Cannoli Poke Cake

MAKES 1 (9 X 13-INCH) CAKE

A cannoli is a favorite dessert at the Italian restaurants all over town, and is there anyone who doesn’t love ordering them when eating out? The crisp shells and creamy filling can’t be beat, but frying those shells at home may be a little daunting. Now you can capture that flavor with this easy Cannoli Poke Cake. The crunchy-crisp cookies on the top will remind you of crisp cannoli shells.

Nonstick cooking spray

1 (15.25- to 18-ounce) box white cake mix

1 (3.4-ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix

4 large eggs

1 cup water

⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

CANNOLI POKE CAKE FROSTING:

1 cup heavy cream

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mini semisweet chocolate chips, for garnish

12 to 15 French vanilla or chocolate hazelnut-filled rolled cookies, sliced into ¼-inch pieces, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl using a handheld mixer on low speed, beat together the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, and oil. Scrape down sides of the bowl well and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Put the cake on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

Poke holes evenly over the baked cake using a drinking straw. Pour the sweetened condensed milk slowly and evenly over the cake. Cover and refrigerate the cake for 1 hour.

MAKE THE CANNOLI POKE CAKE FROSTING: In a medium bowl using a handheld mixer on low speed, beat the cream until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form. Set the whipped cream aside.

In a separate medium bowl using a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the milk, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth. Using a spatula, gently fold in the whipped cream.

Frost the cake with the frosting. Garnish with the mini chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Just before serving, sprinkle the cake with the cookies.

TIPS

This frosting is softer than some frostings. The texture is more reminiscent of the soft, creamy filling used in cannoli.

Sprinkle the cake with the crisp cookie pieces just before serving, or the cookies will become soggy. If you are not planning to serve all the cake at once, cut the cake into pieces and sprinkle each piece of cake with the cookies as you serve it.

What are those rolled cookies? Look for these pastry-like, rolled, and filled wafer cookies with the packaged cookies. We prefer to use Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Cookies with either the French vanilla or chocolate-hazelnut filling.

Cannoli are often traditionally filled with a ricotta filling. If you wish to make this cake more classic in flavor, drain 1 (16-ounce) tub whole-milk ricotta cheese and substitute it for the cream cheese in the frosting, then proceed as the recipe directs.