TORTA DELLA NONNA-GRANDMA'S CAKE RECIPE

Torta Della Nonna-Grandma's Cake Recipe image

Provided by Maverick19

Number Of Ingredients 21

Ingredients

Make an 11 inch tart:
For the dough:
3 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
zest of one lemon, grated
pinch of salt
6 oz unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
For the custard pastry cream:
4 cups milk
1/2 lemon (peel lemon in one piece and set aside)
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the top:
4 oz pine nuts (you can substitute with slivered almonds)
2 Tbsp milk
powdered sugar to decorate

Steps:

1. Prepare the dough: In a food processor, add the flour, sugar, lemon zest, salt and the butter (cut butter into pieces). Pulse until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. Add the vanilla extract, two eggs plus the egg yolk and min only until the dough comes together. If by any chance the dough is too dry, add a little bit (1-2 Tbsp milk). If too wet, add a bit of flour. Collect the dough and divide into two pieces, a large and smaller piece (about 2/3 and 1/3). Make into two disks, wrap each separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour. 2. Prepare the Custard Cream: Place the reserved lemon peel in the milk and warm up until hot, but not boiling. your can warm up in the microwave or in a small pan on the stove. In a saucepan, add the egg yolks, flour, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk well until light and fluffy. Add a little bit of the hot milk (discarding the lemon peel) and whisk some more. Incorporate the rest of the milk, while whisking. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a slow boil, while stirring. The cream with thicken, so make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Lower the lame when it starts to bubble and cook for one or two more minutes, until it reaches the desired thickness. Pour the cream in a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap. The plastic should touch the cream, so it won't develop a film on the top. Let Cool. 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 11 inch tart pan with butter and flour (or spray). Roll out the larger dough first on a lightly floured surface to a circle of about 12 inches in diameter. Helping yourself with the rolling pin, move the dough to the tart pan. If the dough breaks, you can easily fix it with your fingers, so don't worry. Trim the excess dough around the edges, or add little pieces if needed. Prick the bottom with a fork. 4. Pour the custard cream in the tart shell and spread. Roll out the other pastry to right around 11 inch circle, and place it on top of the tart. You need to be a little more careful now, as you cut off any extra dough from the edges, and press the edges together to seal. Gently prick the top with a fork just a little bit. Brush the top with some milk and sprinkle with the pine nuts, pressing them down slightly with your fingers so that the nuts stick to the dough 5. Bake in lower third of the oven for about 45 minutes, until slightly golden on top and around the edges. Let it cool down to room temperature first, then one hour in the refrigerator before dusting with powdered sugar and serve.