The baked cassata is one of the most typical desserts of splendid Sicily. A dessert made of shortcrust pastry, a layer of sponge cake, and a wonderful sheep ricotta cream with chocolate chips, it can be compared to a closed tart. Some replace the sponge cake with crumbled cookies or biscuit dough as I did in this recipe. Perhaps talking about cassata, someone might think of the classic with glaze and candied fruits, but I can assure you that this one is no less, indeed, sometimes preferred by many, myself included… Preparation takes a little time, but you can organize by preparing the biscuit dough and shortcrust pastry the day before and assembling and enjoying the next day. Now I leave you with this wonderful recipe!!

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium
Preparation time: 2 Hours
Portions: 10
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup lard
4 egg yolks
4 tbsps egg white
1 tsp baking ammonia
grated lemon zest
1 biscuit dough
3 cups sheep ricotta
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
powdered sugar

For the biscuit dough recipe follow the link Mimosa roll with cream, whipped cream, and strawberries .

Tools

10-inch mold

Stand mixer
Rolling pin
Baking pan

Steps

First, you need to drain the ricotta for at least 3 hours, preferably for a whole day.

Start preparing the shortcrust pastry. Put the egg yolks, egg white, and sugar in the stand mixer, start and whisk for a few seconds, then add the cold lard in pieces and let it work until it combines with the eggs. Finally, add the baking ammonia, grated lemon zest, and flour gradually. Work until the flour is absorbed, then turn off and pour the dough onto a base to compact it. Wrap it in film and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
Take the shortcrust pastry and cut it into two parts, one slightly larger than the other.
Roll out a sheet about 1/5 inch thick, line the previously greased and floured mold, and remove the excess dough from the edges.
Now take the biscuit dough, place the pan on top to cut a precise disc. Cover the base, keeping the remnants aside to cover the top of the cassata.
Mix the ricotta with sugar and chocolate chips.
Pour the ricotta into the pan, leveling well. Cover the entire surface of ricotta with the remnants of biscuit dough (even if you don’t have a perfect disc, you will obtain it by trimming the remnants).
Take the other part of the shortcrust pastry, roll out another sheet, and close the cassata
Trim the excess pastry, seal the edges well, and prick the surface with a fork. Bake at 356°F in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let it cool, and remove it from the mold by turning it over onto the tray you will use to serve it. At this point, you just need to decorate it with powdered sugar. If you want to decorate it as I did, place 3 spaghetti vertically and 3 horizontally, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and then remove them.
The baked cassata is ready!!