Cassata Napoletana
Ricotta cream, sponge soaked lightly, candied fruit, and a shell of green almond paste. My father's favorite cake — though I should say up front, it isn't really ours.
Cassata was born in Sicily, under Arab influence, long before it ever reached a table in Caserta. It has no real roots in Campanian tradition — no nonna in our family invented it, no Sunday of my childhood was built around it the way it was around ragù or genovese. But it was my father's favorite cake all the same, and it showed up often enough at birthdays and holidays that it earned its place here, borrowed and all.
The green marzipan dome, the candied fruit, the sweetened ricotta inside — none of it asks to be authentic to Naples. It only asks to be made well, and to be the cake my father asked for.
Cassata Napoletana — ricotta, sponge, candied fruit, almond paste. Click to enlarge.
The recipe
Serves 8–10. This is not a quick cake — the ricotta needs hours to drain, and the assembled cassata needs to rest overnight before it's unmolded and dressed. Plan for two days: one to assemble and chill, one to decorate and serve.
500 gPan di Spagna (sponge cake), sliced
500 gRicotta, well-drained
200 gGranulated sugar
100 gDark chocolate chips
250 gCandied mixed fruit
to decorateCandied cherries
500 gAlmond paste (pasta di mandorle), ready-to-roll
q.b.Powdered sugar, vanilla or orange blossom water
1
Drain the ricotta in a fine sieve for several hours, ideally overnight — this matters more than any other step, since watery ricotta will ruin the texture. Beat it smooth with the sugar, then fold in the chocolate chips and a few drops of vanilla or orange blossom water.
2
Slice the Pan di Spagna into three layers. Line a round bowl or cassata mold with plastic wrap, then line it with a layer of sponge.
3
Fill with a layer of ricotta cream and a scattering of candied fruit and cherries, then another layer of sponge, more cream, more fruit, finishing with a last layer of sponge on top.
4
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4–6 hours, ideally overnight, so the cassata sets firm enough to unmold cleanly.
5
Turn it out onto a serving plate and remove the plastic. Roll out the almond paste and drape it over the dome, smoothing it down and trimming the excess at the base.
6
Decorate with candied fruit, cherries, and a dusting of powdered sugar. Chill until ready to serve, and slice with a warm, sharp knife.
Serve chilled, with espresso or a small glass of limoncello — my father's way.
Related
With pistachio
Add chopped pistachios to the ricotta cream, or use pistachio paste in place of some of the almond paste for the shell.
Mini cassate
Assemble in individual small molds for single servings — easier to portion at a big family table.
Cassatina Napoletana
The single-serving version of this same idea — pan di spagna and ricotta, glazed in naspro instead of wrapped in almond paste. See
cassatina napoletana.
Not ours by birth, but ours by habit — buon appetito.