Nutella Mouse

***Note: This fabulous mousse can be used as a fruit dip, crepe filling, cupcake filling, 
cake filling or just to eat with a spoon.***
Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 cups

1 C Nutella
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 C cool whip

1. Place 1 cup of the Nutella into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
2. Add 1 softened package of cream cheese and beat it with hand-held beaters (or you can beat it in your stand mixer) until its nice and smooth.
3. Fold in 1 cup cool whip. Stir it well, making sure everything is well combined.
That's it! Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Chocolate Caramel and Pecan Turtle Clusters

Time: 40 min hands on + 20 min to cool and set
Yield: about 40 clusters

2 1/2 C pecans1/2 C butter (I use salted)
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 of a 14 ounce can)
1/2 t vanilla
1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
1/2 t shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco)

1. Toss 2 1/2 cups of pecans into a large skillet. Toast them over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they have darkened just a bit and smell fragrant and wonderful. Should only take a few minutes.

2. Find yourself 2 large cookie sheets. Line them with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray. Arrange your pecans into clusters, three to a group works well. You want to leave some space (about an inch) between each cluster. 

3. Make your caramel. Place 1/2 C butter into a medium-sized sauce pan. Melt it over medium high heat. Add 1 C brown sugar, 1/2 C light corn syrup and 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk to the pan. Increase the heat just a bit and stir it continually. Cook and stir until it reaches 235-240 degrees. I generally remove it from the heat when it reaches about 234 degrees. It will continue to rise in temperature just a bit even without the direct heat, making the caramel just the right texture.   

4. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

5. Carefully drizzle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of caramel over each nut cluster. You'll want to work quickly, as the caramel will begin to set up. Be sure there is caramel touching all of the nuts in your cluster. The caramel works like glue, sticking the nuts together.

6. In a microwave safe bowl pour 12 ounces of milk chocolate chips. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each cooking interval. 

7. Add 1/2 teaspoon of shortening to the melted chocolate. Allow it to sit for a minute or two (so it can melt and make the chocolate chips more spreadable). Stir it all together.

8. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of melted chocolate over the top of the caramel and nuts. Swirl it around along the top making a pretty swoop with your spoon.  

9. Allow the chocolate to set up. Once it has hardened and cooled you can serve them immediately, or transfer them to an air tight container.

Homemade Cannoli

Shell Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp of salt
3 tbsp of softened butter
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup sweet Marsala wine
shortening, for frying

Filling Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup finely chopped maraschino cherry
1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips For Garnish
powdered sugar, maraschino cherries and/or chocolate chips, if desired

Directions:

1. Mix all “shell ingredients” except for the Marsala in a bowl with a pastry cutter until it is crumbly. The butter and egg yolks should be thoroughly mixed.

2. Next, add in the wine 1 oz at a time,until you are able to mix it with your hands.
3. Form mixture into a ball and let sit uncovered for about 30 minutes.
4. If you don’t have metal cannoli tubes, create your own while you wait for the dough to be ready. For each tube you make, you’ll need a 12×12 inch sheet of aluminum foil. Fold the sheet in half, then wrap it tightly around a dowel that’s about 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Allow the foil to overlap on the dowel about 3 times to strengthen it. Then slide it off the dowel to make a few more. That’s it!
5.Once dough is ready, roll it out so it’s almost paper thin, on a well-floured surface. Then, using the rim of a margarita glass (about 3-4 inches across), make circle imprints into rolled dough. With a paring knife, make sure circles are cut all the way through.
6.Roll each circle of dough around a cannoli tube, overlapping the ends and pressing to seal, flaring out the edges slightly.
7.Fry one or two at a time in hot melted shortening (about 360∞F) for approximately 1 minute, turning to brown all sides.Remove from hot grease and drain on paper towels, seam side down.Let cool a minute or two before trying to remove metal tube.
8.To remove the metal tube, hold cannoli shell down on the paper towel and carefully slide the tube out one end.Leave cannoil shells on paper towel, seam side down to cool completely.
9. Next, make the filling!Combine ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Before adding in Maraschino cherries, squeeze them with paper towels to remove all liquid. Otherwise your filling will turn pink and watery! When ready, add cherries and chocolate chips to the mixture– be sure not to over mix.
10. Allow filling to chill for 30 minutes. Then pipe into cooled cannoli shells. Garnish with powdered sugar, chocolate chips and/or Maraschino cherries to your taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.