Have you ever found a recipe that looked too good to be true? Welcome to my weekend.

Well, hello there beautiful. Could you really be so simple?
Why, hello there five ingredient masterpiece. Could you really be so simple?

I was going to be visiting family on Saturday and wanted to bring a fun dish [lucky | unlucky for them – they always serve as my recipe guinea pigs]. I’ve seen the infamous Cannoli Dip making its rounds on Facebook & Pinterest for a while now, and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a shot.

I mean, put 5 ingredients in a bowl, mix them together & serve?! Was right up my alley.

canolidipmix.jpg
Obviously, I was thinking this would be a breeze – I was still pretty gung-ho at this point. [8 oz. cream cheese, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 /1/2 cup confectioners sugar, 2 cups ricotta cheese, 1 cup mini chocolate chips]
To cut to the chase, the recipe wasn’t that simple [but keep reading, it has a some-what happy ending].

Initially, my dip was too runny, a little gritty, and not very creamy. I was so bummed, but dead set on not giving up on my Cannoli soup disaster. In the midst of the stressful 2 hours or so it took to get this “easy dip” to it’s ideal consistency & picturesque status, I opted not to photograph the struggle. I apologize to those who were interested in seeing my aftermath of a tornado kitchen during this process. You can see snapshot of the end result at the bottom though! 😉

To fix the mess, I decided to add some corn starch [one tablespoon at a time] until it thickened up a bit. I also added another 8oz. block of cream cheese, some heavy cream, and beat that dip with my hand mixer until my little fingers went numb!

All in all – it was not the best thing I’ve ever made, but it wasn’t god awful. After googling what could have possibly gone wrong and how I could have made it better, I got some very helpful tips! See below.

How to not make Crummy Cannoli Dip:

1) DRAIN YOUR RICOTTA. This was not in the directions, but I think it’s 100% necessary. I had actually read elsewhere that draining was recommended, so I did give it a try. In a cloth, I scooped the ricotta & rang it out for a minute or two. Newsflash, this is not how you drain ricotta. To properly drain, wrap the cheese in a cloth, place in a strainer, and set a heavy brick or something of the sort on top for about 2 hours.

2) Try Marscapone? I don’t know if this would make much of a difference, but I may give it a shot next time.

3) Mix everything before adding the chocolate chips.

4) Try this recipe! It requires a little more work [like using a stove top – ew, more dishes], but I think it’s the secret to the creamier consistency.

My finished product!
Behold – my finished product!

I served it with Pizzelles, Fresh Strawberries, and Chocolate Chip Brownie Brittle.

It's all about the presentation, right? Who would ever think that this pretty little platter caused enough stress to probably take  3 years off of my life.
It’s all about the presentation, right? Who would ever think that this pretty little platter caused enough stress to probably take 3 years off of my life?

Honestly, I’m not much of a star in the kitchen, but I really love trying creative, new recipes when I have the time. Everything can’t be a hit the first time around [like my FAVORITE peanut butter cheesecake ], but you learn! I’m excited to give this dip another try.

Have you ever made a Cannoli Dip? How did it come out?

10 comments on “Recipe Testing: Cannoli Dip”

  1. Hi! I just tried this for a work party. I ran into the same runny problem. I also added the additional 8 ounces of cream cheese, plus some leftover candied fruit from our fruitcake (the small pieces) and 1 tbs of corn starch, and mixed it in with a hand blender. Voila – perfect consistency! I hand-mixed the larger candied fruit pieces, the chips, and a splash of maraschino with a bit more corn starch (so it’s more like Cassata-dip and not Cannoli-dip but looks pretty impressive, if I must say. Serving with graham crackers.

    • Hi Amy –

      So glad you tried it & were able to thicken it up! I love the candied fruit idea. I’m sure it’ll be a hit!

      I’ve been dying to make it again – I think draining the ricotta next time around will be key.

      I hope everyone enjoys it! 🙂

Leave a Reply