Cassata alla Siciliana

Ingredients:

1 Pan di Spagna
250g blanched almonds
250g icing sugar
3 drops bitter almond essence
60ml water
potato starch to dust
green food colouring
500g ricotta cheese (sheep's milk is best, but cow's milk will do) (or you can use my home-made ricotta cheese recipe to prepare your own)
50g granulated sugar
¼ tsp vanilla extract
50g 80% cocoa solid chocolate in shavings
50g diced candied melon peel (zuccata)
Marsala wine
Caster sugar for making icing paste
2 egg whites
100g caster sugar (for the egg white cream)
2 tbsp lemon juice
60g candied peel and/or candied fruit, to decorate

Method:

First prepare a Pan di Spagna according to the recipe given. Once the cake is done, leave aside to cool and begin to prepare the almond paste. Put your almonds in a food processor and grind with short bursts (otherwise they may end up liquefying). When they're broken down small add 250g of icing sugar and bitter almond essence dissolved in 60ml water. Blend until the mixture becomes a homogeneous stiff paste (you may need to add more sugar or more water as needed). Dust your work surface with potato starch and tip the paste onto it. Incorporate a few drops of green food colouring (diluted in a tsp of water) and knead the paste until it's an uniform colour. Wrap this in clingfilm and refrigerate.

Sieve the Ricotta cheese through a fine-meshed strainer into a large bowl and combine with 50g granulated sugar, vanilla essence, the chocolate and the diced candied melon peel. Beat with a spoon to incorporate the ingredients.

Meanwhile take a 25cm diameter pudding mould (one with slanting slide walls), grease with butter and dust with potato starch. Bring the almond paste from the fridge, roll into a 0.5cm thick round. Line the pudding bowl with saran wrap and lay the almond paste inside (it should cover as much of the bowl as possible). Trim any excess then take the Pan di Spagna and cut into 1cm thick slices. Use these to line the bottom and sides of the pudding bowl.

Now make a syrup from about 100ml Marsala wine, 30ml water and enough sugar to make a runny syrup. Use this to sprinkle over the cake so that it is all moistened (but not too soggy). Now take the ricotta cheese mixture and use this to fill the inside of the cake. Cover with more cake and sprinkle the syrup over this as well. Your Cassata is now assembled and the next stage is to compress it down. Take a plate that's slightly smaller than the diameter of the pudding bowl and lay this on top of the Cassata. Add some weight (about 60g is enough) and place in the fridge to cool. After about 5 or 6 hours take out, and invert the Cassata so that it falls out onto the plate.

Finally, take the two egg whites, beat them and fold in 100g caster sugar so that the final mixture becomes a thick, stiff, cream. Add the lemon juice to the glaze then spread it over the Cassata. Scatter the candied peel over the top (or decorate with the candied fruit), refrigerate for a further 3–4 hours then serve.