cassata
{{Short description|Type of sponge cake}}
{{For|people with the surname|Cassata (surname)}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Cassata
| image = Cassata 2.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption =
| alternate_name = {{lang|it|Cassata siciliana}}
| country = Italy
| region = Sicily
| creator =
| course =
| type =
| served =
| main_ingredient = Sponge cake, fruit juice or liqueur, ricotta, candied peel, marzipan, icing
| variations = {{lang|it|Cassata al forno}} ('in oven'), {{lang|it|cassatella di sant'Agata}}
}}
Cassata ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|s|ɑː|t|ə}} {{respell|kə|SAH|tə}}) or {{lang|it|cassata siciliana}} ({{IPA|it|kasˈsaːta sitʃiˈljaːna|lang}}; {{IPA|scn|ka(s)ˈsaːta sɪʃɪˈljaːna|lang}}) is an Italian cake originating in the Sicily region.{{cite web
|url=https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/recipe/cakes-and-desserts/cassata
|title=Cassata
|date=24 November 2023
|publisher=La Cucina Italiana
|access-date=18 June 2024}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cibodistrada.it/news/tutte-le-mutazioni-della-cassata-siciliana/12032 |title=Dai musulmani agli spagnoli: ecco le mutazioni della cassata siciliana |website=Cibodistrada.it |date=2016-03-26 |access-date=2016-10-22}}{{cite web|url=http://web.tiscalinet.it/torrefaro/gastronomia.htm |title=Gastronomia |website=Web.tiscalinet.it |access-date=2016-10-22}} It is typically composed of a round sponge cake moistened with fruit juices or liqueur and layered with ricotta cheese and candied fruit (a filling also used with cannoli). It has a shell of marzipan, pink and green colored icing, and decorative designs. Cassata may also refer to a Neapolitan ice cream containing candied or dried fruit and nuts.
Origin
Cassata is believed to have originated in Palermo in the 10th century, when under Emirate of Sicily.{{cite book|author1=Habeeb Salloum|title=Sweet Delights from a Thousand and One Nights: The Story of Traditional Arab Sweets|date=25 Jun 2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857733412|pages=139–40|edition=revised}}{{cite book|author1=Alan Davidson|editor1-last=Jaine|editor1-first=Tom|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|date=11 Aug 2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199677337|page=148|edition=illustrated}} The word {{Transliteration|ar|al-qaššāṭī}}—{{langnf|ar|القشاطي|the cassata-maker}}—was first mentioned in Corleone in 1178.{{cite book|author1=Alex Metcalfe|title=The Muslims of Medieval Italy|url=https://archive.org/details/muslimsmedievali00metc|url-access=limited|date=2009|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=9780748620081|page=[https://archive.org/details/muslimsmedievali00metc/page/n274 252]|edition=illustrated}}{{cite book|author1=Alexander Metcalfe|title=Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily: Arabic-Speakers and the End of Islam|date=21 Jan 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317829256|page=259}}
The Arabic word {{Transliteration|ar|qas'ah}}, from which {{lang|it|cassata}} may derive, refers to the bowl that is used to shape the cake.{{cite book|author1=Vesna Maric|title=Sicily. Ediz. Inglese|date=2008|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=9781740599696|page=45|edition=illustrated}}{{cite book|author1=Mary Taylor Simeti|title=Sicilian Food: Recipes from Italy's Abundant Isle|date=2009|publisher=Wakefield Press|isbn=9781862548503|page=79|edition=illustrated}}
Variations
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2024}}
Unlike the round, traditional shape some cassata are made in the form of a rectangle, square, or box. The word box in Italian is {{lang|it|cassa}}, although it is unlikely that the word {{lang|it|cassata}} originated from this term.{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}}
{{lang|it|Cassata catanese}}, as it is often prepared in the Sicilian province of Catania, is made similar to a pie, containing a top and bottom crust, filled with ricotta cheese, and baked in the oven.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}
{{lang|it|Cassatella di sant'Agata}} is a similar dessert, but made in a smaller, personal-serving size, with a candied cherry on top, and often a specifically green-colored marzipan. It is typically made in Catania for the festival of Saint Agatha. The allusion to the female breast relates the specific torture Saint Agatha faced as a Catholic martyr.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210113-the-erotic-origins-of-italys-most-famous-sweet |title=The erotic origins of Italy's most famous sweet |publisher=BBC |accessdate=2024-02-17}}
When a cassata is made, layers of gelato can be substituted for the layers of cheese, producing a dessert similar to an ice cream cake. The version of the recipe followed in Messina is less sweet than the one used in Palermo.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}
See also
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Portal|Italy|Food}}