Cassataalso known as the Cassata Siciliana is a dessert eaten in the Palermo region of Sicily, Italy. It also refers to a particular kind of Neopolitan ice cream which is decorated by candied or dried fruits and nuts.

The cassata recipe describes the dessert as a sponge cake, round in shape which has been moistened with fruit juices or liqueurs. The various layers are filled with ricotta cheese; candied fruit peels as well as chocolate or vanilla flavored ice creams. The entire cassata is covered with Marzipan along with a combination of green and white icing. The cake is decorated with elaborate designs as well.

History Of The Cassata Recipe

John Dickie the author of ‘Delizia! The Epic History of Italians and Their Food’ states that the term cassata was derived from caseata or a cheesy concoction and not from qashatah , the Arabic word for bowl as believed commonly. Various legends speak of the cassata recipe has having originated in the 14^th century although the desserts of the Middle Ages do not resemble the cassata that is popular today.

Food historians say that it could be traced to the late 17^th century with the traditional green and white striped look having originated as late as the 18^th century.

Ingredients And The Traditional Cassata Recipe

The decoration of the traditional cassata is quite elaborate and requires a lot of ingredients like the Marzipan and colored icing sugar, rosettes or spirals of spun sugar along with candied and fresh fruits as well as dried fruit peels are also used while making the dessert according to the traditional cassata recipe. Ricotta cheese and vanilla flavored ice creams are essential for making the sweetened dish as are the dark chocolate chips. The base of the dessert is the sponge cake which may be of a ready made variety or baked from scratch at home.

Mixing the ricotta cheese along with icing sugar and vanilla ice cream turns it into a creamy concoction which is then applied in between two layers of the sponge cake and refrigerated for a few hours. Chocolate chips, candied fruit peel and liqueurs can all be added to the ricotta cream. The frozen cake is taken out of the freezer and decorated with the traditional green and white icing sugar. Fresh fruit toppings along with various designs made of spun sugar make the cassata all the more attractive.

Variations Of Cassata

Apart from the traditional cassata there are many variations of this deliciously creamy dessert as well. Some of the most popular ones are:-

• Ice cream cake- Italian gelato is substituted for the ricotta cheese.
• Cassata Catanese- a kind of pie filled with ricotta and baked in an oven. It is popular in the Catania province of Italy.
• Cassatella di Sant'Agata- Eaten on the festival of Saint Agatha, this Catanian delicacy is smaller in shape and covered with green colored Marzipan. It is usually adorned with a cherry on the top.
• Cleveland Cassata- A rich rum or sponge cake filled with custard and strawberries and decorated with whipped cream.

Trivia

• Joey Cassata is the drummer of a Brooklyn based rock band known as ZO2.