Cassata (Easter — Sicilian Tradition)

Cassata is Sicily's great Easter confection — a spectacular, opulently decorated cake of ricotta cream, sponge cake, marzipan, and candied fruit that is prepared during the week before Easter and represents the island's layered cultural history. The name may derive from Arabic 'qas'at' (bowl), reflecting the Arab occupation's influence on Sicilian pastry. The preparation requires multiple days: the sponge is baked and soaked in a light liqueur syrup; fresh sheep's milk ricotta is strained and sweetened with sugar and chocolate chips; the sides of the cake are covered in marzipan (pasta reale, Sicilian almond paste) and the top is iced in a layer of white fondant and decorated with elaborately arranged candied citrus, glacé cherries, and baroque sugar patterns. Cassata is as much a work of decorative art as it is a dessert, and in Palermo, its creation is the province of the city's great pastry shops, who compete on the elaborateness and refinement of their versions.