Custards and Puddings

I can be really flaky at times.

Okay, most of the time. I mean I don’t back out of commitments, I can’t handle being late, and I love to-do lists but when it comes to doing stuff for me I get flaky. My things just get pushed aside a lot of the time.

Like getting my license renewed…

Yep, it expired back in January while we were on our cruise and I only just got it renewed. My time during the day is so crunched from having to leave work early to get Autumn so I kept putting it off because I’d check the RMV website and it’d say there were 55+ minute waits. Ummm, no! Ugh. Well, I finally bit the bullet one day and headed over to the RMV in Watertown Mall at lunch. Well, what the dumb RMV website didn’t say was that there was a do it yourself kiosk there. WHAT? I was able to do that and it took like 5 minutes!! And I got to take multiple pictures until I liked one enough. yay!! Finally, something off the never ending to-do list!!!

Anyway, whenever I think of cannoli I think of my Poppy. Well, I am also reminded of him when I think of sfogliatelles, Drake’s Coffee Cakes, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. There were always boxes of coffee cake and packages of peanut butter cups in his refrigerator every time we would visit him in New Jersey. And he would often get Italian pastries for our visits as well. Most often cannoli and sfogliatelles were in the box. The best!

Now, because of the superior quality of the cannoli he would get I have a pretty high standard for them. You can’t have a soggy shell. Nor can your filling be too loose. And, something that I feel passionate about is that when you get a chocolate chip cannoli the filling MUST have mini chocolate chips in it. Don’t try to give me a regular cannoli that has its ends dipped into chocolate chips. Once you take a bite from either end it’s just like any other cannoli.

There are too many places that slack off when it comes to their chocolate chip cannoli (I’m looking at you Mike’s Pastry) so when I was planning on making this cannoli dip I was really excited that I would get to load it up with chocolate chips, just the way I like it!

The waffle sticks are lightly scented with coffee and orange, similar to the perfect Italian pick me up. The cannoli dip also has orange zest, which just makes the flavors pop, especially the chocolate.

The recipe makes for a lot of waffle sticks, which is great for a crowd to serve for a snack or dessert. But it you think that is too many for you then you can halve the recipe easily. Or just make them all and freeze them by laying them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then placing them in a resealable plastic bag once frozen.

Even Autumn loved snagging a waffle stick. I love that the waffle sticks are great for little hands. Plus, all kids love waffles. At least she really does!

I hope you’ll give these a try as the waffle sticks as they are so cute and the dip is incredible. I swear that you won’t stop dipping!

Waffle Sticks with a Cannoli Dip

Makes about 48 waffle sticks

Ingredients

For the Waffles

• 2 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teapsoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 Cups milk
• 1/4 Tablespoons brewed coffee
• 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• about 2 Tablespoons orange zest (I used 2 oranges)

For the Cannoli Dip

• 8 ounce container Mascarpone cheese
•  15 ounce container Part Skim Ricotta
• 1 1/4 Cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon orange zest (depending on taste)
• 2/3 Cups mini chocolate chips

Process

1. For the waffles, preheat your Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Vigorously beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the milk, coffee, oil, and vanilla extract and beat well.
4. Add in the dry ingredients and the orange zest. Mix until just combined.
5. Scoop out 1/3 Cup of batter and evenly spread out in the waffle iron. Cook until golden brown and crisp. Place on a wire rack to cool and crisp up.
6. For the dip, begin by straining off the Ricotta cheese to eliminate excess fluid.
7. In a large mixing bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and heavy cream. Mix until smooth and well combined.
8. Add the orange zest chocolate chips and mix well.
9. Pour into a serving bowl. Serve with waffle sticks.

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While I received the waffle maker from Select Brands, all opinions are my own. 

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And now the GIVEWAY!!!!

I have another awesome giveaway from Select Brands!! We’re partnering up this year and I’m so excited about it!

We want you to be able to make these fun Waffle Stick recipes so be sure to enter my giveaway for a Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker!

Follow the instructions HERE!!