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★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
If you love cannolis but aren't quite sure you want to get into advanced pastry-making then you will love this cannoli bundt cake recipe!
This cake is super easy to make, using cake mix as a starting point. One of my favorite cooking hacks is doctoring cake mixes.
Cake mix: it's okay to use it!
You'd be surprised to hear how many professional chefs also start with a cake mix. It's not a sin, I swear! It's a time-saver and you can get amazing flavor from a cake mix.
This pretty and yummy cake is topped of with a dusting of powdered sugar and more mini chocolate chips.
An Easy Dessert for Special Occasions
Celebrating a birthday, holiday or anniversary? This is an impressive dessert that tastes so good and is really easy to make. An all-around win.
Make a Meal
Try this delicious cannoli bundt cake as dessert with Chicken Marsala, a Panzanella Salad and a Smoked Rosemary Blackberry Whiskey Sour.
Italian Cannoli Cookies
If you can't get enough of that rich cannoli flavor, you'll want to also try my chocolate chip cannoli cookies. Easy to make, soft and fluffy chocolate chip cookies made with ricotta cheese.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
All the cannoli flavor you love...
... baked into a cake!
To pull this off, you just need some basic cake-making ingredients plus a few traditional Italian dessert ingredients.
We'll start with vanilla cake mix and add ricotta cheese, milk, and chocolate chips.
The ricotta cheese adds flavor as well as moisture. So you end up with a dense and delicious cake.
Next comes the frosting.
This is sort of a buttercream frosting with ricotta cheese and vanilla added in creating that traditional cannoli flavor you know and love.
★ How to Make this Recipe ★
This cannoli bundt cake is especially designed to be an easy-to-make, yet impressive dessert.
The full recipe is detailed as well as a how-to video can be found below.
To give you a quick idea of the steps, here's an overview of what's involved:
- Wrap ricotta in cheesecloth.
- Squeeze ricotta to remove liquid.
- Mix together cake mix, chocolate chips, eggs, milk, oil and ricotta to form batter.
- Pour batter into greased bundt pan.
- Bake then let cool.
- Turn cooled cake onto a cake plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Mix together frosting ingredients.
- Top bundt cake with frosting
- Add mini chocolate chips, slice and serve!
★ Tips ★
There are a few tips and tricks to nailing this cake on the first try so be sure to follow the directions and check out the notes for a few extra tips.
Here's how to get your bundt cake out of the pan.
Without falling apart, breaking in half or cracking.
Yes, there is a secret to getting your cooked bundt cake to drop smoothly out of the bundt pan.
You need to use baking spray to grease your bundt pan.
I use Baker's Joy which is made of flour and oil. The combination is like magic and the cake slides right out of the pan when you use a generous amount.
Do not use French Vanilla Cake mix.
Standard "Vanilla" cake mix or white cake mix tastes best. I find the "French vanilla" flavor to be off-putting. It taste like imitation vanilla extract. Not good! So be sure to check the box of cake mix before you buy.
The cannoli frosting doubles as a dip!
This is a two-for-one recipe in that you can actually serve the frosting as a dip! So, if you're looking for a fun, sharable dessert or party snack then make just the frosting (you can double it if feeding a crowd) and serve it with a sweet cookie. I like to use vanilla wafers or waffle ice cream cones broken into a pieces and dusted with powdered sugar.
You can also use yellow cake mix but keep in mind, the color will change.
★ FAQs ★
Cake mixes vary slightly in size. The exact size really doesn't matter much as long as it is close to 13.25 to 14.25oz.
Bake time may vary slightly, but just be sure to test your cake for doneness and pull it as soon as it's set and you'll be good to go.
For this recipe, you will want a large bundt pan for this recipe. I recommend a 12-cup size or larger.
If using a smaller bundt pan, you can cut the recipe down as needed.
Keep in mind, the batter will expand when baked so you want to make sure the bundt pan is not filled up more than ¾ full or you could eventually have a mess on your hands.
Need a large bundt pan? Shop bundt pans on Amazon
Since cannoli cake is made with ricotta and cream cheese, you will want to store this cake in the fridge. Bring out the cake about 20-30 minutes before serving to let it get to room temperature.
★ More Bundt Cake Recipes ★
Want more easy dessert ideas?
Browse all my dessert recipes and be sure to Pin your favorites for later!
This cannoli bundt cake recipe was featured on South Your Mouth!
Cannoli Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix 13.25oz to 14.25oz
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup ricotta cheese, squeezed to remove liquid
Cannoli Frosting
- ½ cup ricotta cheese, squeezed to remove liquid
- 4 oz cream cheese
- ¼ cup softened butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- A few shakes salt, to taste
Toppings
- 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
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Instructions
- Mix cake batter. In a large bowl, combine cake mix with chocolate chips. Toss to coat chocolate chips. Next add eggs, milk, oil and ricotta cheese. Beat with a hand mixer until completely blended.
- Prepare bundt pan. Generously coat bundt pan with baking spray (flour and oil) then pour cake batter into bundt pan.
- Bake. Bake at 350˚for 30-35 minutes. Cook time varies by pan. When the top of the cake starts to firm up, insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake and when it comes out completely clean, remove the cake from oven.
- Let cake cool. Let cake cool completely. To speed up cooling, you can put the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Make frosting. While cake is cooling, prepare the frosting by blending together ricotta cheese, cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt with a mixer.
- Remove cake from pan. Next, take the cool cake and place your cake plate on top of the bundt pan, face down. Gently flip the cake over onto the plate.
- Top with powdered sugar, frosting and chocolate chips. Shake powdered sugar onto the cake then scrap frosting evenly over top letting it spread slightly over the side.Finally, top with chocolate chips. Slice and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use Baker's Joy to coat your bundt pan. This is different than cooking spray. It contains both flour and oil and is the secret to getting your bundt cake out of the pan.
- Tossing the chocolate chips in the cake mix first will help them to "float" within the batter and prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the cake when baked.
- Be sure to squeeze extra liquid from ricotta cheese to prevent cake from becoming too moist and frosting from becoming too runny. You can use cheesecloth or just use clean hands. Squeeze then measure.
- Make sure you let the cake cool completely before adding the powdered sugar and frosting.
- This cake must be refrigerated due to the cream cheese frosting.
Cindy says
Will this recipe work using a gluten free cake mix?
Angela G. says
Hi Cindy, you should be able to substitute with a gluten-free cake mix although I haven't tested it, I do believe it would work without any issues. Thanks for asking!
Jean says
Hi! Made this last week and it was a hit!
Could it be made as cupcakes?
Angela G. says
Hi Jean, Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, this could be made as cupcakes, you will need to shorten the bake time by about half. Use the toothpick method to determine when the cupcakes are finished baking.
Vonnie says
Does this need refrigeration after baking since there is ricotta and cream cheese in the frosting?
Angela G. says
Hi Vonnie, Yes, you will want to store this cake in the fridge. Bring it out about 20-30 minutes before serving to let it get to room temperature.
Bri says
Looks amazing!! What size box of cake mix? Some have 15.25 oz while others have 17.25
Monty says
WoW! Great tasting cake and super easy to make. I made two of them for neighbors and one for me - nothing but rave reviews. For mine I used Golden Butter cake mix and it was delicious. Thanks for this recipe.
Crissy Davis says
This cake is amazing! So tasty! I made this for my boyfriend and his family and it went so fast. I will be making this again! Thank you for sharing.
Angela G. says
Hi Chrissy, I'm so glad you all enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your photo. Looks great!
Janet says
I love this! Thank you for sharing this magnificent recipe.
Can you tell me which kind of vanilla cake mix you use to make this?
Angela G. says
Hi Janet, any boxed cake mix will work! I don't have a specific go-to brand. Thanks for asking.
Matt Van Gieson says
Great recipe. Followed it and it worked perfectly.
Angela G. says
Thanks, Matt! So glad you enjoyed it and all worked out well for you. Appreciate the feedback!
Barbara Johnessee says
Can you make this cake a day ahead.
Thanks
Angela G. says
Yes, just let it cool completely, cover it loosely and refrigerate it.
Victoria says
Hi
Can you make this in a 9 x 13 pan?
Angela G. says
Hi Victoria, Yes, you could. Try reducing the bake time 10 minutes and then check the center of the cake to be sure it's done. Cook longer as needed. Cake it done as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Marle Martin says
Hello, Could I know if this frosting is good for drape? I don’t know is sticky, I would like to know your recommendations.Thanks for share the recipe looks great.
Angela G. says
Hi Marle, The frosting hardens slightly but remains wet to touch. Hope this helps!
Ronda Giese says
I needed an Italian dessert for a dinner party. This was a hit everyone loved it. Easy to make moist and delicious.
Laura C says
I just made this cake for a birthday dinner party that I had. It was DELICIOUS 😋 & everyone loved it!!!! I will definitely be making it again. Thank you for sharing this Cannoli Bundt Cake recipe.
Sarah W says
Hi! This recipe looks great. Any thoughts about substituting mascarpone cheese for the cream cheese in the frosting?
Thanks!
Angela G. says
Those two cheeses are very similar so you won't have a problem. You can use the exact same amount. Sounds yummy! Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Rebecca says
Amazing cake. Was a hit with everyone. I’m not even a big fan of cannolis and loved. The little bit of extra frosting we had leftover was great for dipping strawberries in.
Angela G. says
Hi Rebecca, I'm so glad you enjoyed the cannoli cake and were able to put the extra frosting to good use! Thanks for the feedback.