Sicilian CASSATA CAKE
The Sicilian cassata cake is the lighter version of the traditional Sicilian cassata made with almond paste and candied fruit.
It is a tasty baked cake filled with sweet ricotta cream and dark chocolate drops that has nothing to envy to the most famous traditional cassata.
I love Sicilian sweets, my grandmother came from Messina and I have to be honest, Sicilian sweets are unbeatable.
My favorites are the cannoli and immediately after the cassata, but not the one with the glaze, which is spectacular but I find it too sweet.
My favorite is undoubtedly the baked version, the version that I propose today: easier to make and super tasty!
Ingredients
for shortcrust pastry
- 13 ouncespastry flour
- butter (6,3 ounces – 180 g)
- sugar (3,5 ounces – 100 g)
- 1egg
- icing sugar (for decoration)
for ricotta cream
- 1 poundricotta cheese (sheep or cow ricotta)
- icing sugar (5 ounces – 150 g)
- candied fruit (3 ounces – 100 g)
- chocolate drop (3 ounces – 100 g)
- 3 ouncesbiscuits (shortbread or ladyfingers crumbled )
Preparation
prepare ricotta cream
The first thing to do is to drain the ricotta for a few hours in a colander.
Then prepare the cream. Put the drained ricotta and sugar in a bowl and mix well, until the cream becomes smooth and velvety.
Add candied fruit and dark chocolate chips, mix and put in the fridge
Prepare the shortcrust pastry
Put the soft butter and sugar in a bowl and mix.
Add whole egg and let it absorb.
Finally add flour and knead until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and put in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Prepare Cassata cake
Take the shortcrust pastry and divide into two parts.
Let’s put it on the pastry board and spread each part between two sheets of parchment paper. The thickness of the pastry should be approx 1 cm.
Grease and flour the pan, Line it with the shortcrust pastry, the side of the pan must also be covered, remove the excess edge.
Prick the bottom of Cassata cake with the prongs of the fork.
Add gods crumbled cookies on the bottom and then pour the cream onto the pastry and level the surface, add a little more crumbled biscuits and cover with the remaining pastry.
Close the edges of the two shortcrust pastry on themselves. Remove any excess with a knife.
Gently prick the surface of the baked cassata.
cook Cassata cake
Bake the cassata in the oven in a preheated oven at 180 ° for 50 minutes until the surface is golden and cooked.
Take the cassata out of the oven and let it cool completely before removing it from the pan.
Put the cassata in the oven on a plate and then sprinkle with icing sugar.
NOTE
The original shortcrust pastry recipe is prepared with lard but I prefer to use butter, which is more delicate
Easy decoration: cut out strips of paper and arrange them to form a diamond grid. Dust with powdered sugar and carefully remove the strips. And here is your baked Sicilian Cassata Cake. Perfect for special occasions, I prepare it for both Christmas and Easter, you can also prepare it for Thanksgiving.
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other special Italian desserts
Slow cooker Grandma’s APPLE PIE
or the famous Italian focaccia that we also eat for breakfast Italian FOCACCIA BREAD instant recipe
