Torta della nonna: Tuscan custard pie with pine nuts and almonds
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Torta della nonna (Tuscan custard pie with pine nuts)
Torta della nonna, “grandmother’s cake”, is a Tuscan classic: crumbly pastry filled with vanilla custard and topped with pine nuts and almonds. It’s one of the desserts we teach at our cooking school in Tuscany. The pastry takes a little care and practice, but it’s worth every crumb.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Chilling and cooling: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 500 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 250 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) cold butter
- 200 g (1 cup) sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- Zest of 1 organic lemon
- 50 g (⅓ cup) raw almonds, to decorate
For the custard filling
- 1 liter (4 cups) milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 5 egg yolks
- 200 g (1 cup) sugar
- 60 g (½ cup) cornstarch
- 150 g (5 oz) lightly toasted pine nuts
To finish
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
For the custard
- Split the vanilla bean, put it in a saucepan with the milk and bring gently to a boil.
- In a large bowl, vigorously beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and frothy.
- Add the cornstarch and beat well.
- Remove the vanilla bean from the milk, scraping the seeds into it. Gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
- Pour back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly in the same direction, until quite thick. It will thicken more as it cools. Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface so a skin doesn’t form, and let cool.
- Stir the toasted pine nuts into the cooled custard.
For the pastry
- On a wooden work surface, mix the flour and sugar, add the butter cut into small pieces and rub it in with your fingertips until completely worked in. Work lightly so the butter doesn’t melt.
- Make a mound and a well in the center. Add the egg yolks and lemon zest (don’t grate in the bitter white pith).
- Work everything together, first with a fork and then with your hands, until you have a smooth, soft dough.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (ideally 2 hours, especially in warm weather).
To assemble
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F) and line a 30 cm (12 in) tart pan with parchment paper.
- Divide the pastry in two. Gently roll out one half about 5 mm (¼ in) thick and line the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Pour in the custard. Roll out the remaining pastry, lay it on top to close the pie and seal the edges. Decorate with the almonds, handling the pastry as little as possible.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the almonds are toasted.
- Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
These quantities are for a 30 cm (12 in) tart pan; one with a removable bottom makes life easier.
After tasting something like this on vacation I scoured the internet to find the recipe. Your recipe sounded the closest, so I tried it. Your conversion from grams to cups for the flour is double what it should be, so the crust was very dry with only 4 egg yolks for liquid. I added approximately 6 tblsp of ice water. It then made double the amount of crust needed, I used one piece and froze the other. The custard seems okay and it filled the crust nicely, tasted good.
i like your recipe!!
I’m glad that everything came out well at the end. Our conversion from grams to cups for the flour seems to be fine. 500 grams are indeed4 Cup US.