By June. The MCAT is in five weeks. The studying has entered its final phase — review, consolidation, the tightening of everything I know into a form that can be accessed under pressure. I study four hours a day. I cook one meal a day. I sleep seven hours. The math of my life is simple: study, cook, sleep, repeat. The simplicity is the discipline. The discipline is the patience. The patience is MawMaw Shirley.
I am not working at the library this summer. I made that decision in April: the MCAT is more important than $9.50 an hour, and the studying requires the time that the library was occupying. The decision cost me money. The decision saved me time. MawMaw Shirley says, "Time is the only thing money cannot buy," which is something she has been saying since before I was born and which she repeats because it is true and truth does not expire.
Priya is taking the MCAT next week — she chose a June date, a month before mine. She has been studying with the intensity of a person who intends to score in the 95th percentile or die trying, and the dying is only slightly metaphorical. We study in parallel at my kitchen table, our books spread across the surface like maps of a country we are trying to conquer, and the conquest is happening slowly, one practice section at a time.
I drove to Baker Saturday. MawMaw Shirley made me sit. She made me tea. She said, "Stop studying for one hour. Be a person." I stopped. I sat. I drank the tea. She told me about the summer she was twenty-one — the summer she and Grandpa Charles drove to New Orleans for the first time, in his truck, and ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde and walked along the river and she decided she would marry him, not because of the beignets but because of the way he ordered them: confidently, without looking at the menu, because he knew what he wanted. "A person who knows what they want," she said, "is a person you can build a life with." She knew what she wanted. He knew what he wanted. They built a life. The life produced a kitchen. The kitchen produced me. The chain is unbroken.
MawMaw Shirley’s beignet story stayed with me the whole drive back from Baker — the image of Grandpa Charles ordering without hesitation, knowing exactly what he wanted. I couldn’t make beignets that evening (the studying called me back), but I needed something that carried that same spirit: a small, deliberate, sweet thing made on purpose. These Mini Cannoli Cups don’t require a trip to Café Du Monde, but they have that same quality — a treat you choose confidently, without looking at the menu, because you already know.
Mini Cannoli Cups
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 32 min | Servings: 24 cups
Ingredients
- 24 mini phyllo tart shells (two 1.9 oz packages), thawed
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese, drained overnight if watery
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios (optional, for garnish)
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Crisp the shells. Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange phyllo shells on a baking sheet and bake for 10–12 minutes until golden and crisp. Remove and let cool completely before filling.
- Make the cannoli filling. In a medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the drained ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and well combined, 2–3 minutes. Do not overbeat.
- Fold in the chocolate chips. Using a spatula, gently fold in all but about 1 tablespoon of the mini chocolate chips. Reserve the rest for topping.
- Fill the cups. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a round or star tip (or use a zip-lock bag with a corner snipped). Pipe the filling generously into each cooled phyllo shell.
- Garnish and serve. Sprinkle the tops with the reserved mini chocolate chips and chopped pistachios if using. Dust lightly with powdered sugar just before serving. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 2 hours before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 85 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 8g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 45mg