I love to make an assortment of Italian pastries for Easter. Every year I make mom's Easter Cassata in her memory. This year I made it just a little different. It's just a little more festive looking. I added a little bunny on baked into my Easter Mini Cassata Cheesecakes. The children loved them. They make such a pretty addition to the dessert platter of baked treats for our Easter tray.
Cassata is a light cheesecake made with ricotta cheese, fruits and chocolate. Mom always made one loaded with more chocolate than fruit just for me. I loved the chocolate as a child. Now as an adult I love the cherry more, go figure. The traditional addition to cassata is adding citron. I was never a fan of it. Mom would use the maraschino cherries. Grandma used the citron. Everyone makes it just a little different. I have even put fresh chopped bing cherries in it instead of the maraschino cherries. If you want an authentic Italian cassata you have to add the citron.
The table is always set with old fashioned soft Italian cookies and a loaded tray of pastries of all kinds.For the kids there is always an Easter cake that is all decorated with marshmallow peeps. Last year I put marshmallow peeps on top of cupcakes with little jelly beans for the eggs and tinted coconut.
I love to get unique ideas and have a festive tray of desserts every year. That's why this year I decided to make mini cassata with little bunnies on top. It was so easy to cut out the dough for decoration, I can't believe I never thought of this before! I just loved how these came out.
It was actually easier to make these than cut all the strips I make for a lattice top for the regular cassata.
If you don't have a bunny cookie cutter, you can use a flower, chicken, anything else that may remind you of Spring, Easter and the Holiday. There are so many adorable cookie cutters out there, just find one that fit the top a little smaller than your cupcake tin.
These little bunnies really baked into the cheesecake perfectly. The bunny rose a little, the spread out to fill the top perfectly. It's so much more fun to bake creative foods to eat.
When I come up with something a little different that looks cute it makes me happy. It makes me even happier when I see the kids face light up with those big smiles. As they grow up, it will give them some great memories to look back on.
I really loved having my kids help me in the kitchen when they were growing up. Now they both love to cook and come up with some great ideas. We still enjoy cooking together every chance we get. Now I have grandchildren to look forward to making some more memories with to pass on traditions.
Every year gets better with the memories we make and it is the foundation we build together for our future kids to carry on what we all started. I carried on my mom's traditions she instilled in all of us and now it's my turn to do the same and so far, I am thrilled my family continues with the same vision.
Our Italian tradition for Easter growing up, was making Italian Easter Cassata.
Cassata is a light cheesecake made with ricotta cheese, fruits and chocolate. Mom always made one loaded with more chocolate than fruit just for me. I loved the chocolate as a child. Now as an adult I love the cherry more, go figure. The traditional addition to cassata is adding citron. I was never a fan of it. Mom would use the maraschino cherries. Grandma used the citron. Everyone makes it just a little different. I have even put fresh chopped bing cherries in it instead of the maraschino cherries. If you want an authentic Italian cassata you have to add the citron.
The table is always set with old fashioned soft Italian cookies and a loaded tray of pastries of all kinds.For the kids there is always an Easter cake that is all decorated with marshmallow peeps. Last year I put marshmallow peeps on top of cupcakes with little jelly beans for the eggs and tinted coconut.
I love to get unique ideas and have a festive tray of desserts every year. That's why this year I decided to make mini cassata with little bunnies on top. It was so easy to cut out the dough for decoration, I can't believe I never thought of this before! I just loved how these came out.
It was actually easier to make these than cut all the strips I make for a lattice top for the regular cassata.
If you don't have a bunny cookie cutter, you can use a flower, chicken, anything else that may remind you of Spring, Easter and the Holiday. There are so many adorable cookie cutters out there, just find one that fit the top a little smaller than your cupcake tin.
Easter Mini Cassata Cheesecakes Pin for later
Make it fun.
These little bunnies really baked into the cheesecake perfectly. The bunny rose a little, the spread out to fill the top perfectly. It's so much more fun to bake creative foods to eat.
When I come up with something a little different that looks cute it makes me happy. It makes me even happier when I see the kids face light up with those big smiles. As they grow up, it will give them some great memories to look back on.
I really loved having my kids help me in the kitchen when they were growing up. Now they both love to cook and come up with some great ideas. We still enjoy cooking together every chance we get. Now I have grandchildren to look forward to making some more memories with to pass on traditions.
Every year gets better with the memories we make and it is the foundation we build together for our future kids to carry on what we all started. I carried on my mom's traditions she instilled in all of us and now it's my turn to do the same and so far, I am thrilled my family continues with the same vision.
Watch how easy these are to make
Easter Mini Cassata Cheesecakes
instructions:
4 eggs
1 lb Ricotta whole milk cheese
12 chopped maraschino cherries blotted dry
1 small chocolate bars chopped chunky
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
Place eggs in a bowl with the sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Fold in the cherries, chocolate and vanilla set aside.
Garnish:
1 beaten egg for the top
Crust:
2 - 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
1 stick of butter (1/4 pound)
3/4 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Mix everything together, dough will be very soft, you will need to keep adding additional flour so it doesn't stick while rolling.
Cut out as many cookie cutter tops that you need and set them aside. I made around 16 - cupcake mini cassata cheesecakes.
Oil spray cupcake tins. Roll out dough to fit tins to fit for the bottom of each cupcake tin. Brush with beaten egg wash for shiny top.
Bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown on top.
NOTE:
If you have additional batter left over and dough make a small cassata in a pie plate. I usually have filling leftover.
Created using The Recipes Generator
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