Cassata Siciliana or Italian Strawberry Cream Cake Recipe
Julie
Richardson wrote a cookbook devoted to old-fashioned cakes, the ones you may
remember your grandmother cooking or at the very least, bringing home from the
local bakery. “Vintage Cakes” (Ten
Speed Press 2012) is filled with gems that are not only nostalgic but are every
bit as good today as you remember. Case
in point: The Cassata Siciliana or Italian Strawberry Cheesecake, sometimes
called an Italian Cream Cake. This recipe
has a quite a history. Some food
historians would like to attach it to the period when Sicily was under Arab
rule in the 10th century.
They supported their point of view using the Arabic word qas’ah from which “cassata” was believed
to have been derived. It means ‘bowl’
and the logic was that the bowl was used to shape the cake. It took an Englishman, John Dickie, to figure
out that the cake’s name was a derivative of ‘Caseata’ which means “cheese
concoction”. He went on to point out
that Casatta didn’t even mean it was a dessert until the late 17th
century and didn’t look anything like its current incarnation until the 18th
century. Oh those pesky historians! Then again, Julie Richardson’s Cassata is
nothing like the Sicilian version because this particular recipe hails from
Cleveland, Ohio, of all places.
A true Sicilian Cassata The original
recipe for a Cassata Siciliana consisted of a round sponge cake, moistened with
liquid from liqeuer-lacerated strawberries and layered with ricotta cheese,
candied orange peel and a chocolate filling similar to cannoli cream. Then the whole cake was covered with a layer
of marzipan, pink and green pastel icing and decorative designs made with candied
fruit depicting cherries and citrus native to Sicily. The “Cleveland Cassata” was created in the
1920s by LaPuma Spumoni and Bakery which had been around since 1893. Apparently the children of the owners didn’t
like the traditional cake so the recipe wasCleveland's Cassata from LaPuma Spumoni and Bakery
altered to the one on which Julie
Richardson based her recipe. Sadly, LaPuma Spumoni has closed. So we are left with Julie's take on their recipe. Except that
Julie herself changed the LaPuma recipe by opting to make Lemon Chiffon instead
of Sponge Cake. She did away with the candied fruit on top and substituted fresh berries. She also omitted the candied orange in the cake and substituted orange zest. She reinstated the use of chocolate shavings replacing the chocolate chips the
Cleveland contingent used in their recipe. However altered the recipe, the most
important thing to know about this cake is that it is a complete
show-stopper. It tastes every bit as
good as it looks. It is the perfect
opportunity to use this Spring’s first strawberries, the perfect cake to serve
at a dinner party as it serves up to 18 people, and above all, it tastes
absolutely fantastic. Here is the
recipe:
Recipe for
Julie Richardson’s Cassata Siciliana or Italian Strawberry Cheesecake Prep Time: 20 minutes. Cook Time 15 minutes. Total
Time:35 minutes
Serves 15 to 18 people. For the Cake:
1¾ sifted cake flour (7 ounces)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar (2.5 ounces)
⅔ cup
granulated sugar (4.66 ounces)
5 eggs, separated and at room temperature
½ cup canola oil
½ cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cream of tarter
For the ricotta cream:
15 ounces whole milk ricotta
½ cup sugar (3.5 ounces)
zest of 1 orange 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
bittersweet chocolate, 2 ounces 1 cup cold heavy cream
For the strawberries:
2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons orange liquor or orange juice
1. First, make the macerated strawberries
Combine all ingredients and set aside while the making and baking the
cake
For the cake:
1. Line the bottom of three 9-inch by 2-inch pans with parchment paper and
set aside
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and ⅓ cup of the
sugar together and stir to combine
3. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, oil, buttermilk and vanilla
Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently only until
smooth - don't overmix
4. In a stand mixer, add the egg whites to a clean bowl and beat on high
until just frothy and then add the cream of tarter. Continue beating on high
until soft peaks form and then add the remaining ⅓ cup of
sugar slowly, then continue beating on high until firm peaks are formed.
5. Fold about ⅓ of the egg
whites into the flour/egg yolk mixture and then add the remaining egg whites
and combine using the fewest strokes possible, using a light touch.
6. Divide the batter equally among the 3 pans (about 10 ounces each) and
bake for about 15 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Do not
overbake! Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack. For the ricotta cream:
1. Combine the ricotta, sugar, zest, and vanilla gently until
smooth. 2. Grate chocolate and fold it into the mixture. Whip the heavy cream and fold it into the ricotta mixture until just
combined
To assemble the cake:
1. Drain and reserve the juice from the strawberries
Place one cake layer on a cake board or plate and brush top with ⅓ of the
strawberries juice then top with ⅓ of the
strawberries and ⅓ of the
ricotta cream
2. Repeat with second cake layer.
3. To finish, top the cake with the final layer, brush with juice, and top
with strawberries. Reserve the remaining ricotta cream for serving