Cassata Siciliana

Ingredients

• 3 eggs plus 3 yolks
• 160g caster sugar, for the sponge
• 70g plain flour
• 95g potato starch
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 800g sheep's ricotta
• 300g caster sugar, for the filling
• 150g dark chocolate chips
• 300g ground almonds
• 300g caster sugar, for the marzipan
• 75ml water
• Green food colouring
• 350g icing sugar
• 3 tbsp water, for the glaze
• 100ml sugar syrup
• 2 tbsp maraschino or rum
• Candied orange, citron and cherries, to decorate

Before you cook

• Drain the ricotta in a sieve in the fridge overnight.
• Push the drained ricotta through a fine sieve twice.
• Beat the sieved ricotta with its 300g of sugar and chill it, uncovered, for 12 hours.
• Line the base of a 22cm sloped-sided cassata tin with cling film.

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 180C.
2. Whisk the eggs, yolks, 160g sugar and lemon zest for 10 minutes, until tripled in volume and holding a ribbon.
3. Sift the flour and potato starch over the eggs and fold them in gently.
4. Pour the batter into a lined 22cm tin and bake for 35 minutes.
5. Cool the sponge completely, then slice it horizontally into three discs.
6. Warm the 300g sugar with the 75ml water until the syrup is clear, then take it off the heat.
7. Stir in the ground almonds and a few drops of green colouring.
8. Knead the marzipan on a surface dusted with icing sugar for 8 minutes, until smooth.
9. Wrap the marzipan and rest it for 2 hours.
10. Roll the marzipan out to 5mm and cut it into rectangles as tall as your tin.
11. Line the sides of the tin with the marzipan rectangles, pressing the joins closed.
12. Fit a disc of sponge into the base, trimming it to sit snugly against the marzipan.
13. Mix the sugar syrup with the maraschino and brush it over the sponge.
14. Fold the chocolate chips into the chilled sweetened ricotta.
15. Spoon the ricotta into the lined tin and level the surface.
16. Cap it with a second disc of sponge and brush that with syrup too.
17. Cover the cassata and chill it for at least 12 hours.
18. Turn the cassata out onto a serving plate and peel off the cling film.
19. Whisk the icing sugar with the 3 tablespoons of water to a thick pouring glaze.
20. Pour the glaze over the top so it floods right to the marzipan edge.
21. Leave the glaze to set for 2 hours.
22. Arrange whole candied fruit over the top and keep the cassata cold until serving.