It’s almost here and I’m ready to celebrate International Womens’ Day on March 8th. In Italy it is known as the special feast, Festa Della Nonne. Similar to Mother’s Day, this day is set aside to honor women for their sacrifices, achievements and friendships. Women are invited to enjoy themselves in the company of friends to eat, drink and be merry with wine and cake, while men are expected to carry the household workload, or so they say.
The Mimosa flower was designated the feast’s official flower in 1946 and I was intrigued by that choice. But it makes perfect sense since the flower holds a special place among the earliest of spring blooms, symbolizing sensitivity, strength and sensibility, traits we can all use more of these days. Its intensely bright yellow flowers are given as gifts with a greeting of “Auguri”, meaning “have a great celebration” and countless yellow colored dishes predominate. Try as I might, I couldn’t find anywhere to order fresh Mimosa flowers in the US right now, so I approximated with other suitably colorful yellow blooms.
No feast in Italy is complete without special foods. Chief among favored dishes prepared for this Festa is the Torta Mimosa Cake, a beloved national dish constructed to resemble the cheerful buds for which it’s named and made with lemon peel, orange juice and citrus liquor, topped with lemon-scented cream and lemon curd. But savory offerings also compete, including pastas such as Tagliatelle Mimosa, served with scrambled eggs.
Lemon/citrus plays a key role in these dishes, for their cheerful bright color resembling the Mimosa flower buds, but also for lending an astringent flavor. I decided to go the sweet route in making my own concoction, an adaptation of Dorie Greenspan‘s Whole Lemon Torte, which she in turn adapted from an Italian restaurant’s preparation. There was also some recipe help from Mark Bittman of the New York Times. In this recipe, every part of the lemon is used, and the torte displays an exuberantly full lemony color and taste. The Torte can be made either with a bottom crust or simply with the filling alone baked in a tart pan.
On March 8th, I’ll be taking a cue from those very wise Italian women who have made the day not only a recognition of women in general, but an occasion to chill out and enjoy. Hope you do too.
Italian Lemon Ricotta Torte
Ingredients
32 oz whole milk
¼ cup Grand Marnier
1 ½ cup semolina flour (or use regular all-purpose)
¼ cup almond flour
½ tsp salt
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 lemons, zested and juiced
4 large eggs
2 cups ricotta cheese
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Preparation
Make crust if using one… See below for a recipe. Crust is optional but yummy.
For the torte, preheat oven to 325 degrees and butter sides and bottom of an 11-inch round tart pan.
Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering, then whisk in flour & salt. Boil, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and butter till combined. Add Grand Marnier. Let cool, stirring frequently.
Add the zested lemon rind and juice. Beat in eggs one at a time and the ricotta.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake till set and golden, about 1 hour. If there is extra, use an additional baking pan. When baked, transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle with powder sugar while still hot. When cool, remove from pan and serve.
Sweet Torte Crust
Ingredients
1 ½ cup flour
½ up confectioners’ sugar
¼ tp salt
4 ½ oz very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large egg yolks
Preparation
Put flour, sugar & salt into a food processor and pulse to blend. Scatter in the butter pieces and pulse till dough forms pea-sized pieces. Add the yolks in several additions while continuing to pulse.
Turn dough out onto a countertop and knead into a compact ball. Flatten into a disk. Refrigerate in wax paper till thoroughly chilled.
Roll dough into an 11-in circle between layers of waxed paper or parchment. Fit into a greased tart pan with a removable bottom. Heat oven to 400 degrees and place the tart pan on a baking sheet, cover with buttered parchment and fill with rice or other ballast. Bake 20 minutes. Remove parchment & rice and bake another 5 minutes. Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before adding filling.
