nd
# 56 • MARCH 22 , 2015
# 56 • MARCH 8
read more about #Italian Cuisine
ITALIAN CUISINE:
Cassata Siciliana
By Paola Lovisetti Scamihorn
ty. The version that I propose is quite easy, also
good for less experienced cooks. The ingredients are simple: ricotta cheese, dark chocolate and candied fruit. All these ingredients are
mixed with sugar and used as a filling between
two discs of sponge cake covered with colored
marzipan and decorated to taste. This recipe,
like other Sicilian ones, was influenced by the
Arabic domination. The name, in fact, derives
from the Arabic "Quas'at", which means round
bowl. In fact, the shape looks like a bowl. The
mini cassata is an alternative to cassata, elegant
to serve and tasty to eat. Happy Easter all my
beloved readers! Buona Pasqua a tutti!
MINI CASSATA SICILIANA (MINI SICILIAN Preparation time: 2 hrs
CASSATA)
This year I will celebrate Easter with cassata, a
delicious, tempting and colorful cake. Cassata is a typical dessert of the Sicilian pastry, in
particular of Palermo. In the past it was enjoyed
exclusively to celebrate Easter after the long
period of Lent: a well-deserved award! Today
it is enjoyed throughout the year. The preparation is not particularly difficult as far as the cake
it is concerned, whereas the decoration can be
sumptuous and baroque, requiring some abili-
nd
2015
White Marsala wine
450 g (16 oz) almond paste
Green food coloring
White icing
Candied fruits for decoration
3. Knead the almond paste on a working surface sprinkled with powdered sugar, mixing in
the dye until you get the your favorite shade of
Easter green. Roll out a disc of marzipan to cover the entire mini cassata, including the sides,
to a thickness of 4-5 mm.
4. Take out from the the refrigerator, remove
DIRECTIONS
from the bowl and flip over onto a serving plate
5. Place almond paste on top to cover the en1. In a large bowl whisk sugar with ricotta. Add tire surface. Decorate as desired. I decorated it
very simply with some white icing and candied
chocolate, candied fruits and pistachios
2. Line the base and the sides of 8 cm (3 inch) fruits. You can use your creativity to make it fandiameter and about 10 cm (4 inch) height bowl cy.
with parchment paper. This process will help remove the cassata from the bowl. Place a disc of
sponge cake sprinkled with Marsala wine, pour Note: You can use this recipe to prepare just
in some of the filling (almost to the top) and co- one cassata with a disc (25 cm, 10 inch) diamever with another disc of sponge cake sprinkled ter. The amount of almond paste is 280 g (10
with Marsala. Cover the surface of the cake with oz).
some parchment paper and store in the fridge
for about one and a half hours
Servings: 6 people
INGREDIENTS
450 g (16 oz) sponge cake, sliced 1 cm (½ inch)
thick and cut into 12 discs 8 cm (3 inch) diameter with a cookie cutter
600 g (21 oz) ricotta cheese
160 g (2 cups) powdered sugar
150 g (5 oz) dark chocolate, cut into small cubes
150 g (5 oz) candied fruit, cut into small cubes
28 g (1 oz) peeled pistachios, cut into pieces
16 | WE THE ITALIANS
WE THE ITALIANS | 17
www.wetheitalians.com
www.wetheitalians.com