18/10/2023
Cassata Siciliana deserves pride of place among typical Sicilian desserts.
Its decorations are baroque and sumptuous, the richness of its ingredients reflects the characteristics of Saracen cuisine.
the-sicilian-cassata
Preparation:
Work the ricotta with the sugar until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture, then transfer it into a bowl. Leave the candied fruit to macerate in the rum for 20 minutes, drain them, add them to the ricotta, add the chocolate, cover the bowl with cling film and keep it in the fridge for 12 hours.
Prepare the pistachio paste: mix the pistachio with the almonds, icing sugar and rum.
Prepare the syrup: boil the water with the sugar in a small pan for a few minutes, remove, leave to cool, add the rum. Cut the sponge cake into slices, place them next to each other on the bottom of a wet mold (26 cm in diameter) lined with cling film, sprinkle them with the rum syrup. Fill it with ricotta and close with other slices of sponge cake always sprinkled with syrup.
Seal the mold with cling film, keep it in the fridge for 12 hours then turn out the cassata and brush it with the dissolved gelatine. Cover it with the fondant diluted in a bain-marie or with the ricotta. Roll out the pistachio pastry, cut out some diamond shapes with a pastry cutter and apply them along the circumference of the cake. Decorate the cassata with candied fruit and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve.