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Catholic Recipe: Cassata alla Siciliana (Easter Chocolate Cake)

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 Madeira cake (plain yellow pound cake), 9 x 3 in./23 x 8 cm
  • 2 cups cottage cheese
  • 2 tbsp double (or whipping) cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 1/2 tbsp orange juice
  • 2 tbsp chopped candied fruit
  • 1 tbsp chopped pistachio nuts
  • 2 squares chocolate (semi-sweet baking chocolate) 

    Icing:

  • 12 squares chocolate (semi-sweet baking chocolate)
  • 3/4 cup black coffee
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter

Details

Yield: 1 cake

Prep Time: 3 1/2 hours

Difficulty:  ★★☆☆

Cost:  ★★☆☆

For Ages: 15+

Origin: Italy

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This rich and unusual Sicilian cake is a festive dessert for Easter Sunday.

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut the cake in 1/2-inch/1-cm slices lengthways.

2. Beat the cheese until smooth, either by hand or using a food processor.

3. Beat in the cream, sugar and juice.

4. Fold in the fruit, nuts and grated chocolate.

5. Layer the cake and the cheese mixture with cake on top and bottom. Wrap in foil, gently pressing the layers together, and chill for 3 hours.

6. Make the icing by melting the chocolate with the coffee and beating in the butter a small piece at a time until smooth. Allow to cool until it is thick enough to spread.

7. Cover the top and sides of the cake and chill for at least 12 hours before serving.

Recipe Source: Feasting for Festivals by Jan Wilson, Lion Publishing Corporation, Batavia, Illinois, 1990
Sat12 September
Ordinary Time

Saturday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time; Opt Mem of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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On this day dedicated to the Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary let us repeat that wonderful prayer of Saint Bernard, responding to Pope Benedict XVI's invitation to “invite everyone to become a trusting child before Mary, even as the Son of God did. Saint Bernard says, and…

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