Ahhh, Torta della Nonna 🤍🍋 — a true Italian classic. Creamy, delicate, and comforting, just like a nonna would make.
Here’s a traditional, authentic-style recipe with pasta frolla, silky custard, pine nuts, and powdered sugar.
🇮🇹 Torta della Nonna (Italian Grandmother’s Cake)
Ingredients
🥧 Pasta Frolla (Shortcrust)
- 2½ cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- ½ cup (115 g) cold butter, cubed
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Pinch of salt
🍋 Pastry Cream (Crema Pasticcera)
- 2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar
- ⅓ cup (40 g) cornstarch
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
🥜 Topping
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
👩🍳 Instructions
1. Make the Pastry Cream
- Heat milk with lemon zest until just warm.
- Whisk yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until smooth.
- Slowly pour warm milk into egg mixture, whisking.
- Return to heat and cook until thick.
- Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.
- Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface. Cool completely.
2. Make the Dough
- Mix flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest.
- Rub in butter until crumbly.
- Add egg and yolk; mix just until dough forms.
- Divide dough (⅔ and ⅓), flatten into discs.
- Chill 30 minutes.
3. Assemble
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Roll out larger dough and line a greased tart pan.
- Fill with cooled custard.
- Roll out remaining dough and cover the top.
- Seal edges and sprinkle with pine nuts.
4. Bake
- Bake 40–45 minutes until lightly golden.
- Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar.
⭐ Tips from Nonna
- Let it rest — it tastes even better the next day
- Lemon zest is essential for the authentic flavor
- Don’t overwork the dough or it loses tenderness
If you want, I can also share:
- Chocolate Torta della Nonna
- Open-face Tuscan version
- Shortcuts for busy days
Just say the word 🇮🇹✨
