Torta della Nonna

Torta della Nonna or Granny's Tart is one of classic Italian recipes which has as many versions as there are Nonnas in Italy. I've been looking at my Italian recipe books as well as browsing recipes online, and the amount of egg yolks for the custard varies from four to eight. Some cooks add vanilla seeds, some add lemon zest, and the amount of pine nuts is also different from recipe to recipe.
I've been planning to bake this simple custard tart with pine nuts ever since I finished reading The Thousand Lights Hotel by Emylia Hall.
This delectable dessert has been mentioned more than once among the numerous food descriptions and menus (one of the protagonists and a love interest is a chef in the eponymous hotel, so food features heavily in the book which I found very enjoyable).
"A wide slice of torta della nonna - she recognised it straight away - sugar-dusted, scattered with pine nuts... She took a forkful of tart, and felt her chest heave. She'd forgotten the flavour of the sweet custard, the toasted pine nuts. Torta della nonna, she said out loud, Granny's tart, it meant, but as a child she'd always called it torta della mamma, because it was her mum who'd made it for her, just as she had done everything else".

Torta della Nonna
Ingredients
For the pastry
150g cold butter, from the fridge
300g 00 flour
100g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
pinch of salt
2-3tbsp icy cold water
for custard:
1 pt of milk
125g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
3tsp cornflour
2tbsp milk, cold
vanilla, grated or paste
100g pine nuts

Sift the flour and salt into a big mixing bowl and add cold cubed butter. Cut the butter into flour into smaller pieces, so that they are coated with flour. Using hands, rub the flour and butter together until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
Beat in 4 egg yolks. Add a bit of water to make the dough more pliable. Knead it until smooth and elastic, form into a ball and put the bowl in the fridge for half an hour.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface into a big circle about 5-6mm thin. Cut out a circle bigger than a round pie/baking dish, so that you have enough to have the sides. Drape the dough disc over the rolling pin and place it inside the pie dish. Gently press down.
Bake for 10 minutes at 180C.
While the pastry case is baking, scatter the pine nuts on a baking tray and place inside the oven on the lower shelf to toast for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

In the meantime make the custard filling. Heat up the milk with caster sugar, then remove from the heat and let it cool a bit. Beat in the egg yolks in a pan or bowl, add a bit of hot milk and whisk, keep adding all milk and whisking. Add vanilla (I used a vanilla grater) and cornflour which has been mixed with a dash of cold milk separately.
Cook custard over the low heat, stirring constantly, or put a pan with custard over another pan with boiling water, and keep stirring. Once custard starts to thicken, set it aside and let it cool slightly.

Scatter half of the pine nuts over a pastry case and pour custard over them, scatter more pine nuts over custard. Place the pie into the oven preheated to 180C for about 20-25 minutes.

If you don't fancy making your own pastry (and I very rarely do that, it's usually Jus-Rol) or custard, I think any bought good quality dessert pastry and custard would be just fine.

This Italian custard tart is lovely warm or cold. My guys loved it. For a more authentic touch dust it with icing sugar before serving. I didn't add more sugar, as the tart is quite sweet as it is.

Have you tried Torta della Nonna on your travels to Italy, or perhaps in an Italian restaurant?

Inspiring palettes from The Icecreamists (book review)

"Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it is not illegal" (Voltaire) This quote introduces you to a new book The Icecreamists written by an ice cream fanatic Matt O'Connor.

The first time I heard about the Icecreamists was during the brouhaha of the BabyGaga-Gate. I remember reading about Lady Gaga taking a virtuous stand against the ice cream made from the breast milk, just because it was called Baby Gaga. Not sure since when Lady Gaga has been able to own the word Gaga. We used to say "Gaga" almost about anyone as kids if we wanted to claim someone is a bit bonkers.

The book is utterly fabulous. The photos are exceptionally tantalising and inspiring. The photos of each scoop are very artistic.
Think of the Dutch Golden Art paintings: lush still life with the abundant displays of food. Or think of the masterpieces by Rembrandt, his tactile manipulation of the paint, the dark earth tones and golden highlights.

Bravo to the photographer Anders Schonnemann.

Props styling by Rachel Jukes deserves a separate mention, she did a brilliant job by matching each ice cream to the vessel it appears in.

The book is a feast for eyes. And the recipes make you want to grab that ice cream machine that has been hidden in the back of the kitchen shelves for ages, unused and unloved. Not anymore.

What else deserves mentioning? Graphic design and the brilliant use of the visual language.
Very clever titles that are a wordplay or puns like The Vanilla Monologues, Taking the Pistacchio, Doughnut Stop Believin', Lemony of the State, Lenin and Lime etc etc


The first recipe from the book that I decided to try was the traditional Italian Crema Ice cream (I reproduce the recipe with the kind permisssion of Octopus Books).

All the photos below are mine, I tried to emulate the book style by finding an interesting prop and served my ice cream from a ceramic jar from Perugia (old container for Baci chocs)

Admire, drool and reach for the ice cream machine, here is a recipe:

The Custardy Suite

250ml full-fat milk
125ml double cream
4 egg yolks
88g caster sugar
pinch of sea salt

1. Pour the milk and cream into a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to steam but not boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs yolks in a heatproof bowl until smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until pale and slightly fluffy. Gradually and slowly, pour the hot milk into the egg mixture whilst whisking continuosly to prevent the eggs scrambling. Return the mixture to the saucepan and place over a low heat, stirring frequently until the custard thinly coats the back of the wooden spoon. Do not allow to boil.
3. Pour back into the bowl and set aside for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until cooled to room temperature. For more rapid chilling, half-fill a sink with cold water and ice and place the bowl of mixture in it for 20 minutes. Never put the hot mixture in the fridge.
4. Once cooled, cover the mixture and refrigerate, ideally overnight, but at least for 6 hours, until thoroughly chilled (at least 4C). Pour the chilled mixture into an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.
5. When the churning is completed, use a spoon or spatula to scrape the ice ceram into freezer-proof container with the lid. Freeze until it reaches the correct scooping texture (at least 2 hours).

The ice cream was very delicate in taste, lovely with the berries.
Alas, my photos don't do any justice to it, but we had guests for dinner and I was running like a headless chicken from the kitchen to the dining room and back, and hardly had any time to do any proper photos. The actual colour of the ice cream was much more yellow.

All I want to say that the recipe worked beautifully.

The book is very well written. As the author himself says, it is part ice cream Bible, part confessional.
It would make a great gift for anyone who loves ice cream.

How to eat custard

If you are searching online for the best ways and methods of eating custard and googling for the custard etiquette, go no further. We show you step by step the most enjoyable ways of consuming this product. The demo is done with officially the best custard in the world, i.e. Abel & Cole's Luxury Vanilla Custard (Description: You could freeze this and eat it as ice cream! It’s that creamy, velvety and decadent. Isabel says it's made with 80% cream, and a good heap of vanilla pods are scraped into each pot.)

You are allowed to use the spoon, of course.

Then lick the plate.

Then hold the plate firmly and keep licking.

Use your fingers to scoop it.

Nah, the best way is eating it like this.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Merry Christmas!