Sbriciolata nocciola e pistacchio

I absolutely loved this cake, a variation on the classic theme nocciola e pistacchio (hazelnut and pistachio). This combination is my preferred one speaking about ice cream (rarely I choose different taste ;)). I had in my fridge some leftovers of pistachio pastry cream, and I thought “what about making a tart with hazelnuts??”. I really do not know where came from the idea of making a sbriciolata (special Italian tart made with crumbs), but it works, wonderfully. Bake the day before serving, it will be even more delicious.

Sbriciolata nocciole e pistacchi
Hazelnut and pistachio crumble tart

18cm tart tin

Hazelnut crumble 

    • 150gr hazelnut 

    • 80gr unsalted chilled butter

    • 80gr brown sugar (for me cassonade)

    • two yolks

    • 60gr buckwheat flour 

    • 30gr wholemeal spelt flour

    • 15gr cocoa powder (good quality, I used Dutch cocoa powder)

    • 6gr baking powder

    • Pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 180°C. Place the hazelnuts into a tin lined with parchment paper, roast in the oven for ten minutes. Take out from the oven and peel. Using a mixer, reduce it to flour. Sieve together the buckwheat flour, the spelt flour and the cocoa powder. Put the butter and the brown sugar into a bowl and add the flour mix and the hazelnut flour. Work with fingertips until you have crumbs, then add the yolks and work until the dough comes together,. Do not shape in a ball, leave as crumble.

Pistachio pastry cream

    • three yolks

    • 250ml whole milk

    • 15gr corn starch

    • 75gr caster sugar

    • 45gr pistachios

Put a large bowl in the freezer. Reduce the pistachios to flour using an electric mixer. Bring to boil milk in a small saucepan. In the meantime gently whisk the yolks with the sugar, the corn starch and the pistachio flour. Keep going to whisk until the milk is hot, then add the milk carefully in two or tree times. Once combine, pour the cream in the pan and cook slowly until soft, smooth and bit thick.  If there are some pistachio crumbs, use a mixer to make the cream smooth. Take out the bowl from the freezer and transfer the custard immediately in it, constantly whisking to lower the temperature (we don’t want to overcook the eggs). Cover with cling film and set aside until completely cool.

To assemble. Heat the oven to 180°C.  Butter the sides and the bottom of the tin tart, then cover the bottom with a small circle of parchment paper. Cover the bottom of the tin with the half of the crumbs, then spread the pastry cream in the middle. Cover with the rest of the crumbs and bake for 30 minutes. Set aside for 10 minutes, remove from the tin and place it on a wire rack to cool.