The cassata cake is a Cleveland delicacy. The Italian-American dessert includes layers of pillowy sponge cake piled between rich custard and strawberries and finished off with a coating of whipped cream.
Philomena Bake Shop, a wholly gluten-free and vegan bakery in Cleveland, offers a cassata cake that can be enjoyed regardless of certain dietary restrictions.
“We have offered it for three or four summers now,” says owner Caitlin Shea, “and we are so glad we did.”
The story of the cassata goes back centuries to the original cassata Siciliana. This dessert originated in the Italian region of Sicily, some sources say as far back as the tenth century.
The traditional Sicilian cassata is typically served during Easter and consists of sponge cake soaked with fruit juice and layered with ricotta cheese and candied fruits. The cake is then covered in marzipan and decorated with icing.
The modern Cleveland cassata is a revised version of the cassata Siciliana by Italian American immigrants who came to the area in the 19th century.
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When Philomena began receiving requests for the classic dessert, Shea came up with her own version — one that she could eat.
Philomena Bake Shop was opened by Shea six years ago after she was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. The experienced baker shifted away from wheat and dairy based products to fully vegan and gluten-free varieties.
“It took me a long time to accept that I had food allergies considering my profession,” she says, “I was already starting to run a bakery business, so I decided I would take a little bit of a hiatus and revamp the whole business to be vegan and gluten-free.”
Shea says that even 10 years ago the vegan and gluten-free industries were almost nonexistent, or the products were “just terrible.”
“Now there’s so much more variety. The techniques have been refined, and the ingredient access is better,” she says.
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Philomena’s cassata includes three decadent layers of vanilla almond cake, creamy vegan ricotta custard, sliced fresh strawberries and vegan coconut whipped cream. The cake is only available in the summer, when strawberries are in season from late May through the end of June.
“It's the ultimate summertime treat, which is why we only make it in the summer when we can get high quality strawberries,” says Shea. “The flavor of excellent strawberries is the difference between a boring cake and a fabulous cake.”
Another seasonal dessert Shea says has earned a cult following is Philomena’s pumpkin praline cookie, which comes out every September. The cassata cake will precede the autumn favorite when it returns to the menu in June.
Until recently, Philomena has been a mostly wholesale bakery, providing baked goods for Phoenix Coffee, Rising Star Coffee Roasters and other independent coffee shops in the area.
“We finally moved out of shared kitchens into our own kitchen about a year ago,” Shea says, “and [recently], although we didn’t announce it loudly, we opened our first storefront.” The shop is located at 5324 Fleet Ave. — in the former home of the Slavic village butcher shop Saucisson.
Shea plans to announce a grand opening for the new storefront in the weeks following Easter — just in time to welcome cassata cake to the display case.
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