Phyllo Pastry Cannoli With Cream Cheese Filling

A classic Italian dessert with a twist that's what my phyllo pastry cannoli is all about. Cannoli means
'little tube" and the filling varies from whipped fresh cream,cream cheese,pastry cream, nutella or anything you could imagine.  Having a new box of store bought phyllo pastry in my fridge comes handy anytime of the day for a perfect dessert. With a minimum effort you can simply whip up an amazing dessert which is definitely gonna be a crowd puller.

Crispy,golden baked phyllo tubes gently filled with smooth and creamy cream cheese,dipped into rich chocolate and crunchy chopped pistachio and sprinkled with confectioners sugar are truly heaven on earth and mouth. I saved great amount of time with this so called short-cut cannoli recipe without compromising on the authentic Italian taste.

Ingredients

14 sheets phyllo dough
3/4 cup butter,melted
14 squares of aluminium foil

For The Filling

1 cup cream cheese,softened
1 tbsp full cream/whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

For Garnishing

1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate,melted
4 tbsp chopped pistachios
3 tbsp confectioners sugar


Methods

Preheat oven to 350'F or 175'Cel. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Keep aside

Roll the aluminium foil squares into tube that resemble cannoli mould. Set aside

On a clean working surface, brush a sheet of phyllo dough with melted butter and fold to make a square. Place prepared foil tube on one end of the phyllo square and start to roll up around the tube and place the seam side down on the baking sheet. This is to prevent from the phyllo pastry from losing the tube shape while baking.

Bake the pastry for 10-12 minutes or till golden. Remove the foil immediately and keep aside to cool

Beat cream cheese in a bowl with a hand/stand mixer. Add a cup of confectioners sugar and beat for 30 seconds. Add vanilla extract and milk. Scare down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining of confectioners sugar and beat till all ingredients well combined for about 3 minutes

Melt the chocolate using a double boiler method (simply boil water in a pot and place a bowl larger than the rim of the pan on the top of the pot. Add the chocolate into the bowl and keep stirring till the chocolate melted). Remove from heat and keep aside

Dip both ends of the cannoli tubes into the melted chocolate then dip again both ends into chopped pistachios. Set aside to cool for 1-2 minutes. Using a piping bag, gently fill the cannoli tubes with cream cheese filling. Pipe filling on both sides till full. Repeat with the remaining cannoli tubes.

Arrange on a serving plate, dust with confectioners sugar and enjoy.