There is a darling little restaurant in Kansas City called Cupini’s that I just adore – it’s cute, authentic, family-owned and operated and has some of the best pasta in the city. The pasta is all homemade and totally delicious, but I think my favorite part of visiting the restaurant is the FABULOUS dessert case. It’s full of beautiful pastries, cakes, tiramisu, creme brulee – you name it.
And the cannoli – oh, the cannoli.
The shell is delicate and crispy, and the filling is light and sweet and oh. so. fantastic.
So, when I saw this recipe for this cake, it happened, immediately. I love me a good ol’ poke-cake, so I knew this had to be a winner.
I was right.
The thing about this cake that really appealed to me was that it’s not at all a typical cake. The frosting is sweet, but it’s not “buttercream-sweet.” It’s creamy, it’s rich, and when you get a little burst of chocolate, it’s like a little bonus – an extra bit of flavor – and it’s ALL good.
Plus, it’s super-easy to make. You all know that I’m not a huge fan of boxed cake mix, but they definitely have their place – especially when you’re doctoring them up and turning them into a poke cake. Infusing even a boxed cake with sweetened condensed milk masks that artificial flavor and no one will ever know.
Unless you have a food blog and tell them all. 😉 No shame here!
Be sure to top your cake generously with mini chocolate chips – the recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but I’m pretty sure I used more than that. And give it a good dusting of powdered sugar too – but do that right before serving. If you dust with powdered sugar and then put it in the fridge, the sugar will dissolve and you’ll lose the effect.
My kids did not love this cake – I think the frosting (which is actually the same recipe as cannoli filling) is a little bit sophisticated for them – especially when they’re expecting a sugary buttercream.
Sorry, kids.
More for me.
#notsorry
I love to make this cake when I’m serving an Italian dinner – it goes great with a big lasagna, salad and toasty bread. I think my friends at Cupini’s might even approve of the shortcut. Ok, well – maybe not. It’s hard to compete with the best, but I’m happy to use this as a shortcut when I can’t get the real thing!
Hope you love it – enjoy!
♥erin
- 1 box white cake mix, plus ingredients on box
- 2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 1 and ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 and ½ cup mascarpone cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- powdered sugar, for dusting
- Bake cake according to directions on box for a 9x13 pan, and allow to cool completely.
- Using the end of a wooden spoon, poke holes all over the top of the cake, about an inch apart.
- Pour one can of sweetened condensed milk over the top of the cake, then cover and refrigerate the cake for 1-2 hours.
- In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mascarpone and vanilla, and beat until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and beat until completely combined. Add sweetened condensed milk, a Tablespoon at a time, until proper frosting consistency is reached.
- *Note: due to variances in ricotta cheese consistency, your frosting thickness might be affected. If it's too thick, add additional sweetened condensed milk. If it's too thin, you can add additional mascarpone and/or powdered sugar.
- Remove cake from refrigerator, then spread frosting over the top of the cake.
- Garnish with mini chocolate chips and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Enjoy!
This is the prettiest poke cake I’ve ever seen!
Thanks Amanda! ♥
I made this cake but we had to eat it out of bowls because the frosting did not thicken. Putting the cake in the refrigerator did not help. The taste is amazing and I would like to make the cake again if I can get it to look like yours. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Lisa, I’m not sure -my frosting was very thick – almost difficult to spread! Did you use just half a can of the sweetened condensed milk?
You definitely shouldn’t use a half a can in the frosting. Maybe a couple tablespoons AT MOST. Otherwise your frosting with be soup.
any way to thicken the frosting up. i didnt even use half the can of condensed milk.
I’m kind of stumped by this – mine was almost too thick, and I’ve made it 3 times now. You don’t have to use the sweetened condensed milk at all – it’s only real purpose is to thin the frosting to a spreadable consistency. Was it ok before you added it? You can always add more powdered sugar and mascarpone to thicken it…let me know!
I was reading the comments regarding the frosting. Often the ricotta is the problem because some have more liquid than others. One way to ensure that your frosting comes out right is to strain the ricotta before you combine it with the other ingredients. Been there, done that. This dessert looks delicious, can’t wait to try it.
Pardon the expression, but I just have to do it…holy cannoli, this cake is flippin’ delicious! Made it for tonight’s dessert and it did not disappoint! Left out the sweetened condensed milk in the frosting and found the consistency/sweetness to be perfect without it. Thanks so much for sharing; this is def going into regular rotation at our house and for the BBQ/potluck circuit!
Thank you! I would’ve been an unhappy camper if I’d had runny frosting. My spider sense was saying to leave it out (the milk). Cheers!
I saw this on Pinterest and knew i had to try it! It’s way different than any cannoli cake i’ve ever had. LOVE IT!
I’m confused. The directions say “Add powdered sugar And half a can condensed milk. Then it says. NOTE – you will not use a half a can of milk”. Which is it. Milk or no milk?????? Very confusing directions
You will not use half of the can, you will have leftover.
I think the directions are saying that you will end up discarding the other half of the can. They are just letting you know you won’t be using the entire can.
Made this to take to my husband’s cousin’s house tonight, as they are having us over for an Italian dinner…tasted the frosting and it was amazing! I can’t wait till they taste this!
I drain my ricotta for a day, some brands have more liquid than others. I like the cinnamon in this recipe. thank you!
confused where you read cinnamon in this recipe? Did you add this to your cake batter or icing?
tastes great….my frosting is runny too….I added more powdered sugar and am hoping that the fridge will set it up some but tastes great
Has this been tried with chocolate or devils food cake mix?
I had to post because I just finished up making this, and my frosting was very runny as well.
I omitted the condensed milk and added a bit more powdered sugar instead.
It tastes absolutely amazing though!
I made this at Christmas it was awesome but did have a slight problem with the frosting. I believe it had to do with the ricotta. I am making it for Easter and am going to drain my ricotta this time. The awesomeness was there just slightly drippy but nothing you couldn’t handle
This cake was a big hit with the family! After reading the comments, I actually only needed to put in 1 Tbsp of sweetened condensed milk and came out perfect.
Tip for making the frosting thicker…Since the ricotta cheese holds water, before mixing it with the other cheese and vanilla, place the ricotta cheese on layers of paper towels and drain some of the water out by patting it. Also, I only used one can of condensed milk for the whole recipe. I put about 2 tablespoons in the frosting and the rest over the cake…two cans seemed like it would be too sweet. Hope this helps! Amazing cake btw, it was a hit with the whole family 🙂
I just made this and it was wonderful. I used regular ricotta because the low fat is very watery. I had no problem and will make again.