Minne di Sant’Agata

Minne di Sant’Agata, meaning the breasts of St. Agatha, is a dessert that hails from the city of Catania, where it has traditionally been prepared during the ancient annual festival held in honor of the city’s virgin saint patron, St. Agatha. Considered a smaller version of Sicilian cassata cake, minne di Sant’Agata consists of a semispherical shortcrust pastry filled with a combination of fresh sheep’s ricotta, dark chocolate, powdered sugar, and candied fruit. With a perfectly smooth, thick, pure white icing, and a bright red candied cherry placed in the middle, the dessert takes on a distinctive shape of female breasts that is supposed to evoke young St. Agatha’s breasts which, according to legend, were cruelly cut off as a punishment for her unwillingness to abandon faith. Some versions call for using a cassette-like sponge cake soaked in liquor instead of the buttery shortcrust pastry, which is then similarly filled with a ricotta-and-chocolate mixture before it is coated with pistachio marzipan and garnished with a red candied cherry, while other versions replace the ricotta filling with pastry cream. These beautiful and delicate small pastries are also commonly prepared throughout Sicily.