Cream Pie Recipe

The first cold days of Autumn have finally arrived, and there’s no better thing than a tasty and fragrant cream pie to warm up the day! My grandmother’s recipe is unique and will come out with an exceptionally tasty cake! And, as promised, here is also the special custard (crema pasticcera in Italian) recipe of Nonna Nada 🙂

That’s what you need:

Ingredients to make the pastry

300 gr of flour
120 gr of butter
120 gr of sugar,
2 whole eggs and 1 yolk
1 sachet of vanilla baking powder
a small glass of brandy
a pinch of salt

Ingredients for making the custard cream

half a liter of milk
6 yolks
250 gr of sugar
50 gr of flour

First of you have to prepare the custard! so heat the milk until it boils, beat the yolks together with the sugar until you gain a frothy mixture, add the flour and water down with the warm milk. Heat all on a low flame until it boils.

How to make the Cream Pie Recipe

Now the tart paste: put the butter in a bowl and work it down with the sugar until you have a soft cream, add a whole egg and 2 yolks, the brandy, the salt, the flour but little by little, and finally the baking powder.
Then spilt the pastry in two equal parts, spread a part on the bottom of a mold, pour the cream over it and cover with the other part of the pastry.
Brush the top of the cake with beaten egg whites; if you wish you can decorate the cake with almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, or whatever you prefer.
Put in the oven at 180 °C (350 °F) for 45 minutes. A great result 🙂

PS: In Italy, that’s the recipe for what we call Torta della Nonna (grandmother’s recipe), one of the most famous, delicious and appreciated cakes of our culinary tradition.