fun with The Moms! These little lemony cannoli tartlets are a super cute way to celebrate mom day! Yay!

    1. Eeeets soooooo crazy, Grace! And I don’t know about the best ever (our mommas have some pretty big shoes to fill) but I’m giving it my best. We’ll most definitely have a great time with The Moms. 🙂 And Happy MoDay to YOUR Momma, too. Your posts make her sound like such a gem. <3

    1. We seriously got so lucky with the whole in-law situation, Alice — its been such an EASY and enjoyable merging of families, moreso now that we have a wee one. And I will most definitely eat this first Mother’s Day right up! 😉

  2. Confession- I don’t like canoli cream… just never fancied it, that and I’m lactose intolerant. But honestly… I’d pop a lactaid pill and try these babies because they’re so frickin’ cute, I can’t even.

    1. Lactose intolerance – yikes! I don’t know what I would do if some of my fave dairy foods were off the table. Oh ok, yes I do. I suppose I could try to resort to all things goat cheese in the meantime. (Isn’t goat cheese sometimes an exception?) Would you believe me if I said goat cheese cannoli cream actually doesn’t sound all that awful to me? 😉 And if for some reason, the “grainyness” of ricotta is what usually turns you off of cannoli cream (you know, aside from the lactose thing…), these are somehow exempt from that feature! I think all the mascarpone and honey really smooths things out. And then, as you said, there is the cute factor, which is always appealing. Lactaid away! 🙂

  3. Happy 1st Mommy’s day to you, Em. I can’t imagine how excited (& exhausted) you must be, yet you still have time to deliver these yummy looking tartlets to all of us. Wow!!!! I have a feeling you are going to be that kind of mom, you know, the SUPER MOM. 🙂

    1. Thank you, Pang! It was such a nice weekend (complete with tarts — I really did manage to whip up a batch, much to my own surprise). And I don’t know about supermom, but I’m giving it my best! Hope you had a lovely weekend, too, friend. 🙂

  4. These tarts are SO precious and they sound so crazy delicious! I can’t believe you managed to whip up a batch of these gems amidst all the crazy new-mom-ness. The happiest of Mother’s Days to you, new mama!!! You are an inspiration. Tons of love to you, Lana, and Chris!!

    PS YES Chinese sausage fried rice!!

    1. Yeaaaah, but did you see the part where I used storebought pie crust, Cynth? That’s how I managed to pull these little guys off with my own little guy (gal) sleeping in the next room. 🙂 (I’m saying that like I don’t ALWAYS use storebought pie crust, even though SO many blog posts ago I remember promising you that I would try my hand at making my own from scratch after finding inspiration in one of your recipes. Confession: I haven’t done it — I haven’t done it! But I think we all knew that…) Thank you SO much for the Mother’s Day wishes, friend. And thank you in advance for the extra support while I’m finding my way in this new mama world! <3

      PS YES to Chinese sausage EVERYTHING!

  5. This was both the funniest and cutest post I’ve ever read. Congratulations again on Lana! And these tartlets are too adorable, that cannoli cream sounds amazing!!

    1. Awh, thanks Erica! The cannoli cream is seriously SO simple and tasty — I’d take pretty much any excuse to eat it. (Like, I’d honestly dip potato chips in it if given the opportunity.) And thanks again for the congrats. It’s been such a trip getting to know her over these first couple of weeks. Babies are crazy, wonderful little buggers!

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