Plural of cassata; multiple Italian frozen desserts made with ricotta, candied fruits, nuts, and sponge cake.
Plural form of cassata. As Italian desserts became more popular internationally, the plural form was increasingly used in English food writing and culinary contexts from the 19th century onward.
Cassatas represent the height of pre-mechanical refrigeration cooking ingenuity—ice from mountains had to be transported in sawdust hundreds of miles to cities, making cassata a dessert only the extremely wealthy could serve, so they made them absurdly elaborate to justify the cost.
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