If you’re unfamiliar with the unabashed pageantry that is Italian cassata, let me enlighten you. The Sicilian showstopper consists of a booze-soaked sponge cake layered with sweetened ricotta that’s cloaked in a bright green marzipan cape and adorned with all kinds of candied fruit with decorative piping. It’s a cake that demands attention, and one that rejects the notion that simple is best. With cassata, more is more.
This version takes those components and transforms them into a sheet cake, making the process a bit simpler to pull off. Instead of shaping the cake in a special form, you use the walls of a 13×9″ baking pan to contain everything. And the top can be gussied up or down as much as you like.
