Fabulous Cassata Cake
By: Katrin
Published: Thursday, April 7, 2011 - 7:09am

Ingredients




For the Lemon-Ricotta Filling
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup superfine granulated sugar
1 lemon zested
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 cup ricotta cheese
For the Cake
2 cups less a few teaspoons cake flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs, separated
2 cups superfine granulated sugar, divided
1 cup unsalted butter
For Assembling
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
500 milliliters whipped fresh cream (whipped with vanilla and sugar

Preparation

1 Filling: 2 Whisk together 4 tablespoons of the milk with the flour. The slurry will be somewhat thick, make sure all lumps are removed. 3 Add in the rest of the milk and transfer the mixture to a pot. 4 Simmer the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly. As bubbles begin to come up and steam, remove the pot and continue to stir for another 30 seconds. 5 Cover the milk mixture (either in the pot or put into a bowl) with plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface so that no skin forms. Cool for 15 to 30 minutes. 6 In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla fitted with the beating on high speed for about to 5 minutes. 7 Scrape the sides and add the cooled milk mixture continuing to beat on high speed until the filling is smooth, another 5 minutes or so. 8 Beat in the ricotta cheese 1 tablespoon at a time. 9 Preheat your oven to 335F.  Coat three 9 inch spring form pans with butter and dust with flour, coating up the sides so the cakes do not stick. 10 For the Cake: 11 Measure the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt into one bowl, and the milk and vanilla into a separate bowl. Whisk each to combine.  In the standing mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed to a stiff peak. Drizzle in 1 cup of the sugar while the mixer is running. 12 Scoop the meringue into a large bowl and set aside. 13 Wipe the mixer bowl and replace the wire whip with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter with the remaining 1 cup of sugar on low speed.  Add the egg yolks one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix on low speed until the ingredients are thoroughly combined. 14 Add the dry and wet ingredients alternating about a quarter at a time and don't pause between additions. 15 Stop the mixer and gently fold the meringue into the batter with a spatula. 16 Pour the mixture evenly into the pans and bake for 27 to 30 minutes, or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. 17 Cool the cakes for a few minutes, then invert the cakes onto a flat surface. They will be very fragile, so handle them with care. 18 To assemble the cake by adding about 1 cup each of the fresh strawberries and the ricotta filling between the layers. 19 Cover the outside of the cake with the sweetened whipped cream.* Add more fresh strawberries around the edge of the cake to make it so pretty

About


Check out my blog post for more information and step by step photos
http://bit.ly/hv05O6