There are some recipes – sometimes even very easy ones – that just refuse to come out as they should: you try and try and – damn! – they still feel so and so, not as good as you would expect, not as close to the idea in your head. Roman cassola, a very simple ricotta cake of the Jewish Italian tradition, has long been one of those recipes that I could not manage to “tame”: on the first attempt the texture was wrong, on the second you could taste the eggs too much, on the third I put too much cinnamon…

Then, finally, I got it right, and came up with the recipe I’m sharing with you today – you can not imagine how much effort and how many ingredients I wasted to get to it! Now you can save yourself countless failed attempts and enjoy the cake immediately!

Cassola is a centuries-old Roman Jewish specialty, similar to a cheesecake, prepared for Shavuot. Channukkah, and other holidays.
If you avoid the breadcrumbs that are often used to coat the cake pan, this recipe also happens to be gluten-free.

Cassola

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italiana

Servings 20 cm diameter cake

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 500 g ricotta cheese (best if from sheep, but cow will do too)
• 150 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 50 g raisins, soaked in hot water
• butter to grease the mold
• breadcrumbs to dust the mold

Instructions

 

• Drain the ricotta in a fine colander for an hour, until it's dry and firm. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 365° F.
  500 g ricotta cheese (best if from sheep, but cow will do too)
• In a large bowl, mix ricotta, sugar, and cinnamon with a wooden spoon, then add the eggs one at a time and continue to mix to obtain a smooth and homogeneous batter. Finally, add raisins to the batter and mix them in evenly.
  150 g sugar, 3 eggs, 1 tsp cinnamon, 50 g raisins, soaked in hot water
• Grease a 20 cm hinge mold with a little butter, then sprinkle it with breadcrumbs.
  butter to grease the mold, breadcrumbs to dust the mold
• Pour the batter into the mold and cook the cassola in the hot oven for about 50 minutes.
• Remove the cassola from the oven and let it cool completely before removing it from the mold.
• Serve cold or at room temperature.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

If you enjoyed this recipe, consider buying my cookbook Cooking alla Giudia, which features several traditional Jewish Italian recipes such as this one.