Vegan Grandma’s Custard Pie (Torta della Nonna)
Vegan Grandma’s Custard Pie is a shortcrust pastry dessert filled with plant-based lemon curd and studded with pine nuts.
Grandma’s Custard Pie is an Italian traditional dish, very simple and comforting. The Italian name is Torta della Nonna.
Our plant-based version uses vegan custard instead of the egg-based one.
For this reason, it’s, obviously, egg-free. And it’s also dairy-free.
Origin of Grandma’s Custard Pie
Grandma’s Custard Pie is a traditional dessert in the Tuscany region.
Despite its name, nothing suggests that it was a creation by a grandma.
Some sources say that it was invented by the owner of a restaurant in Florence. His clients, bored by the lack of dessert offer, ask him to surprise them with a new creation. The following week, the restaurateur presented them with Grandma’s Custard Pie, which fully pleased his clients’ expectations.
However, Pellegrino Artusi (a renowned food author) wrote that he once enjoyed a shortcrust pastry with cream and pine nuts many years before the story described in the last paragraph.
This recipe reached the peak of its popularity in the 80s and 90s. In fact, many Italian restaurants used to include this dessert in their menu.
How to Make Vegan Lemon Curd
Vegan lemon curd is an essential ingredient since it’s the filling of our pie. To make plant-based lemon curd, you can simply follow our Vegan Custard recipe, making sure to follow the specific step to turn it into a lemon curd!
Vegan Grandma’s Custard Pie
Equipment
- hinged cake pan (22cm/8.66in ø)
- pastry board
- Rolling Pin
- spatula
- bowl
- cloth
- fork
- cling film
Ingredients
- 450 g plant-based lemon curd (15.87 oz)
- 300 g all-purpose flour (10.58 oz)
- 50 g potato starch (1.76 oz)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 180 g sugar (6.35 oz)
- 100 ml sunflower oil (3.38 fluid oz)
- 80 ml water (2.72 fluid oz)
- 1 lemon zest
- 25 g pine nuts (0.88 oz)
Instructions
Prepare the dough
- In the bowl, add the solid ingredients: flour, potato starch, sugar and baking powder.
- Gradually add the liquid ingredients and the lemon zest, while mixing with the fork.
- Knead until you have a homogeneous dough, without lumps. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, wrapped in some cling film.
Assemble
- Preheat the oven at 180° C/356° F and prepare the cake pan: oil the bottom and flour it, to avoid the pie sticking.
- Dust the pastry board with some flour and roll out ⅔ of the dough with the help of the rolling pin. Make sure that you have your final circle big enough to cover the pan (bottom + around 3/4 of the side).
- Transfer the dough circle into the cake pan and prick the bottom with the fork.
- Fill with the curd and level with the spatula.
- Roll out the remaining dough and transfer it over the custard. Seal the edges with the help of the fork.
Bake
- Garnish with pine nuts and bake for 30-40 minutes at 180° C/356° F, on static mode, in the middle part of the oven.
- Take the pie out of the oven and let it cool down completely.
Notes
You can store it in Tupperware (or a cake container) for 4-5 days, in a cool and dry place.
Get in Touch!
If you try this recipe, don’t forget to tag @myitalianvegan on socials. We would love to see the result!
If you have any questions or feedback, don’t hesitate to leave a comment in the section below. We love hearing from you!
