Italian Easter Cassata

Cassata is an Easter Italian Cheesecake.

This is my mom's recipe the late Margaret Ann Fanelli Colenzo.

You're in for a real traditional Italian creamy ricotta filled cheesecake that is bursting with cherries and chocolate!

Cassata siciliana is a traditional sweet from Sicily, Italy. Mom was from Bari, Italy and this is her version.

There are six, seven, maybe 10 different varieties of cassata in Italy.

The cake is believed to have originated in or around Palermo, where sheep’s milk ricotta, pistachios, and citrus were prevalent.

The Italian cheesecake is a moistened with ricotta cheese baked into a delicious crust that has fruits and chocolate in it.

It's a tradition in our family to make this cheesecake every Easter, everyone looks forward to it.

Over the years, we preferred it without some of the traditional candied fruits in it called citron, which is an ingredient used in many bakery version.

Mom Made So Many

She made several of these every year, one for everyone in the family.


This was her favorite dessert for Easter to make and everyone raved about this cheesecake.


A classic traditional cheesecake most Italians make every year at Easter with ricotta cheese, fruits, and chocolate.


Not like a traditional french cheesecake with cream cheese, this is much lighter and moist.


I have cut the recipe in half for years, now the family is growing and I make the whole recipe!

Mom would be proud.

This is a very close duplicate of her eagerly awaited cheesecake from everyone every Easter.


It's hard to carry on tradition without her but she is her guiding me through it every year in spirit.

The Filling

The chocolate and cherries are the perfect combination of flavors in this cassata cheesecake.


It's creamy but now overly sweet.


The cheesecake is very rich and you only need a little piece.


I usually make two good size ones and freeze one for another time.


It sure is a treat and well worth the wait to enjoy every Easter.


I will always carry on her tradition.

The Crust

The crust is more like a cookie crust than a pie crust.


It's sweet and soft and goes perfectly with this filling.


As the crust bakes, it has a nice shine when brushed with a beaten egg on top.

This Recipe and Tips

• The recipe makes at least 4 deep dish trays.
• When I cut this recipe in half, I do not cut the crust recipe in half
• I prefer a thicker crust so double the recipe for the crust.
• The egg wash makes a beautiful sheen on top of the pie, so don't forget to brush the top
• Spray your tins generously for easy removal or whatever baking pans you use.
• Citron was not a favorite but an ingredient used often in cheesecake, I left it optional.
• Don't stir the batter after the cherries are added or the whole batter will turn pink, fold gently.
• Thanks to mom's teaching and past tips, we can all enjoy her delicious version from Bari, Italy
• Cassata is moist and needs to be, kept refrigerated.
• Cassata will freeze well, just defrost in the refrigerator overnight.

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Ingredients You Will Need:

• eggs
• whole milk Ricotta
• chocolate bar grated( she always used milk chocolate Hersheys)
• citron (mom always used this it's optional) I prefer this without it
• maraschino cherries 
• pure vanilla
• flour
• cinnamon
• milk
• butter
• sugar
• baking powder

Try Some Of My Other Favorite Recipes

Best Easter Roundup
Easter Mini Cassata Cheesecakes
Mock Cassata Cake
Best Ever Cannoli Pie
Holiday Cannoli Mousse

Pastry in Italy

This ancient queen of Sicilian pastries, we cannot leave behind her sister, the Cannoli.


One of our favorites to also make around Easter time.


That is a hard pastry is fried by immersion, preferably in the extra virgin olive oil, the cornerstone of Sicilian quality products, which type of frying makes it crunchy and fragrant.


After it has cooled, it is filled with ricotta filling cream and decorated with candied cherry or pistachio nuts depending on whether one is in the Eastern or Western side of Sicily

Others Easter Favorites

If you are looking for a cannoli recipe you can find mom's here.


One other pastry on our table will be the PASTACIOTTI which here in the United States (my hometown Utica, New York) you will find in all the famous bakeries.

Watch my Quick Video Clip on Cassata

Pudding Filled Pastry!

This is a delicious pustie is a famous pastry crust filled with various flavored puddings.


Buona Pasqua, which is Happy Easter in Italian.

Italian Easter Cassata

Yield: 15

Author: Claudia Lamascolo

prep time: cook time: total time:

This is a very moist Italian style cheesecake made with ricotta cheese, chocolate and fruits all baked into a cookie-like crust. This is a traditional cake made at Easter.

ingredients:

• For the FIlling:
• 12 eggs
• 1 - 1/2 cups sugar
• 3- lbs of whole milk Ricotta
• 1- 8oz chocolate bar grated( she always used milk chocolate Hersheys)
• 8- oz candied citron (mom always used this it's optional) I prefer this without it
• 1 small bottle of maraschino cherries chopped in chunky pieces blotted dry
• 2 tablespoon pure vanilla
• For the Crust:
• Note For Crust: double the recipe for a thicker dough
• 2 - 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 stick of butter (1/4 pound)
• 3/4 cups of sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

instructions:

1. Filling Instructions:
2. Mix eggs for four or five minutes, add sugar and vanilla, mix well until light in color.
3. In a separate bowl beat ricotta for a few minutes, then add chocolate mixing well.
4. Add this mixture to the eggs mixture and fold in chopped cherries and citron.
5. Spray pays generously with cooking oil.
6. Line a deep dish pan with this rolled out dough.
7. Pour in ricotta filling. 
8. Bake at 325 for 1  hour or up to 2 hours depending on how big and thick this is, check the middle with a toothpick method, and that the tops in the center are puffed up not sunken.
9. TIP: If tops begin to brown too quickly drop oven temperature to 300 foil wrap around the edges to keep from cooking further.
10. Crust Instructions:
11. Mix everything together, the dough will be very soft, you will need to keep adding additional flour so it doesn't stick while rolling. 
12. Roll out to fit tins to fit for the bottom.
13. Use remaining dough to make strips like tic tac toe effect on top.
14.  Brush with beaten egg wash for the shiny top.
15. Note: I  double this crust recipe for the filling. 
16. If you like a thinner crust, this recipe can make two squares around 10 x 10.
17.  If you like a thick crust you have to make a double batch of dough for the whole filling recipe.

Calories
295

Fat (grams)
23

Sat. Fat (grams)
11

Carbs (grams)
18

Net carbs
10

Sugar (grams)
22

Cassata cheesecake, Easter cheesecake, Italian Easter cheesecake, Cassata cake

cheesecake, dessert, Italian pastry, Easter

Italian

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Don't forget to try the mini version of Cassata!

Mini Cassata Easter Cheesecakes