Cuccia, Sicilian Ricotta Dessert

Cuccia is a good Sicilian dessert traditionally made on December 13th to celebrate Santa Lucia. It's made with cooked wheatberries (grano cotto) sweetened with ricotta, sugar, chocolate chips, candied fruit and cinnamon. It's so good and suited to celebrating the festive season!

Did you know that all Italian names have a name day (Onomastico) and the 13th of December is our daughter's so we wanted to make something traditional to celebrate it.

Cuccia is a dessert that's traditionally eaten on December 13th in Sicily to celebrate the feast of Santa Lucia.

Traditionally, this dessert is made with boiled wheat grain (wheatberries) that are soaked overnight and then boiled for 1-2 hours until tender.

We love to infuse the cooking liquid with a cinnamon stick and orange peel with a pinch of salt but to speed things up dramatically you can use Grano Cotto (pre-cooked grain) that's sold in jars in Italian food stores. If you're familiar with La Pastiera Napoletana which is made at Easter then it's the same Grano Cotto you need for this.

After trying Cuccia both ways, we actually prefer it with pre-cooked wheatberries not only because it's a lot quicker and simpler but we prefer the softer, creamy texture.

This recipe will show you how to make it both ways so you can have a go at making it with raw wheat if you'd like.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Wheatberries – (raw or pre-cooked). Grano Cotto can be found in most Italian food stores and is usually sold in 580g jars.
• Ricotta – drained.
• Sugar – we always use caster sugar but granulated will also work.
• Candied fruit – you can use whatever you like, we used mixed lemon and orange peel plus candied cherries for topping.
• Chocolate chips – we like to use good quality dark chocolate chips.
• Cinnamon – used in the mix and for topping.

Step by step photos and instructions

This is a visual guide to help you with each step. For the full written recipe, ingredient amounts and tips scroll to the recipe card below.

Using grano cotto (pre-cooked grain)

Rinse the wheat – Drain the grano cotto in a sieve and run it under cold water (photos 1 and 2).

Add milk – Add it to a saucepan with the peel of 1 orange and 1 cinnamon stick. Cover the wheatberries with milk until covered then bring up to a simmer (photos 3 and 4).

Cook the wheat – Simmer the wheatberries on low for 10 minutes, stirring often. Drain the wheatberries and spread them in a thin layer to cool completely (photos 4 and 6).

Make the Cuccia mixture

Make the ricotta mixture – Add the drained ricotta, sugar and cinnamon to a bowl and mix until well combined. Add the chocolate chips, candied fruit and cooled wheat (photos 7-10).

Serve – Mix everything together until well combined then serve in small bowls topped with extra canned fruit and a sprinkling of cinnamon (photos 11 and 12).

Swaps

• Add nuts – chopped pistachios or hazelnuts are such a good addition and add more texture.
• Different chocolate – you can add white or milk chocolate chips of you prefer or a mix of different chocolate.
• Our favourite variation – We LOVE to add a drizzle of pistachio cream on top or mix a big spoonful through the cuccia mix. Hazelnut spread or cooled melted chocolate would also work well!

More Italian Christmas recipes to try

Christmas

Panettone Biscotti

Christmas

Panpepato (Christmas Spiced Cake)

Italian Cookies

Cuccidati (Italian Fig Cookies)

Italian Desserts

Struffoli – Italian Honey Balls

Ingredients

Makes 8 - 10 servings

If using raw wheat grain

• 1 cup (200g) raw wheat berries
• Peel of 1 orange
• 1 cinnamon stick
• salt

If using Grano Cotto (pre-cooked wheatberries)

• 1 jar Grano Cotto ((580g/20.5oz))
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Peel of 1 orange
• Whole milk

Mixture

• 2 cups (500g) ricotta (drained)
• 3/4 cup (150g) caster sugar ((can also use granulated))
• 1/2 cup (100g) dark chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup (100g) chopped candied fruit (plus extra for garnish)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (plus extra for garnish)
• candied cherries for garnish ((optional))

Method

If using raw wheat grain

1. Soak the wheat in a bowl of water for 24 hours.

2. Drain the wheat then add to a large pot. Add cold water and cover the grain by 2-3inches then add the orange peel, cinnamon stick and a pinch of salt.

3. Bring it to a boil then cover with a lid and cook for 60-70 minutes. Some wheat can take up to 2 hours so we recommend testing it after 1 hour then every so often until tender.

4. Drain and let cool.

If using Grano Cotto

1. Drain the grano cotto in a sieve and rinse it under cold running water.

2. Add it to a saucepan with the peel of 1 orange and 1 cinnamon stick. Cover the wheatberries with milk until just covered then bring up to a simmer.

3. Simmer the wheatberries on low for 10 minutes, stirring often. Drain the wheatberries and spread them in a thin layer to cool completely.

Make the Cuccia mixture

1. Add the drained ricotta, sugar and cinnamon to a bowl and mix until well combined. Add the chocolate chips, candied fruit and cooled wheat.

2. Mix everything together until well combined then serve in small bowls topped with extra canned fruit and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Kitchen notes

• Draining the ricotta We drain the ricotta while making the grano cotto mixture. By the time it has cooled the ricotta has drained enough. You can also drain the ricotta overnight in the fridge the day before
• Optional extras/variations chopped pistachios or hazelnuts are a great addition to Cuccia, you can add them to taste. You can also add pistachio cream or hazelnut spread into the mix or drizzle it on top (pistachio cream is our fave with this).
• Sweetness you can add more sugar to taste if you prefer it sweeter.
• Storage Cuccia will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days. We don't recommend freezing.