Pumpkin Cannoli Ice Cream Cones

The joy of walking into an Italian bakery, where display cases are full of sweet treats like cannolis, is hard to quantify. The sights are one thing. The smells, ones that reach intoxicating levels, are another.

Cannolis are about as Italian-American as you can get, right up there with spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, and baked pizza. A staple for dessert, these tube-shaped pastries showcase a crispy shell with a sweet, creamy filling piped in from either side.

You can put on your amateur baking hat and try these at home, but the process of shaping and frying the shells is time consuming. We came up with a way to substitute cannoli shells with Joy Sugar Cones. Skip all the fuss so you can save your fall weekends to pick apples and visit pumpkin farms with your kiddos.

Did we mention we added a fall twist to this recipe? Classic cannolis feature a mixture of ricotta cheese and heavy cream sweetened with powdered sugar. We transformed it into a fall version with the addition of pumpkin, pumpkin spice (use our homemade spice blend from our Pumpkin Cheesecake enJOY-a-Bowls™ recipe), and fall-themed candies (orange and black sprinkles and candy corn) to line the outer rim of the cone. This is both visually appealing and provides added texture when you sink your teeth into the cone. Plus, it’s an easy way to get the children or grandchildren involved in the decorating process. Just make sure they don’t eat all the candy beforehand!

What You’ll Need:

Pumpkin Spice Mix:

• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves

Pumpkin Cannoli Cones and Toppings:

• 24 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup canned pumpkin
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
• 1 box Joy Sugar Cones
• ½ cup white chocolate melting wafers (1 ¼ cup if filling the cones)
• Orange and black sprinkles
• 1 cup candy corn
• Paper towels or cheesecloth
• Electric stand or handheld mixer, or whisk

What To Do:

Pumpkin Spice:

1. Add the spices to a small bowl and mix with a whisk or fork. Store in a small jar or airtight container.

Pumpkin Cannoli Cones:

1. Line a strainer or sieve with paper towels or cheesecloth and place ricotta cheese inside, allowing it to drain over the sink for 5-10 minutes. Skipping this step will result in a runny finished product.
2. Place white chocolate wafers in a microwave safe bowl and melt according to package instructions. (The chocolate and bowl could get hot, so be careful, especially if your little ones are helping with this part.) Have some medium-size drinking glasses ready so you can place individual decorated cones inside the glasses as they dry.
3. To help the cones stay crisp, coat the inside of the cones with a thin layer of melted chocolate.
4. Place the orange and black sprinkles and candy corn in separate bowls or on a shallow plate. Dip the edges of the cones in the melted white chocolate and roll six of the cones in sprinkles and the remaining six cones in candy corn so they cover the white chocolate.
5. Using a stand or handheld mixer (a whisk with old fashioned elbow grease works too), whip the heavy cream until it’s firm and fluffy.
6. Using the mixer’s lowest setting, add powdered sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and ricotta cheese to the whipped heavy cream. Once fully blended, mix on medium speed for around 30 seconds.
7. Scoop the cannoli filling into a piping bag or a zip-top bag with a corner cut off. Use a star tip to pipe mixture into the cones.
8. Enjoy your ice cream cone cannolis when they’re fully assembled, or store in the refrigerator for up to a day until you’re ready to serve them (we recommend enjoying promptly to ensure a nice, crisp cannoli cone!).

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