Torta Della Nonna

Italy is a pretty big country when you compare it to some of the countries in Europe. Torta della Nonna is Grandma's cake. There must be quite a few grandmas in a country the size of Italy. I'm sure that every one of those Grandmas has her own opinion about how it is supposed to be made. At times the country probably bulges in attempt to fit all of the grandma opinions!

I ate a slice of this Torta in Boston's North End a few weeks ago and it was pretty good! I wanted to see if it was what I thought it was, and it was! In many cases, it was Pasta Frolla and lemon flavored Crema Pasticceria. When I looked it up, I found a million different recipes, some of them had ricotta, some of them had mascarpone, some of them had almonds.......remember all those Italian opinions that I was talking about. I said to heck with everyone else's opinions and developed my own Torta from my favorite recipes. Hey, what's one more opinion added to the pot!

Torta Della Nonna

Pasta Frolla - this makes a good amount of dough but 1/2 of this isn't quite enough to accomodate the filling necessary if you are using a 10 1/2 inch tart pan like I used.

4 cups a.p. flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
8 oz unsalted butter, cold
4 lg eggs

Pignoli
Powdered sugar

By hand - Mix your dry ingredients. Cut butter into tiny pieces and tumble it in the flour to coat. With two forks or a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour until just mixed. Beat the eggs and add them to the butter/flour mix and knead just until you have a smooth dough. Wrap the dough to rest for a bit and then put it in the refrigerator until you need it.

If you have a food processor - Put your dry ingredients in the food processor. Mix them. Add the butter and mix it until it is incorporated. Add the eggs. When the dough is a ball and "rides the blade" take it out of the processor. Knead the ball if you need to. :) Wrap the dough to rest for a bit and then put it in the refrigerator until you need it.

Crema Pasticceria
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
1 Tbls butter
1 Tbls vanilla

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Beat the egg yolks with an electric or stand mixer until they are broken up. Gradually beat in the cup of sugar and continue beating until it is a pale yellow in color, and thick enough to form ribbons back upon itself when the beater blades are lifted.

Bring the 2 cups of whole milk to a boil and stream the hot milk into the egg/sugar mixture carefully. When it is all incorporated, move the mixture to a double boiler on your stove and stir over medium heat until it reaches a bubble. Or, you can put everything directly into a saucepan and forgo the double boiler, and be careful.(I'm not so good at this, I always get lumps and have to strain!) As soon as it starts to boil, bring it to low heat and beat with the whisk, continuing to cook it. Your making sure that the flour is cooked. This should only take a minute or so. You also want to make sure not to burn the bottom of the pan if you are not using the double boiler.

Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the butter and the vanilla. Cover it with plastic and put it in the refrigerator. It must chill for at least 4 hours.

Assembly - Take about 2/3rds of the dough out of the refrigerator. Divide your 2/3rds to use for your Torta. Roll the bottom out and lay it in a 10 1/2 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Don't trim off the edges.

Stir 1 1/2 tsp. lemon extract into the Crema Pasticceria. Pour it into the bottom shell and be sure that it is spread evenly. It shouldn't reach higher than the sides of the tart pan or it will keep the Torta from sealing properly.

Roll the top piece of dough out. Cut it to the size of the tart. Slit the center of the dough in a few places to allow steam to escape during cooking. Carefully place the dough on top of the filled bottom shell and press the two doughs together. Use water if they do not adhere. Press against the sharp edges of the tart pan to create uniform and decorative cuts.

Bake the Torta Della Nonna in a 375 degree oven for approximately 35 minutes, but keep an eye on it, it may have an opinion of its own ;>

When it has cooled down, sprinkle on a generous handful of Pignoli and dust with powdered sugar. Set it in the refrigerator and serve after dinner.

p.s. that leftover dough I made you make... sorry. You can use it for cookies if you want or for a jam tart. You can make these amazing turnovers filled with ricotta, mozzarella and proscuitto and roasted red pepper. If your taste doesn't run towards Italian, just put in regular ham and cheese. MMMM.