Torta della Nonna (Italian Custard and Pine Nut Tart)

Make the pasta frolla: combine flour, 100 g caster sugar and the salt in a large bowl. Rub in the cold butter cubes with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with some pea-size butter flecks. Add 2 egg yolks and 2 tbsp cold water; mix until the dough just comes together. Flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Make the crema pasticcera: pour the milk into a saucepan. Halve the vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the milk and add the pod along with the lemon zest. Heat over medium until steaming but not boiling, then remove from heat and infuse for 5 minutes. Discard the vanilla pod.

Whisk the remaining 4 egg yolks with 100 g caster sugar in a bowl until pale and slightly thickened. Sift in the cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Gradually pour the warm milk over the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to leave a clean line when you draw a finger across the back of the spoon, about 6-8 minutes. Pour into a clean bowl, press cling film directly onto the surface, cool to room temperature then refrigerate until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly butter a 24 cm round tart tin with a removable base.

Divide the chilled pastry into a two-thirds and a one-third piece, keeping the smaller piece in the fridge. Roll the larger piece between two sheets of parchment to about 3 mm thick and large enough to line the tin with a small overhang. Ease into the tin, pressing snugly into the base and sides. Trim the overhang to 1 cm.

Prick the base all over with a fork. Line with parchment, fill with baking weights or dried beans and blind-bake for 12 minutes at 180 degrees C. Remove the weights and parchment and bake for a further 5 minutes until the base is dry. Let it cool slightly before filling.

Spoon the cooled crema pasticcera into the blind-baked shell and spread level — it should fill the case almost to the top.

Roll the remaining pastry to 3 mm and lay it over the tart as a lid. Press the edges to seal and trim the excess. Scatter pine nuts evenly over the top and press them gently with your palm so they adhere.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is deep golden brown. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Dust with icing sugar just before serving. Serve at room temperature — not hot, not cold from the fridge.