Tag: Cooking Classes with Marisa Raniolo Wilkins

Cassata Siciliana and marzipan (pasta reale) are among the most iconic Easter desserts of Sicily, closely tied to the island’s history, religious traditions and enduring love of elaborate sweets, and at the Food and Culture in Sicily Easter cookery workshop held by La Trobe University, I demonstrated the preparation and explained the layered history of these two classics of the Sicilian pastry tradition.

The workshop took place on 23 March 2013 as part of a broader program exploring Sicilian food, culture and history. Many participants were encountering cassata and traditional Sicilian marzipan for the first time and were pleasantly surprised by the delicate almond flavour and the richness of these historic desserts.

Food, Culture and the Mediterranean World

The session began with a lecture on the History of food and feasting in Sicily, Italy and the wider Mediterranean.

This was presented by Dr Gillian Shepherd, Lecturer in Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Director of the A.D. Trendall Research Centre for Ancient Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University. Her talk explored literary and archaeological evidence for food production and consumption in the ancient world.

Following the lecture, I conducted a food workshop and cooking demonstration illustrating how the many cultures that ruled Sicily shaped its cuisine over centuries — including the Greek, Roman, Arab, French and Spanish influences that continue to define Sicilian cooking today.

Cassata Siciliana reflects Sicily’s layered culinary history. The ingredients of ricotta, almonds, sugar, sponge cake and marzipan reveal centuries of influence, from Arab agriculture and Spanish baking to the refined pastry techniques of the French-trained monsù chefs who shaped the cassata we know today. Cassata was an ideal dessert to demonstrate this context. Its origins reflect Sicily’s layered cultural history and it has long been associated with Easter celebrations.

Although traditionally linked to Easter, cassata has also become popular at Christmas and other festive occasions.

Cassata and the Cultural Layers of Sicily

Cassata is often described as one of Sicily’s most iconic desserts, but it is more than a cake. It reflects Sicily’s long history as a crossroads of Mediterranean cultures, where different peoples — Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Spaniards, French and others — left their marks on the island’s cuisine.

Ancient Roots: Ricotta and the Name Cassata

Some historians trace the name cassata to the Latin caseus, meaning cheese. This connection is plausible given that ricotta, a fresh sheep’s milk cheese, forms the heart of the dessert. In Sicilian dialect the word for cheese is casu, and earlier forms such as caseata may have existed, suggesting a long-standing association between the name and the ricotta filling.

The Arab Legacy: Sugar, Almonds and Citrus

However, the most significant early influence is widely believed to be Arab. The Arabs occupied Sicily for several centuries, beginning with their invasion in 827 AD and consolidating control by 902 AD. During their rule they transformed Sicilian agriculture and introduced crops and ingredients that profoundly shaped the island’s sweets — sugar cane, almonds, citrus fruits and pistachios. They also brought a taste for desserts enriched with nuts, dried fruits and fragrant syrups.

Even the name cassata may have Arabic roots. Some scholars suggest it derives from the Arabic word qas’ah, meaning a deep bowl or basin, possibly the type of container in which early versions of the cake were shaped.

Spanish Influence: The Arrival ofPan di Spagna

Later layers were added during the long period of Spanish rule, which extended across several centuries — through the Angevins, Aragonese, Spanish viceroys and Bourbons — from the late 13th century until the mid-19th century. The sponge cake used in cassata is thought to date from this era. In Italian it is called pan di Spagna (“bread of Spain”), suggesting its Iberian connection.

The Monsù: French Refinement in Sicilian Kitchens

Another important influence came from the French-trained chefs known in Sicily as monsù. From the 18th century onwards, aristocratic households in Sicily employed these highly skilled cooks, whose name derived from the French monsieur. The monsù refined and elaborated many traditional dishes, including elaborate pastries and decorated desserts. Their techniques helped shape the more ornate cassata we recognise today, with carefully layered sponge, ricotta filling, candied fruits and the decorative covering of green marzipan (pasta reale).

Convent Traditions: Nuns and the Art of Sicilian Sweets

The refinement of these sweets also owes much to the nuns of Sicilian convents, who played an important role in preserving and elaborating the island’s pastry traditions. Within convent kitchens, sweets made with ricotta, sugar and almonds were carefully prepared for religious feasts, especially Easter. Over time, these cloistered communities perfected decorative techniques using marzipan (pasta reale) and candied fruits, contributing to the elaborate appearance and symbolic richness that cassata and other Sicilian festive desserts display today.

Like Sicily itself, cassata is not the creation of a single culture, but a dessert shaped by many hands over time.

**The photos of the mosaics are from Piazza Armerina that i visited in one of my many trips to Sicily. the mosaics are extensive in the renowned Villa Romana Del Casale, built in the mid-4th century ad as a hunting lodge. the villa boasts some of the best-preserved and extensive examples of Roman mosaics, covering approximately 3,500 square metres.

HOW Marzipan is made

Almonds and Marzipan in Sicily

Sicily produces large quantities of almonds, and almond meal is used extensively in traditional sweets and pastries.

The island is especially famous for marzipan fruit, colourful almond confections shaped to resemble fruits and vegetables. Sicilian pastry cooks have long been highly regarded throughout Italy for their skill in making these elaborate sweets.

Marzipan is also known as pasta reale, meaning “royal paste”.

Marzipan when made in the traditional method is made by cooking a strong syrup of sugar and water and then adding freshly ground almonds. The mixture is kneaded till smooth (like bread dough) and then shaped.

A VERY EASY WAY TO MAKE MARZIPAN

Method

I mix the sugars and almond meal with my fingers and gradually add water.

It is important to add the water slowly, because a mixture that is too wet will require more almonds and sugar to correct.

I knead the mixture much like bread dough, adding a little more water if necessary until the marzipan becomes smooth and pliable.

Cassata on This Blog

This is not the first time I have written about cassata, marzipan or Easter desserts on this blog. There are several other posts exploring these themes and their place in Sicilian food traditions.

This post provides the recipe for making cassata.