{"id":8343,"date":"2026-10-19T23:30:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8343"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:53","slug":"cassata-siciliana","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/cassata-siciliana\/","title":{"rendered":"Cassata Siciliana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cassata siciliana is a Sicilian cake made by enclosing ricotta in sponge cake, chilling it, and decorating it with icing and other toppings. Soft ricotta, yellow sponge, white icing, green almond paste and brightly colored candied fruit come together in it, and it is also served to celebrate Easter. Under the same name, there are also sweets that wrap ricotta in a baked crust, as well as frozen desserts.<\/p>\n

\n\"Cassata\n
A cassata that arrived as a home-delivered gift from the Simone pastry shop in Palermo (December 19, 2008; location of photograph unknown). The photographer published it as the cake as it was on arrival. Photo: fugzu \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Full-resolution image obtained. No alterations to the content or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Draining the ricotta and enclosing it in sponge<\/h2>\n

The cream is made by removing excess moisture from the ricotta and combining it with sugar until smooth. In the method set out in explanatory material on traditional Sicilian food products, sheep\u2019s milk ricotta is used, with additions such as chocolate, cinnamon and chopped candied fruit. Passing the ricotta through a sieve makes its fine grains uniform and gives it a smooth texture in the mouth. Unlike creams made by whipping a large amount of butter and letting it set, this cake places the soft ricotta itself at the center of the filling.<\/p>\n

The ricotta is surrounded by a sponge cake called pan di Spagna. The sponge, baked using the lift of whipped eggs, is cooled, cut and fitted along the bottom and sides of a mold. It is moistened with a liquid containing sugar and liqueur, among other options, filled with ricotta, and closed with another piece of sponge. When it is rested in the refrigerator and then turned out, a thin layer of yellow sponge surrounds a thickly packed filling of white cream.<\/p>\n

The resting time is adjusted to the moisture in the cream and to the thickness and layering of the sponge. Some methods chill it for 24 hours before unmolding; rather than moving straight on to decoration after assembly, time is taken to let the sponge and cream come together and to make the cake easier to slice. Settling it in the refrigerator and freezing it like ice cream are two different ways of finishing.<\/p>\n

\n\"Cassata\n
Cassata siciliana decorated with icing and candied fruit (date and location of photograph unknown). The pale green sides and the colors of the fruit arranged on top overlap. Photo: Fabioliotta at Italian Wikipedia \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ Public domain<\/a>. Full-resolution image obtained. No alterations to the content or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

White icing, green paste and candied fruit decoration<\/h2>\n

Pasta reale, commonly seen in Palermo, is a paste made mainly from almonds and sugar. Besides being colored green and wrapped around the sides, it can also be arranged inside the mold, alternating with pieces of sponge. Finishing the sides with green almond paste makes the contrast with the yellow sponge and the white icing stand out.<\/p>\n

White icings include those made by warming powdered sugar with water, and those with added egg white. Some are scented with orange blossom water. Because the icing is poured over the unmolded cake and smoothed before the fruit is arranged, the surface is made differently from cakes whose outside is simply spread with milk cream.<\/p>\n

Candied fruits such as orange peel, cherries, citron and zuccata are not decoration for color alone. Their intense sweetness and the aroma of fruit and peel layer onto the soft ricotta. Small pieces in the cream and large fruits arranged on top also release their aroma differently when bitten.<\/p>\n

In another recipe introduced by a cultural institution of the Region of Sicily, sponge moistened with Marsala is layered with ricotta and chilled, then covered with whipped egg white with sugar and lemon added, and placed briefly in the oven to brown the surface. This is a different finish from decorating with sugar icing and fruit.<\/p>\n

Cassata wrapped in a baked crust<\/h2>\n

Cassata al forno is a baked sweet popular around Palermo. In some versions, sweetened ricotta and chocolate are wrapped in a pasta frolla crust, baked and dusted with powdered sugar. Some methods also combine sponge inside. Compared with a whole cake decorated with green almond paste and abundant candied fruit, it lets you enjoy the toasty aroma of baked pastry.<\/p>\n

The chilled, assembled type and the wrapped, baked type share the ricotta filling, but differ in the pastry surrounding it and in the stage at which heat is applied. It is also made small as cassatina, and the proportions of icing and flavorings vary by locality and maker.<\/p>\n

Two etymological theories: a cheese dish and a vessel<\/h2>\n

In the 14th century, \u201ccasciata\u201d appears as a savory dish of fresh cheese and eggs placed in a crust. A Sicilian vocabulary record from 1348 also gives the meaning \u201cbread mixed with cheese.\u201d One theory links the name to the Arabic \u201cqas\u2018a,\u201d meaning a vessel, while a competing theory derives it from the Latin \u201ccaseata,\u201d a cheese dish, by way of Romance.<\/p>\n

The food-culture vocabulary dictionary VoSLIG presents side by side research pointing out problems with the sounds and the route of transmission in the Arabic theory, and research treating the two words as belonging to separate lineages; the etymology has not been settled.<\/p>\n

The 1808 recipe and later decoration<\/h2>\n

The \u201ccassata palermitana\u201d in the 1808 \u201cL\u2019Apicio Moderno\u201d is a specific recipe (ingredient proportions and method) in which sweet ricotta is surrounded by sponge and decorated with thin icing, pistachios and candied fruit. Later histories of pastry-making say that the elaborate present-day form with green sides was developed in 1873 by the Palermo pastry maker Salvatore Gul\u00ec. The method of surrounding ricotta with sponge was already recorded in 1808, but when today\u2019s green sides and ornate decoration all came together is not clear.<\/p>\n

Cleveland\u2019s cassata with strawberries and custard<\/h2>\n

In Cleveland, in the United States, a cake under the same name of cassata, made by layering sponge with fresh strawberries and vanilla custard and covering it with whipped cream, is popular. Baker Shauna Sever introduces it as a local cake she even asked for on her own birthday, and records its history: at the shop of the LaPuma family, who emigrated from Sicily in the late 19th century, the ricotta filling, which children did not like, was replaced in the 1920s. It has been passed down as an origin story tied to that family\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Whereas the Sicilian version is built on ricotta and candied fruit, the Cleveland version centers on custard made with eggs and milk and on fresh fruit. Its white surface, too, is covered with whipped cream rather than icing. While inheriting the same name of cassata, both its filling and its finish changed to suit the ingredients of the new home and the family\u2019s tastes.<\/p>\n

\n\"Frozen\n
Frozen cassata at a restaurant in X\u00e0bia, Spain (October 10, 2019). An example served as a frozen dessert, distinct from the cake assembled from sponge and ricotta. Photo: Joanbanjo \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from Commons obtained. No alterations to the content or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Cassata as an Easter and year-round sweet, and as a frozen dessert<\/h2>\n

The cassata of the Valverde monastery in Palermo is also said to have been renowned, and cassata has long been tied to monastery confectionery and the Easter table. Today it is also made throughout the year, and its fruit decoration brightens a whole cake served at a celebratory feast.<\/p>\n

\u201cCassata\u201d also became the name of an ice cream dessert containing fruit and nuts. This one is a dessert enjoyed for its layers of frozen milk. In the Sicilian ricotta cake, the chilling time lets the sponge and the filling come together, and the icing and candied fruit are layered over the outside.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

\u30fbMarsala<\/strong>: A fortified wine from Sicily. Used in recipes to moisten the sponge.<\/p>

Ricotta<\/strong>: A soft dairy product made by heating whey and other ingredients. In this cake it is used after excess moisture has been drained off.<\/p>

Pan di Spagna<\/strong>: An Italian sponge cake baked using the lift of whipped eggs.<\/p>

Pasta reale<\/strong>: A paste kneaded mainly from almonds and sugar. A type of marzipan.<\/p>

Pasta frolla<\/strong>: A dough made from flour, fat, sugar, eggs and other ingredients. When baked, it has a crumbly texture.<\/p>

Zuccata<\/strong>: A Sicilian confectionery ingredient made by candying gourds.<\/p>

Cassatina<\/strong>: A cassata made small, such as in individual portions.<\/p>

Salvatore Gul\u00ec<\/strong>: A 19th-century pastry maker in Palermo. Later histories of pastry-making say that in 1873 he created the cassata with the elaborate decoration seen today.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    Region of Sicily cultural institution, \u201cCosa mangiavano i nostri nonni,\u201d p. 64<\/a> \u2014 Marsala, the egg-white coating after chilling and brief browning. Treated as a single recipe.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    Region of Sicily, \u201cSchede PAT 2022 \u2014 Cassata Siciliana\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Sheep\u2019s milk ricotta, white icing, Palermo\u2019s green almond paste, the Valverde monastery. The relevant entry was checked in the text captured by search indexing.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    La Cucina Italiana, \u201cCassata siciliana, la ricetta passo passo\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Draining the ricotta, the sponge and the mold, 24-hour chilling, icing containing egg white and exterior decoration.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    Visit Sicily, \u201cCassata Siciliana\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The method of alternating sponge and almond paste, warmed icing, and the pastry and filling of the al forno version.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    AtLiTeG \/ VoSLIG, Francesca Cupelloni, revised entry \u201ccasciata\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Competing etymological theories, old meanings and recipes, the 1348 name, and the full text of the cassata recipe in the 1808 second edition of \u201cL\u2019Apicio Moderno,\u201d vol. 4, p. 233.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    Treccani, \u201cCassata\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The separate meanings for the cake and the ice cream; the diminutive form.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    La Cucina Italiana, \u201cStoria e origini della cassata siciliana\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Easter and year-round food culture. A single origin story and interpretations of conference documents are outside the scope adopted here.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. \n

    Study of Sicilian food culture published by Roma Tre University, p. 122, note 6<\/a> \u2014 A scholarly statement on Gul\u00ec and the 1873 version.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  9. \n

    Shauna Sever, MIDWEST MADE, 2019: Cleveland-Style Cassata Cake, excerpt published by a library<\/a> \u2014 The structure of the Cleveland version and its history tied to an immigrant family.<\/p>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Cassata siciliana is a Sicilian cake in which ricotta cream is wrapped in sponge and decorated with icing and brightly colored candied fruit. It is known for its sides clad in green almond paste and the fruit arranged on its white top. It is a sweet that starts from baked cake and is assembled into a single whole cake by chilling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7268,"menu_order":114,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Cassata siciliana","subtitle":"A Sicilian celebration cake of white ricotta decorated with candied fruit","topics":"Ricotta in the leading role, enclosed in thin sponge\uff0fWhite icing, green paste and jewels of fruit\uff0fRecorded for celebration days, growing into regional styles","country":"Sicily, Italy","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["chocolate","fruit","nuts","cheese","cream"],"texture":["smooth"],"occasion":["easter"],"method":["baked","chilled"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[154],"class_list":["post-8343","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t