Everyone’s Nonna in Italy makes the traditional family Torta. Torta della Nonna, or Grandmother’s Cake, has as many variations as there are grandmothers! Here’s a tasty version I enjoyed during my assignment at Villa Ferraia in Tuscany. It consists of a delicate crust and light lemony custard filling. Pine nuts on top toast during baking and add a nice crunch.
Torta della Nonna
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (200g)
1 cup sugar (200g)
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour (200g)
pinch of salt
Custard filling (recipe below)
3 tablespoons pine nuts (20g)
Lightly grease a 9-inch (24cm) tart pan with butter. Sprinkle with a little flour and set aside. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until blended. Add flour and salt and mix until flour is just incorporated. The mixture will be quite sticky and you will use your fingers to place it in the pan. Sprinkle a little flour on the dough. Dipping your finger in additional flour every now and again, take one half of the dough and pat it on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch (24cm) tart pan. Pour only the amount of filling in the pastry shell until it is about 1/8” from the top of the pan. Any leftover filling is delicious on its own or with fresh fruit. Take the reserved half of the pastry and using your ‘floury’ hands, mold it into small, thin pieces and carefully place the pieces on top of the filling, overlapping it as you go. Seal the edges together. Sprinkle the top with pine nuts. Bake for about 45 minutes in a 350 – 375F oven, or until the top is nicely browned and the pine nuts are toasted. Cool. It can be served at room temperature but is best the next day after chilling in the refrigerator. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Custard filling:
5 egg yolks
5 tablespoons sugar (60g)
grated zest of ½ lemon
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (15-30ml)
¼ cup all purpose flour (30g)
pinch salt
3¼ cup milk (¾ liter)
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add zest and lemon juice and blend. In another small bowl, blend flour with ¼ cup cold milk with a whisk until it’s smooth and there are no lumps. Over medium heat, heat the rest of the milk in a medium saucepan until small bubbles appear on the sides of the pan. Take a ladleful and add it to the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the hot milk and whisk to combine. Whisking continuously, add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Cool the custard filling by stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. The custard will thicken as it cools.
