This Sicilian Easter dessert is a combination of sponge cake and sweetened ricotta. Definitely for the ones with a serious sweet tooth as this hit my upper echelon of sugar tolerance. I won’t go into great detail about the history of this cake because there is already an incredible account here.
Ingredients
Sponge Cake:
5 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup pastry flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
5 egg whites
Main Recipe:
1 1/4 lbs ricotta
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 oz creme de cacao
1 tbsp chocolate chips
2 tbsp candied fruit (citrus, cherry, etc)
Directions
- For the sponge cake: beat together egg yolks and sugar until slightly thickened. Add flour, mixing. Add vanilla and lemon.
- Beat egg whites until stiff and fold in.
- Butter and flour dust an 8 inch cake pan. Pour batter in and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Allow to cool.
- In a mixing bowl: place ricotta, vanilla, creme de cacao. Whip until smooth.
- Add chocolate chips and candied fruit.
- Slice sponge cake and line cake pan with half. Pour in ricotta mixture. Then top with remaining cake slices.
- Refrigerate over night.
- Dust with icing sugar.
