Torta Della Nonna

Name: Torta Della Nonna
Yield: serves 8 to 10
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting; 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting; 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes; 1/4 teaspoon Italian leavening, such as Bench Mate, Pane Angel, or Rebecchi, or 1/8 teaspoon baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon baking powder; Pinch of kosher salt; 4 extra-large egg yolks; 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (if not using Italian leavening); All-purpose flour, for dusting; Unsalted butter, for the pan; 1 extra-large egg white; 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts (page 63); 10 ounces Philadelphia-style cream cheese; 1 cup mild-flavored fresh goat cheese, such as Coach Farms goat cheese; 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese; 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 3 extra-large eggs; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; Honeycomb; Two types of single-flower honeys, such as chestnut honey and wildflower honey

January 26, 2012

Torta della Nonna, or “grandmother’s tart,” is traditionally a two-crusted tart filled with pastry cream that is seen in almost every trattoria in Italy. Dahlia and I knew we wanted to include a version, but luckily, the name gave us a lot of room to be creative. As long as it was reminiscent of something a grandmother would make—meaning homey, simple, and comforting, like this cheesecake version that Dahlia created—I felt we could call it Torta della Nonna. Honey is an obvious pairing with cheese in Italy, so we serve this dessert with three different types of honey on the side: a sweet, delicate, floral honey, such as wildflower honey; a bitter honey (also referred to as savory honey), such as buckwheat or chestnut honey; and honey in the comb. The crust that we use for this torta, Pasta Frolla, is a typical Italian pastry dough used in many classic Italian desserts. In keeping with the Italian spirit, I make it with Italian leavening. You will need an 11-inch flan ring (a straight-sided, bottomless tart ring) for the tart and one that is slightly smaller (we use an 8-inch ring) to cut a circle for the top crust.

Recipe notes