This is an amazing filling recipe!!! If you don't know how to make EASY shells...you might try pizzelles shaped like a tube. They are amazingly easy and delicious with this filling (especially if you flavor the pizzelles with almond or just vanilla!).

LOOOOOOOVE this. We also added 1/2 tsp. of orange extract and some grated orange peel, everyone loved it-and it was a lot creamier than other recipes that we have tried before! Try this recipe :)

Very creamy. I tried this for cannoli's. Here's a few tips that may help someone. First, can't stress it enough to drain your ricotta! (wrap the cheese in an old dish towel, a cheesecloth or clean old undershirt, into a colander atop a mixing bowl, put it in the fridge overnight, toss a few soup cans on top of the cheesecloth to give it some weight and a lot of moisture should seep out - a dry ricotta is a much better ricotta) Now, if you halve the amount of heavy cream and split the amount of sugar to 1 c powdered and 1 c granulated, it should make for a thicker consistency that's perfect for filling cannoli shells. From what I had left over, I used it as frosting for cupcakes. This is a good basic recipe to remember.

Thank you Neil. I just made these for Easter and the filling came out runny but delicious. I will definitely take your advise the next time I make them.

Another easy shell without any hassle is won-ton egg roll wrappers at your most grocery stores.

Great recipe. Adding mascarpone to it made it creamier and really good.

If your filling is too loose from not straining the ricotta, add corn starch until consistency is reached. I always chocolate dip the ends of the shells before filling.

Another idea for a great cannoli shell with no effort is to use a sugar ice cream cone. Deeeeelicious

Used for mini chocolate chip whoopie pies slamming. : )

Another nice shell is choc chip cookie dough baked in a mini muffin pan with the middle scooped out, then filled with cream.

Another great she'll is the filo tiny pastry cups, bake for 5 mins, they come out flaky and you can find these in the freezer section at your local store.

One point that I think needs to be made is that impastata ricotta is the better choice instead of ricotta, for the reasons that Neil mentioned below, it's drier, with less moisture.
Supermarkets around my area seem not to carry it, guess I was too use to a supply from my jobs inventory that supplied Italian restaurants.
Anyway it's the better base to make great cannoli's.

Thank you the corn starch was a brilliant idea! Perfect !

Although a good basic for starting, I found the whipping cream overwhelmed the flavor. Thus was a big departure from the classic Sicilian cannoli I grew up with. I made these changes on the spot. Added more 4 more ounces of ricotta and took the suggestion of another reviewer and added fresh orange zest. And then added more chocolate chips. The end result delicious. I purchased the ricotta from Whole Foods in Reno, whose cheese person suggested their highest quality. There was no need to drain it. I also purchased the cannoli shells from the Whole Foods Reno bakery. In short, the cannoli were excellent and I would do the same thing again.

Although a good basic for starting, I found the whipping cream overwhelmed the flavor. Thus was a big departure from the classic Sicilian cannoli I grew up with. I made these changes on the spot. Added more 4 more ounces of ricotta and took the suggestion of another reviewer and added fresh orange zest. And then added more chocolate chips. The end result delicious. I purchased the ricotta from Whole Foods in Reno, whose cheese person suggested their highest quality. There was no need to drain it. I also purchased the cannoli shells from the Whole Foods Reno bakery. In short, the cannoli were excellent and I would do the same thing again.