Flavors · Palermo

Cassata siciliana

Sponge cake and sweetened ricotta cream, covered in green pasta reale and topped with icing and candied fruit. An Easter sweet, it layers the history of Sicily and is linked to the convents of Palermo.

Traditional sweet from Palermo, Sicília

Also known as: cassata, cassata palermitana, cassata alla siciliana

Updated November 2026

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Cassata siciliana — Palermo, Italy — Cassata siciliana

Cassata siciliana — Palermo, Italy

The Sicilian cassata is assembled in a pan with sloped sides. The base and sides are lined with slices of sponge cake and strips of pasta reale, a colored almond-and-sugar paste in green. The center is filled with sweetened sheep ricotta, with chocolate chips and candied fruit. After it sets, the cake is turned out, covered with sugar icing and decorated with whole candied fruit, such as orange, cherry and candied pumpkin, in geometric or floral patterns.

The history is told in layers, like the cake itself. Tradition links the name to the Arabic qas'at, meaning round bowl, and the pairing of ricotta and sugar to the period of Arab rule on the island between the 9th and 11th centuries; there is no documentary proof. The word cassata appears in writing in the 14th century. Pasta reale is attributed to the nuns of the Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio convent, the Martorana, in Palermo, during the Norman period. Sponge cake and chocolate likely arrived with the Spaniards. Records from Palermo monasteries show ricotta cassatas with pasta reale already at the end of the 18th century; the decoration with icing and candied fruit became established in the 19th century.

An old Sicilian saying goes that you are poor if you don’t eat cassata on Easter morning. Cassata is found year-round in pastry shops in Palermo and throughout Sicily, whole or in an individual version, the cassatina. At the proposal of the Sicilian Region, it is included in Italy’s list of traditional agri-food products.

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Where it comes from

Palermo , Sicília
An Easter sweet linked to Palermo, where the nuns of the Martorana convent created the pasta reale that covers it.

Ingredients

Sponge cake, sheep ricotta, sugar, chocolate chips, candied fruit, pasta reale (almonds and sugar) and sugar icing.

How it is eaten

In slices, chilled, as a dessert; also in an individual version, the cassatina.

When it is eaten

Mainly at Easter, but sold year-round.

Your questions

Questions about Cassata siciliana

What is the cassata’s pasta reale?

It is an almond-and-sugar paste, colored green, that covers the sides of the cake. It is attributed to the nuns of the Martorana convent in Palermo.

Is cassata an Easter sweet?

It is the traditional Easter sweet in Sicily, but it is sold in pastry shops year-round.

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