No More Sweetheart Shake Withdraw!

First off, I'd like to wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  Whether you are celebrating this "Love Out Loud" day with friends, family, your sweetheart, or with a Game of Thrones marathon, I hope your day is full of love.

Now, for those of us who have a Sonic Drive-In nearby, you have probably become painfully aware of something different this February...Sonic is NOT serving their traditional Sweetheart Shake this year.  I know!  I don't usually eat at Sonic, but I look forward all year to February so that I can enjoy a delicious cherry and chocolate shake - all month long! So when I went to Sonic for my annual milk shake binge on February 1st, there was there was no "Our Sweetheart Shake is Back!" lettering on the marquee.  Instead there was something about pretzel buns for their hot dogs (which I'm sure is fine and dandy) and the Valentine's special treat this year is apparently this:

I'm sure this cake is tasty, but a Sweetheart Shake this is NOT.  The Sweetheart Shake has become a February tradition over the years, but Sonic has taken that tradition away for the 2014 Valentine's month. But see, I look at these sorts of obstacles as opportunities after I freak out for a couple of days. Since I couldn't get my Sweetheart Shake fix at Sonic, I decided to try it at home.

Sonic Sweetheart Shake

Sonic advertises that they use "REAL ice cream."  The fact that restaurants have been starting to say that now they use "real" ice cream freaks me out, I mean, what the crap were they using before?  But even if this "REAL ice cream" is in fact real (still not sure what that means), I'm betting that it isn't all natural and especially not organic.  I'm also positive that the cherry syrup, chocolate bits, and whipped cream have something bad in them, like high fructose corn syrup at the very least.  But sometimes there are certain things that taste so good, I'm willing to ignore these notions so that I may enjoy a brief dalliance.  But after being denied this Sonic slice of heaven, I realized that I didn't need them, and that I could not only make my own Sweetheart Shake, but that I could make it with ingredients that I was sure about.

So, here's what I used:

Some of it is organic, some of it isn't, but at least I know what is in it and I make sure that I use products that I am comfortable with.  Cherry pie filling can be tricky, because many name brands use high fructose corn syrup, but Duncan Hines Comstock Wilderness does not use it, and neither do the Target Market Pantry or Walmart brands.  So just check the label.  I usually keep a container of Alden's Organic Vanilla Bean Ice Cream on hand - but I eated it.  So I had some Breyers natural Homemade Vanilla for my shake, and since I will be using half a container of ice cream for 2 shakes, it is the cheaper choice.  Oh, and I always recommend making your own whipped cream because it is AMAZING!  You've never had whipped cream until you've had homemade whipped cream, and it is really easy.  I usually use Horizon heavy whipping cream, but they were totally out, so I got Target brand.

Make the whipped cream first.  I take a heavy glass bowl and my mixer beaters and put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes.  This helps the cream set up faster.  Get them out, and pour 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in the bowl.  Add about 1-1/2 to 2 Tbls. of sugar (depending on how sweet you like it), and a tsp. of pure vanilla extract.  Put the beaters in your mixer and whip on high speed going around the bowl continuously until the liquid firms up into a nice creamy whipped cream texture. Yup, that's it.  Set to the side.

Alright, let's put it together.  In a blender, put a little milk in the bottom, just to get the mixture going.  I put in about 1/4 cup.  Add more for a thinner shake, less for thicker.  Then scoop half of a 1.5 quart container of vanilla ice cream, then 1/2 of a 21 oz. can of cherry pie filling, and half of a 3.5 oz. bar of dark chocolate (crush it up into bits first).  Be sure to save a little crushed chocolate bits for the topping.  Blitz it until all is blended smoothly.

Get out two thick glass glasses and distribute the shake evenly between them.  Heap on some of that awesome whipped cream you just made, then sprinkle with the extra chocolate bits you saved.  Put in a straw and viola'!  You now have two splendid "Sweetheart Shakes" and you know exactly what's in them.  Not to mention, you still have enough ingredients to make another round ;)

Homemade Sweetheart Shake

My whipped cream stack fell over, but you get the idea.

So there you go.  No more Sonic Sweetheart Shake withdraws this February!  Enjoy, and have a very happy Valentine's Day weekend! <3

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Holy Cannoli!

Ok, since trying the cannoli at Bella Napoli in KCMO, I couldn't get cannoli out of my head.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the dessert at that little restaurant, but I kept thinking somehow that I could make it a bit more exiting for my taste buds.  So, I looked up a bunch of cannoli recipes, and found out some interesting facts along the way.  For instance, cannoli originated in Sicily, not Italy.  And that cannoli is actually the plural form of cannolo (or conolo).  So if you are only ordering one, don't say cannoli.  And also that a lot of European recipes have been modified to fit America's sweet tooth.  Apparently, there are desserts from other countries that aren't really sweet until we get ahold of them and pump more sugar into them, can you believe that?  Well, I can actually because that's exactly what I did for my version of cannoli, lol!

Ok, you've seen the picture, wanna know what I did?  I made 4 different kinds to see what combinations of flavors I could make before saying "Uh no, you just ruined it," (which incidentally kinda happened when I mixed all the leftover fillings together into one cannolo shell, they just didn't play well with each other.  BTW that one is not in the picture) or until I ran out of filling.

• I made a traditional one with "plain" filling with pistachio garnish on the ends, and dark chocolate drizzle (the one in the center of the pic above).
• 2 with Dagoba Aztec chocolate chunks (I know, totally NOT Sicilian) in the filling with pistachios on the ends (the two on the right of the pic).
• One with dark chocolate chunks and cinnamon in the plain filling with tips dipped in chocolate, topped with chocolate drizzle (second one from the left in pic).
• And (my favorite) one with crushed Ghirardelli Dark & Sea Salt Caramel squares with ends dipped in chocolate, and drizzled with caramel (the first one on the left in the pic).  
• All cannoli were topped with a dusting of powdered sugar.  

See, with each variety, I just kept making them sweeter and sweeter.  Now, I want to point out that even though the sweetest ones had chocolate and caramel and such, believe it or not, they still weren't as sweet as our traditional American desserts.  The thing that plays a big part in cutting down the sweetness, is that cannoli filling is generally made with mostly ricotta cheese.  I know, right?  I was surprised as well.  Now this isn't to say that there aren't versions of cannoli that make the filling from cream and cornstarch, because there are.  But traditionally, ricotta (or mascarpone) cheese is what's used for the cannoli base.

Now that you know the different things I did for the filling goodies, let me tell you how I made the base filling:

1. The first thing I did was open a 16 oz. container of ricotta cheese and drain it in cheesecloth. You want to let any liquid in the ricotta drain out, otherwise, your cannoli filling will be runny.
2. While that was draining, I put a medium ceramic bowl and the mixer beaters into the freezer (you'll find out why later).  Then I put different flavored chocolate bars into separate baggies and started whacking them with a hammer.  Ok, it was really a meat mallet, but it was still fun.  I did this to make chunks for some of the fillings (and did I mention, because it was fun?).
3. Once I got my ingredients lined up, I pulled the mixing bowl and beaters out of the freezer and poured in 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 2 Tbls. of sugar, and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla (don't use that crap vanilla flavoring, get real vanilla extract).  Then I mixed it on high for a few minutes until it looked like whipped cream.  TIP: Putting the bowl and beaters into the freezer makes the cream stiffen faster and cuts the beating time significantly.
4. If you are dipping the ends of the shells in chocolate, melt the chocolate in the microwave, dip the ends, place on wax paper, and chill in the refrigerator for a few minutes.  
5. Then, I took the drained ricotta and put it into a large bowl.  I added 1/2 cup of the whipped cream mixture and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.  I folded it all together gently, until well blended.  Then I separated the filling out into other containers so that I could do some ingredient experimentation.
6. After I finished making my filling combos, I spooned them into individual ziplock sandwich bags and cut the corners of each bag.  Then I piped the filling into the cannolo from the inside out, then flipped the shell around and did the same to the other end.  
7. The I drizzled them with some sticky-sweet goodness and dusted them with powdered sugar, and DONE!

There are lots of recipes out there for the shells, but I had already hunted & gathered plus made dinner that day, and I was just too lazy to make them from scratch.  The shells take the longest to make, so I just bought some pre-made ones instead.  But do yourself a favor and don't skip on making the whipped cream from scratch.  Since I started making my own, I haven't bought whipped cream since. I think I may have gotten the recipe for it out of a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook way back when, but it is so creamy and tasty that I can't go back to canned (or tubbed) whipped cream.  It really does make a difference.  Oh, speaking of which, there will be whipped cream left over after you fold the 1/2 cup into the ricotta for the filling, so feel free to try it with cut-up strawberries, in your coffee/hot cocoa, or just shovel it into your mouth...you're welcome.

Bottom line, if you make cannoli at home, set aside some time so that you can really get creative.  I had a lot of fun trying out new combos, and I hope you do too!