Cassata. This Sicilian dessert is made with sponge cake, sweet ricotta cheese, and candied fruit. It is often decorated with marzipan and icing and is a popular dessert for special occasions. Cassata is a traditional Italian cake that originated in Sicily.

Cheesecake, A New York Tradition Only the finest of ingredients would do--premium cream cheese, fresh heavy cream, eggs, and a touch of vanilla.

What cheesecake lacks are some of the basic ingredients that make a cake, well, a cake. There's no flour in the main custard-like mix, for example, and no baking powder or soda. Cheesecake may be decadent and rich, but it's far from “breadlike”—another part of what defines a cake.