Torta della Nonna -Grandmother’s Cake   is a typical sweet from Tuscany made with a few simple but delicious ingredients: a soft shortcrust pastry filled with wonderful Crema Pasticcera- Italian custard. This morning Dorothy emailed us asking for its recipe , and I thought it was a great idea to realise it for her.It’s  good during  Christmas season ,for a tea party, to celebrate Grandparents and not only .

For the base:                                               

150g sugar –   300g “00 flour “/all purpose/plain flour                                                        

70g butter (soft ) – 4 egg yolks -1 egg – Peel of 1 lemon

1 spoonful brandy – A pinch of salt – 8 gr.of baking powder  -Pine nuts

For the custard

3 egg yolks- 150 gr.sugar -gr.50 “00”flour –  1/2 l. milk -half vanilla pod

Let the butter soften.

Work together the egg yolks, the whole egg and the butter. 

Add the sugar, lemon peel,  cognac, baking powder, flour and salt. 

Then mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Wrap it in plastic and let it sit 30 min.in the refrigerator.

Prepare the custard:Boil the milk with the vanilla in a double boiler. 

Beat the eggs with the sugar in a bowl. Add the flour.

Take the vanilla out of the milk and pour the hot milk in the flour mixture ,and mix well.

Pour the mixture in the  double boiler on low fire and stir until the cream thickens.

 Turn the fire off. Let the custard cool for 5 minutes.

Take the dough out of the fridge and cut into two parts: one part must be 2/3 of the whole. 

With a rolling pin, roll this part  out on a piece of baking paper.

 Put it in a 24 cm cake tin. 

 Pour  the custard over and spread it with a spatula.  Spread some pine nuts on top. 

Roll out the other third of the dough and put it on the cream. Then add pine nuts. 

Bake at 180°C/350 F for 25/30 minutes.

When the cake is cold you can serve it cut into traditional slices or cubes, with icing sugar on top.

Curiosities: 

You can have also a Torta del Nonno(Granpa) adding 2 tbsp. cocoa powder to the custard.

You can also cover the custard with less dough and leave more space to the custard.

You can choose among tasty variations of Torta della Nonna/Grandmother’s cake.

Serve it to your family and friends and watch it disappear.