Glass Slipper Cannoli Pie

(WTNH) - Holly Pinafore prepares a cannoli pie.

Ingredients:
1 gluten-free pie crust (freezer section of the natural foods aisle. Almost every grocery store now has a natural foods section with gluten-free products)

1 one-pound tub of part-skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup - 3/4 cup mascarpone cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar (or more to your liking)

1 tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla bean pod if you can find one

1 cup toasted almonds

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 jar of chocolate sauce (you can also make your own)

berries for garnishing

zest of 1 tangerine (then peel and slice it into thin rounds)

1 plastic "glass slipper" party favor, usually found in the wedding section of any party store.

 

optional: 1/8 cup rice milk

Method:

 

1. Follow the instructions on your pie crust package. Some require that you bake them for 10 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. Check to be sure. You're baking just the pie crust, not the filling.

2. In food processor or with hand-held mixer, blend together the ricotta, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla extract (or the inside of a vanilla bean) and tangerine zest.

3. If you think you'd like to thin out your mixture, feel free to add a bit of rice milk or regular milk to the mixture and blend for a few more seconds

4. Turn off the mixer and taste the cream mixture with a spoon. Does it need more sugar? More tangerine zest? You be the judge. It's all about what you like!

5. Then, fold in about half of the chocolate chips and half of the almonds. You can always add more, and you can throw in some berries if you'd like, too.

6. After your pie crust cools, spoon your ricotta-mascarpone mixture into the center of your pie and spread to the edges.

7. Add more chocolate chips, almonds, tangerine zest (if you want), berries, sliced tangerines, semi-sweet chocolate, or whatever you'd like to top it with

8. Heat your chocolate sauce and drizzle over the top

9. Top it off with the glass slipper party favor and bring it over to a special lady's house. If you're having a girls' night in for Valentine's Day, share it with a group of your girlfriends (whether they're single or taken, it doesn't matter!) and read the glass slipper story to them. Explain to them what the glass slipper represents. Read the story here: http://www.hollypinafore.org/2010/02/move-over-cinderella-redefining-the-glass-slipper/

10. What you could also do is pipe the mixture into small pie tarts or strawberry shortcake cups and top each one with a mini glass slipper so everyone gets one!