One of these delightfully tempting specialties is cassata, a Sicilian dessert. The Arabs introduced sugar cane, and this revolutionised Sicilian cooking. Before the ninth century local honey was used to sweeten Sicilian pastries. Cassata is a tort of plain white cake filled with the same sheep’s milk ricotta (cottage cheese) cream used in cannoli and sfinci, topped with frosting and sugared fruits.
It is traditionally a winter and spring dessert served around Easter; in Sicily sheep produce little milk in summer, and frostings would melt under the torrid heat.
Its name is believed to derive from the medieval Arabic kas’at in reference either to its circular form (more precisely the pan used to mold it) or the word for cheese products (cascio akin to casein). By 1300 Arab Sicily was a thing of the past, and cassata became an aristocratic dessert, its recipes jealously guarded by monastic nuns or the chefs of the aristocracy.
Even today, few outside the culinary profession are ambitious enough to make it at home. Why bother, when Palermo boasts the world’s greatest pastry bars? One of the earliest “modern” references to cassata was a document issued at Mazara in 1575 mentioning its importance at religious feasts. Cassata probably originated at Palermo or another city of western Sicily.
Sicilian gelato (ice cream), as it has come to us, is an Arab invention based on sorbet made with cane sugar, though its earliest origins, like that of torrone, are Roman.
cassata is made year ’round but it’s still best from November through April.
Saint Valentine cakes from a pastry shop in Italy…
February 14th is named after the patron saint, St. Valentine, and we celebrate this day with the exchange of candy, flowers, cards, and gifts as a token of affection to our loved ones. The history of this day is very sketchy but it does appear to derive from Christian and Roman traditions. The story I like dates from the third century when Rome was ruled by the Emperor Claudius II. The Emperor outlawed marriages for young men as he felt single men made better soldiers than men who were married. A priest, named St. Valentine, didn’t agree with the Emperor and married young lovers in secret. When the Emperor discovered what St. Valentine was doing, he sentenced him to death. While St. Valentine was in prison, waiting to be put to death, he met and fell in love with the jailor’s daughter. Before he died he sent her a love letter and signed it “From your Valentine”. This expression is still used today and St. Valentine is now best remembered as a romantic and heroic figure.
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One of our friend based in Spain say us a nice comment about our blog last week.
He said about Cakeitaly “I can taste the italian style”.
Wow, wonderful words about our blog… after this sentence we collected the power to develop day by day cakeitaly contents.
But we have also to say thanks to all friend which send us everyday photo and recipes.
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From italy some ideas for your next birthday. In this video we collected 12 cakes for the birthday party. Something delicious as you can see
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I don’t know the english name for this delicious cake, called in italy Zuccotto and made with a lot of white cream and delicious sponge.
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From WIKIPEDIA: The Smurfs (Les Schtroumpfs) are a fictional group of small blue creatures who live in Smurf Village somewhere in the woods. The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world in a series of comic strips, making their first appearance in the Belgian comics magazine Le Journal de Spirou on October 23, 1958. The English-speaking world perhaps knows them best through the popular 1980s animated television series from Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Smurfs
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Delicious cakes with the SIMPSON. In this video you can find some ideas for you birthday cakes
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Some intersting cakes sent by our Italian friends here in Berlin: Thanks to everybody!!!
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1223 days in the top 100 
![P1010156 [Foto_torta]](http://blogdolci.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/P1010156-Foto_torta.JPG "P1010156 [Foto_torta]")
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Do you like italian food? do want to visit italy during holliday?
