Directions

Make zabaglione filling in the top part of a double boiler by beating eggs and sugar together until the mixture is pale yellow in color.

Place egg yolk mixture over water and gradually add Marsala, beating continuously. Scrape bottoms and sides of pan occasionally and cook 6 – 10 minutes or until soft mounds can be formed.

Transfer to bowl, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Make the mascarpone filling by whipping cream with 2 tbsp sugar until soft peaks form.

Fold in mascarpone and prepared zabaglione and mix until well blended.

Cover and refrigerate one hour.

In a separate bowl, mix espresso, 2 Tbsp sugar, Brandy and vanilla.

Arrange 16 cookies on the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

Carefully spoon about 1 Tbsp of the coffee mixture over each cookie so they are well saturated but not falling apart. Spoon 1/3 cheese mixture over cookies and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp cocoa.

Add another layer of cookies and repeat step 9 two more times ending with cocoa.

Cover and refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight so that cookies soften as they absorb moisture.

Candy Cane Cannolis

Directions

Prepare dipping chocolate according to package directions. Dip ends of cannoli shells into chocolate and let harden in refrigerator.

 In a bowl, combine ricotta, powdered sugar and peppermint extract and mix well.  Fold in ¼ cup of crushed peppermint candies. Using a pastry bag, fill cannoli shells with peppermint filling. Sprinkle remaining peppermint candies and green sugar on the ends of cannoli and serve immediately.

Panettone Bread Pudding

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare a large baking dish by coating inside with butter. Evenly arrange panettone cubes in dish.

In a large bowl combine eggs, whipping cream, milk, sugar and cinnamon. Pour over panettone cubes and make sure all panettone is submerged under egg mixture. Let stand for 15 minutes. Bake in oven for 1 hour or until it puffs and center is set. Let cool and serve with fresh raspberries and balsamic reduction drizzled over top.

Cannoli Nachos

Directions

Break the cannoli shells into large pieces.

In a bowl, mix together the ricotta and powdered sugar until smooth.

Arrange the broken shells on a plate around the bowl of the ricotta dip. Top the shells with your choice of toppings.

Eat the cannoli’s nacho style by dipping them into the ricotta cheese dip. Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Semifreddo

Directions

Line an 8” x 4” loaf pan with plastic wrap.

In a large bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Mix in chocolate pudding until evenly blended. Pour 2 cups of mixture into loaf pan.

In a food processor or blender, blend raspberries and balsamic reduction together until smooth.

Place a mesh sieve inside a large bowl and pour in raspberry mixture. Using a spatula; press down onto raspberries separating liquid from solids and seeds. Discard seeds and any solids.

Place lady fingers in raspberry liquid and soak until slightly soft, about 1-2 minutes. Then place on top of the chocolate cream mixture in loaf pan. Pour remaining chocolate cream over lady fingers, cover with plastic wrap and freeze at least 8 hours.

When ready to serve, let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then place upside down on a dish and gently tap the bottom of loaf pan until semifreddo releases. Slice and serve.