Cassata Ice cream (Indian layered ice cream)
Why Dads are the best?
Because they give you the best they can in their life. And slowly we understand it is the best in our life as well. Not just now and then, not just for this and that, but dads love you forever for every little thing since you are born.
One such fond memory of my dads love for all of us three siblings is ICECREAM. Is there a happy childhood without licking the melting ice cream and crying for some more more and more?
We were well behaved and children..may be because dad always been very strict..lol. But when it came to pampering no one can beat him. Just a hint of summer and he would take us to the only place which used to serve this ice cream I’m going to talk about. We always wondered why this ice cream all the time? Little we knew that this is the best one can ever have..at least those days.
There are so many ice cream parlours, dessert bars etc are out there now serving different varieties and fusion desserts with ice cream but this one is near and dear to my heart.
“Cassata ice cream!”
This is an exotic ice cream from India. Quite similar to the original Italian concept of cassata ice cream but just different recipe adapted to suit Indian tastebuds and preferences.
It comprises of layers of ice cream. The layers can vary from different flavours of seasonal fruits to vanilla to chocolate to fruit & nuts to anything. One can find plenty candid fruits or dry roasted nuts in the layers of ice cream making it decadent.
The recipe I am providing here is the easiest , quickest possible with different seasonal fruits ice cream. All the required amount and varieties of ice creams for layering are made at once in one go. The mangoes, lychees, strawberries are in abundance in summer and have beautiful flavour as well as colour to infuse into ice cream. One can even choose chocolate , vanilla to go with some other fruits as well.
There are different ways one can layer the Cassata ice cream. I’ve made two different videos explaining:
- Dome cassata ice cream
- Log cassata ice cream
The dome looks prettier but needs little more work and finesse work to layer while the log is a go to method can be adapted quickly.
Click here to watch the video!!
- Thickening milk and milk powder mixture with some sugar added later.
Steps to make:
2.While the milk is boiling, simmer fruits purees with some sugar till they thicken little bit.
3. Choose two nesting bowls. Line both of them with cling film..bigger one from inner side and smaller one from outer side.
4. Whip the cream and powdered sugar mixture till soft peaks.And divide into four parts. Reserve little to adjust consistency later.
5.Add reduced strawberry, mango and lychee puree in three different bowls of whipped cream.In one bowl, add the pistachio powder. Add colours if needed.Next add reduced sweetened milk equally in the four bowls.
6. Pour the lychee (white) ice cream mixture in bigger bowl lined with cling film. Press the small bowl into the ice cream mixture and freeze for next 2-3 hours till set.
Freeze rest of the ice cream mixtures as well.
7. After 2-3 hours setting , remove the small bowl , spread the green ice cream uniformly. Next the yellow and later pink ice cream on top.
8. Next finish off with cake sponge layer and cover with cling film. Back to freezer.
9. After 8-9 hours of setting in freezer, invert bowl on a serving plate, remove bowl and cling film. Top cassata with the chopped nuts, chocolate chips or candid fruit bites. Cut to desired size and ready to serve.
Click here to watch the video!!
: Recipe Card :
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 60 minutes |
| Passive Time | 8-10 hours |
| Servings |
people
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- 1 litre full fat milk (5cups)
- 1/4 cup milk powder
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 cup mango puree
- 1 cup strawberry puree
- 1 cup lychee pulp pureed
- 1 Tbsp pistachios
- 2 each of cashew and almonds
- 2+2+2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 Tbsp tutti frutti of yellow , red, green colour each.
- few drops of green , orange , pink colour if needed.
- 2 cup heavy cream
- 5 Tbsp icing sugar
- around 10 cm 1 inch thick vanilla cake sponge ( cut to circumference of bigger bowl)
- few chopped roasted peanuts / chocolate chips / candid fruits/ tutti frutti/ sprinkles
Ingredients
common:
fruits , etc:
others:
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- Heat a thick bottom or non-stick wok on low to medium heat. Pour the milk and ix in the milk powder. Keep stirring till it comes to boil. Simmer on low heat while stirring occasionally. Milk needs to thicken to less than half quantity..around 2 cups. Once it thickens, add the 1/4 cup sugar and simmer another 5 minutes. Refrigerate after it comes to room temperature.
- While milk is simmering, heat three small saucepans on low heat. Add strawberry puree and 2 Tbsp sugar in one pan. In second pan add mango puree with 2 Tbsp sugar. Third pan will have lychee puree and 2 tbsp sugar. Stir the purees continuously till sugar dissolves and water from fruit evaporates. It should take 5 minutes. purees should still be runny liquid and not very thick. Keep aside to cool.
- Later whip the cold heavy cream while adding 5 tbsp icing sugar slowly slowly. Whip till soft peaks are formed. Divide whipped cream in equally four bowls.
- Pour the prepared thickened milk equally into four bowls of whipped cream. Afterwards in each bowl add one fruit puree mixture along with same colour tutti frutti and colour if needed. Make mango, strawberry and lychee mixture accordingly. For green colour...Grind pistachios , almonds and cashews coarsely and add to whipped cream, thickened milk mixture with tutti frutti and colour.
- To give the dome shape, choose two nesting glass bowls. Line bigger bowl from inside with a cling film. Line small bowl from outer side with cling film. Try to smooth the surfaces as much as possible.
- Pour the white (lychee) ice cream in lined bigger bowl and press down with small bowl so as to make an ice cream bowl shape. Keep these prepared bowls and rest of the three ice creams in freezer for 2 hours to set.
- After 2 hours, gently remove the small bowl from the bigger bowl by pulling the cling film attached.You can see a bowl made of white ice cream. It should be firmly set. If it is not, pop in freezer for half an hour again. DON'T remove ice cream from bigger bowl. Other ice creams should be little set and thicker but not solid enough like an ice cream. Layer the green ice cream evenly in the white ice cream bowl. Next goes yellow mango and last one is pink strawberry one. The ice creams are thick enough and yet very soft and pliable to spread. Last goes the cake sponge cut into a circle. Cover with cling film and let it set in freezer for minimum 5-6 hours or ideally overnight.
- Invert The ice cream bowl on serving plate.Hold bowl with hands. The heat of hands will help to loosen the ice cream from sides. once ice creams comes out from bowl, remove cling film. Top it up with roasted chopped peanuts, tutti frutti, chocolate chips or fresh fruits. Slice and serve.
- If the fresh fruit puree is added directly into ice cream mixture, ice cream tends to have ice crystal. Thats why heating puree with sugar is essential.
- Instead of the fruits I've used other fruits like custard apple, blackberry, blueberry, Indian jamun etc can be used as well.
- The easiest and short cut way to make cassata would be...buying 3-4 different flavours of ice creams and later layering them in desired shape.
- For simple layering.. just choose elongated box or tin and line with greaseproof paper. Spread layers of ice creams which are set for 2 hours evenly . Set overnight , unmould, cut and serve.
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