Authentic Cassata Recipe Sicily, Italy

Even though it probably originated as a simple egg, sugar, and ricotta cheesecake, today’s cassata is a complex cake made with liqueur-soaked sponge cake layered with sweetened ricotta cheese which is typically studded with candied fruit, various jellies, and sometimes even chocolate. Unlike its frozen store-bought counterpart, which is filled with ice cream, genuine Italian cassata is always filled with fresh cheese and served chilled. The filling can be flavored with various sweet liqueurs, while the base for cassata consists of pan di Spagna, a kind of Genoise sponge cake, which can either be prepared a few days in advance or bought ready-made. Cassata is traditionally sugar-glazed and lavishly decorated with candied fruit, Baroque sugar icing garnishes, flourishes of marzipan fruit, rosettes, flowers, and curlicues.