Zuccotto Gelato Di Cassata Siciliana Food

TRADITIONAL CASSATA SICILIANA

Steps:

• Take a small saucepan and place the water and sugar inside. Stir over low heat until the sugar begins to spin.
• Add the almond flour and the dye to the two main ingredients. Mix well, until you reach a certain homogeneity, then pour the result on a marble surface previously cleaned and moistened with plain water.
• Let cool and then work with your hands until you get a soft and smooth dough.
• The last step involves flattening the royal pasta with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 8 mm.
• This sheet of pasta reale should be done in pieces: many small rectangles as long as the edge of the mold.
• Drain the ricotta to remove most of the whey. If necessary, help yourself with something heavy to put on top and especially do this the night before, so you can leave the ricotta to drain overnight and find it thicker in the morning.
• When the ricotta is quite dry, add the sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Mix well and let it rest for about an hour in the fridge
• After the hour has passed, take the sieve and use it to process the ricotta cream. Finally complete by adding the zuccata and chocolate.
• Take the sponge cake and divide it into 3 disks. One will go on the bottom of the pan, which should be round with flared edges.
• At this point dissolve the sugar in the water, flavour the mixture with rum and wet the sponge cake with this syrup. Be careful not to "drown" the sponge cake. Take the second disk and cut it into rectangles of the same size as those prepared with the royal pastry.
• Place them on the edge of the pan, one on each side. The rectangles, which will form the edges of the cassata, must be one of sponge cake and one of Pasta Reale, alternating. In this way you will begin to get a chromatic variation.
• Now it's time to pour the ricotta cream into the mould. Do not crush it too much and cover it with the remaining circle of sponge cake. The cassata has taken shape. Let it rest for about an hour.
• Turn it upside down on a round cake mitt and devote yourself to the icing. Weigh 150 grams of icing sugar and melt them over low heat in a small ladle of water until the sugar becomes stringy and transparent. The glaze is ready to go!
• Pour it still hot over the cassata and spread the edges well, then pour the still-hot glaze over the cassata and pay special attention to the edges. Help yourself with a spatula so as not to miss any piece.
• Let cool and then decorate with candied fruit, following your creativity.

ZUCCOTTO

Steps:

• Spray a 1 1/2-quart bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bowl with plastic wrap. Cut the pound cake crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Cut each slice diagonally in half, forming 2 triangles. Line the bottom and sides of the prepared bowl with the cake triangles. Brush some of the brandy over the cake triangles lining the bowl. Reserve the extra triangles.
• Stir the chocolate in a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup of cream in another large bowl until it is thick and fluffy. Fold 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate. Fold half of the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream. Spread the chocolate cream over the cake, covering completely and creating a well in the center. Cover and refrigerate if not assembling cake right away.
• In another clean large bowl, add the remaining 1 cup of cream and almond extract. Using an electric mixer with clean beaters, beat on medium speed and gradually add the powdered sugar. Beat until firm peaks form. Fold in the nuts. Spoon the cream mixture into the center of the well of the filling.
• Brush the remaining cake slices with brandy and arrange them, brandy side down, over the cake, covering the filling completely and trimming to fit, if necessary. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.
• Invert the cake onto a platter. Remove the bowl and the plastic wrap. Sift the cocoa powder over and serve.

CASSATA GELATA I (MOLDED ICE CREAM)

Steps:

• Soften the chocolate ice cream.
• Coat the inside of a two-quart bowl (stainless steel is the easiest) with the chocolate ice cream.
• Place the bowl in the freezer and allow the chocolate layer to harden.
• While the chocolate is hardening, soften the vanilla ice cream.
• When the chocolate layer is frozen, take the bowl from the freezer and coat the inside with the vanilla ice cream.
• Replace the bowl in the freezer and take out the pistachio ice cream and let it soften.
• When the vanilla ice cream is hard, take out the bowl and coat the inside with the pistachio ice cream.
• Replace in the freezer.
• Whip one cup of the cream with two tablespoons of the sugar.
• Fold the nuts into the cream mixture and place the cream/nut mixture into the center of the bowl.
• Replace it in the freezer while you whip the remaining cream and sugar.
• When you're ready to serve, remove the bowl and unmold the ice cream onto your serving platter.
• If it doesn't come out easily, dip the bowl into warm water and try again; it should come right out.
• Now cover the ice cream 'mound' with whipped cream.
• If you want it make it fancy, put some whipped cream into a pastry bag and make rosettes around the edge and on top.
• With a vegetable peeler, shave off curls of the chocolate and garnish the platter.
• Bring a cake server and a pitcher of warm water to the table.
• Dip the server in the water and slice servings of the cassata.