The name of this creamy tart, Torta della Nonna or ‘Grandmother’s cake,’ conjures up images of a beautiful Italian grandmother in her favorite apron, rolling out shortbread dough while her grandchildren gather around the breakfast table eating biscotti and watching intently. This unique tart starts out with a shortbread crust flavored with a hint of lemon zest, followed by a layer of vanilla crema di pasticcera (custard cream), a layer of chocolate custard cream, another flaky shortbread crust and finally, a sprinkling of buttery pine nuts and granulated sugar. This classic Italian dessert from the region of Tuscany is a perfectly sweet ending to any home cooked meal.
(To view the recipe click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Torta della Nonna
Ingredients:
- * Recipe Courtesy of Mami Camilla Cooking School*
- For the shortbread crust: 250g butter, softened, 150g sugar, ½ kilo flour, 2 eggs, 1 lemon zested, 1 pinch of baking powder. Cream butter and sugar together; add eggs and rest of ingredients and mix into a ball. Roll out into a 10-inch pie pan; perforate with a fork.
- For the custards: 200g flour, 400g sugar, 4 whole eggs; mix all together with a wooden spoon. Slowly whisk in 1 liter of milk and the peel of 1 lemon (for a slight lemon taste; if want an almond taste add in almond extract, or even vanilla extract, or for a lemon custard sauce, add the zest of 4-5 lemons instead!)
- Cook this mixture in a large saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until it is very thick. Cook on a marble surface to room temperature.
- Divide the custard cream amongst 2 large bowls. Add melted chocolate to one bowl and a pinch of ground cinnamon; leaving the vanilla cream in the second bowl bowl.
- Spread the vanilla custard on the bottom perforated crust first, then top with the chocolate custard. Top with a second shortbread crust, also perforated.
- Brush the top of the pie with egg whites, sprinkle with pine nuts, and sprinkle with a touch of sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, until top is lightly browned.
Directions:
Tagged: chocolate, culinary school, custard cream, dessert, externship, Italy, Mami Camilla cooking school, pine nuts, shortbread, Sorrento, Tuscay
Mama and I shared a piece of one of these tarts at a lovely cafe in Florence. Delicious!
Didn’t you just love it?! I love not having to choose between vanilla and chocolate custard because they are both there and ready to be eaten! I also love the use of pine nuts in sweet dishes in Italy; in the US we are accustomed to pine nuts in savory dishes but their buttery crunch is also a delight in sweets.