Description
Celebrate Easter with a traditional Cassata cake of ricotta cheese, dark chocolate and candied fruit.
Ingredients
Scale
- 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
- White Marsala wine
- 450 g 16 oz almond paste
- Green food coloring
- White icing
- Candied fruits for decoration
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk sugar with ricotta. Add the chocolate, the candied fruits and the pistachios.
- Line the base and the sides of 8 cm (3 inch) diameter and about 10 cm (4 inch) height bowl with parchment paper. This process will help remove the cassata from the bowl. Place a disc of sponge cake sprinkled with Marsala wine, pour in some of the filling (almost to the top) and cover with another disc of sponge cake sprinkled with Marsala. Cover the surface of the cake with some parchment paper and store in the fridge for about one and a half hours.
- 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.
- Take out from the the refrigerator, remove from the bowl and flip over onto a serving plate.
- Place almond paste on top to cover the entire surface. Decorate as desired. I decorated it very simply with some white icing and candied fruits. You can use your creativity to make it fancy.
Notes
You can use this recipe to prepare just one cassata with a disc (25 cm, 10 inch) diameter. The amount of almond paste is 280 g (10 oz).
- Category: Cake, Dolci
- Cuisine: Sicilian