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Torta della Nonna is the most delicious Italian custard tart made with sweet shortcrust pastry, Italian pastry cream, and topped with pine nuts. An elegant and beautiful dessert for any occasion.
Torta della Nonna or Grandmother’s cake is such a classic Italian dessert!
Perfectly crisp sweet shortcrust pastry with fresh lemon zest and a thick vanilla custard filling topped with crunchy, creamy pine nuts and dusted with confectioner’s sugar. It’s incredibly delicious!
Traditionally this dessert is made with a pastry top making it more like a sweet pie rather than a tart but you’ll commonly see modern versions without the pastry top like our recipe here.
Don’t worry though, if you want to top the tart with more pastry there’s enough in this recipe to do so!
What you need to make it
The main ingredient you need to make Torta della Nonna is Italian Pastry Cream (Crema Pasticcera).
If you’re not familiar with pastry cream, it’s a thick vanilla custard sometimes flavored with citrus zest or liqueur and can be used to fill all kinds of desserts like our Italian filled doughnuts (so delicious).
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItThe rest of the ingredients are super simple; flour, eggs, butter, vanilla and milk. See the photo below that shows all the ingredients you need (you can also find the full recipe in the recipe card).
How to make Torta della Nonna – step by step
How to make the filling (Crema Pasticcera)
Warm the milk in a saucepan then set aside.
In a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar just until combined. Add the cornstarch (cornflour UK) and mix it into the eggs until combined (photos 1 – 4).
Slowly pour the warm milk into the bowl with the eggs constantly whisking until everything is mixed together (make sure the milk is just warm and not hot so the eggs don’t scramble) (photos 5 & 6).
Once combined pour the mixture back into the saucepan you warmed the milk in.
Heat it on a low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes until very thick (photos 7 – 9).
Once thickened pour the pastry cream into a clean bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top of the cream so a skin doesn’t form (photo 10).
Once cooled completely place the bowl in the fridge until ready to use.
How to make the pastry (Pasta Frolla)
Sift the flour into a large bowl then add the rest of the dry ingredients including the lemon zest, stir to combine (photos 1 & 2).
Add the egg and butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a spatula or pastry scraper to form rough crumbs (photos 3 & 4).
Start to bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. Knead the pastry until all the flour is fully absorbed and it becomes a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour (photos 5-8).
After the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and dust a clean work surface with flour. Roll out using a rolling pin until ¼ inch (½ cm) thick (photo 9).
Grease a tart or pie pan with butter then lay the pastry over the pan tucking in the sides until it fits evenly. Roll the rolling pin over the tart case to cut the edges (you can also trim the edge with a knife) (photos 10-13).
Prick the base with a fork then place back in the fridge for 30 minutes (photo 14).
How to assemble and bake
Soak the pine nuts in water for 5 mins (photo 1).
Remove the pastry case from the fridge and fill with the cooled pastry cream, spread out evenly (photo 2).
Scatter over the pine nuts then bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until slightly golden on top (photo 3 & 4).
Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes then remove the tart from the case and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve once cooled or place in the fridge until ready to serve.
Top tips and recipe FAQs
- Prep in advance – You can prepare the pastry cream and shortcrust pastry in advance they’ll last well in the fridge stored separately for around 4-5 days.
- Full fat milk – Use full-fat milk to make the pastry cream so it’s super creamy and thick. Lower fat milk won’t thicken as well.
- Use cold butter – Make sure to use cold butter to make a successful shortcrust pastry. Also see our thorough guide on how to make Italian shortcrust pastry.
- Pine nuts – Make sure to soak the pine nuts for 5 minutes to stop them browning too quickly in the oven.
- Let it cool – Make sure to let the tart cool completely so the custard sets.
No, it’s not necessary for this recipe you only need to blind bake pie crusts if using a filling with excess moisture such as fresh fruit.
Torta della Nonna will last for around 4-5 days in the fridge although the pastry will start to soften after a day or two.
No, I don’t recommend freezing this tart because pastry cream is known to split and separate after freezing.
More Italian desserts you might like
- Crostata di Frutta – Italian fresh fruit tart with pastry cream
- Italian custard filled doughnuts
- Tiramisu – Authentic Recipe
- White Chocolate Panna Cotta
- Mini Cannoli
- Affogato – Coffee and Ice Cream Dessert
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Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Torta della Nonna
Equipment
- 7-8 inch tart pan
Ingredients
Shortcrust pastry (Pasta Frolla)
- 2 cups flour, 00 flour or all-purpose (250g)
- ½ cup caster sugar, golden or white (80g)
- 8.5 tbsp cold butter, cubed (120g)
- 1 large egg
- Zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
Pastry cream (Crema Pasticcera)
- 5 egg yolks
- 2.5 cups milk, (590ml)
- ¼ cup cornstarch, (30g)
- ⅓ cup sugar, (70g)
- ½ tsp vanilla paste or 1 vanilla bean, *see notes below
Topping
- ¼ cup pine nuts, (30g)
- confectioners sugar , for dusting (icing sugar UK)
Instructions
To make the pastry cream filling
- Warm the milk in a saucepan with the vanilla then set aside.
- In a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar just until combined. Add the cornstarch (cornflour UK) and mix it into the eggs until combined
- Slowly pour the warm milk into the bowl with the eggs constantly whisking until everything is mixed together (make sure the milk is just warm and not hot so the eggs don’t scramble).
- Once combined pour the mixture back into the saucepan you warmed the milk in.
- Heat it on a low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes until very thick.
- Once thickened pour the pastry cream into a clean bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top of the cream so a skin doesn’t form.
- Once cooled completely place the bowl in the fridge until ready to use.
To make the pastry
- Sift the flour into a large bowl then add the rest of the dry ingredients including the lemon zest, stir to combine.
- Add the egg and butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a spatula or pastry scraper to form rough crumbs.
- Start to bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. Knead the pastry until all the flour is fully absorbed and it becomes a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- After the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and dust a clean work surface with flour. Roll out using a rolling pin until ¼ inch (½ cm) thick.
- Grease a 7-8 inch tart or pie pan with butter then lay the pastry over the pan tucking in the sides until it fits evenly. Roll the rolling pin over the tart case to cut the edges (you can also trim the edge with a knife).
- Prick the base with a fork then place back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To assemble
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C.
- Soak the pine nuts in water for 5 mins.
- Remove the pastry case from the fridge and fill with the cooled pastry cream, spread out evenly.
- Scatter over the pine nuts then bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until slightly golden on top.
- Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes then remove the tart from the case and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve once cooled or place in the fridge until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
- Vanilla – Instead of vanilla paste, you can use 1 whole vanilla pod with the inside scraped out and added to the milk (remove the pod when adding the milk to the egg) or 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
- Prep in advance – You can prepare the pastry cream and shortcrust pastry in advance they’ll last well in the fridge stored separately for around 4-5 days.
- Full fat milk – Use full-fat milk to make the pastry cream so it’s super creamy and thick. Lower fat milk won’t thicken as well.
- Use cold butter – Make sure to use cold butter to make a successful shortcrust pastry. Also see our thorough guide on Italian shortcrust pastry.
- Pine nuts – Make sure to soak the pine nuts for 5 minutes to stop them browning too quickly in the oven.
- Let it cool – Make sure to let the tart cool completely so the custard sets.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Unfortunately, that is not the correct recipe for Pasta Frolla. I have been making it for 60 years, and it always has sugar in it. It is a sweet pastry dough.
Hi Anita, our pastry does have sugar in it, I’m not sure where you’re seeing the ingredients without sugar?
Do you think this would be good with torched meringue on top?!
Yes, that would be delicious!
Do the pin nuts rise to the top as the custard bakes? I noticed you say but the pine nuts in first and then cover it with the custard but in the end photo of the pine nuts are on top so I’m a little confused. Thanks.
Hi Kim, the pine nuts are placed on top of the custard not under. Remember to soak the nuts in water for 5 minutes first to stop them from burning in the oven 🙂
Love this recipe! I tried it last night. Very tasty, but I had trouble with the crust. It took a long time to get the dough into a ball and then I wasn’t sure how long to knead it. Very hard to knead in the bowl so I transferred to a flat surface and kneaded like bread dough. It was not terribly pliable when I later tried to roll it out. Any tips?
Thanks so much!
Ciao Matt, can I ask if you used cups or did you weigh the flour? I make this pastry a lot and never have an issue but I always weigh it for accurate results. When flour is involved, cups can frequently cause issues. It’s always crumbly at first but should come together fairly quickly into a ball, the trick is to not over-knead pastry or it can become quite tough so once you’ve formed a smooth ball let it rest. I hope this helps 🙂
Hi
When you say can be stored in fridge for up to 4-5 days. Is that uncooked. If so then do you bring to room temperature and continue as per recipe. Tia 😊 Ivana
Yes, raw pastry and cooked but unbaked crema!
2.5 cups is almost 600mL, 1/2 liter is 500. Are we supposed to use the lesser or larger amount?
Thanks for noticing that! It’s 2.5 cups or 590ml, I’ll update the recipe now. Thanks!
It looks amazing!!! I wonder how big is the tart pan?
Ah sorry, it’s 7-8 inches. I’ll add that into the recipe.
What is vanilla pasta and when are you supposed to use it in the recipe?
Sorry it’s meant to say vanilla paste (will correct that now). You can use vanilla extract or a whole vanilla bean instead. You add it to the milk as your warming it up.
What is the oven temperature to bake this please?
Hi Jennifer, it’s 350F/180C.
What can I use other than pine nuts? Would almonds be ok
Yes, almonds would work! 🙂
Wow! This looks exactly like the torta I dreamily gaze at in the windows of a pasticceria in Italy! I love the idea of lemon zest in the pastry! This should be my challenge of the week, with the added challenge of not eating the whole thing! Yum!