Wheat pie with custard.
Creamy, fragrant, delicious.
The wheat pie is a traditional Neapolitan dessert known worldwide, an ancient sweet with a unique fragrance, aroma, and flavor typical of Easter holidays. However, nowadays, the pie can be found in Naples almost all year round, with almost all families preparing it even for Christmas. It is also often available in pastry shops, not to mention many restaurants that feature the pie on their dessert menu almost all year round.
The wheat pie has always been prepared by my mother; it’s not Easter if there isn’t that scent of orange blossom and millefiori in the air, the house filled with eggs, freshly bought ricotta from the dairy in the fridge, and a lot of flour dust flying in the air. The traditional recipe doesn’t include custard, which was added over the years by some pastry chef or homemaker. My mom sometimes adds it, sometimes not, as it makes the pie a little creamier and more delicate. I don’t have a preference; I like the pie either in its traditional form or with custard or in its delicious variations. You can find many recipes on the blog, all HERE 🙂
And here I am, enough with the chatter and memories… today I present to you the wheat pie with custard, an even creamier and more delicious version of the traditional wheat pie; a dessert with a distinctive aroma and flavor that will conquer everyone from the first bite.
Try also:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 3 pies of 9.5 inches
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Shortcrust pastry:
- 2.2 lbs all-purpose flour
- 14 oz sugar
- 3.5 oz lard
- 10.5 oz butter (at room temperature)
- 5 eggs
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- zest of one orange or lemon, grated (untreated)
- 21 oz cooked wheat (in a glass jar)
- 28 oz fresh ricotta
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1.7 cups whole milk
- 6 large eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- to taste ground cinnamon
- zest of one orange and one lemon, grated (untreated)
- 24.5 oz sugar
- 7 oz candied fruit
- 1 ampoule millefiori
- 2 ampoules millefiori
- 1 oz honey
- 2.1 cups whole milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 2.1 oz cornstarch
- 4.6 oz sugar
- Half pod vanilla
- grated zest of one lemon (untreated)
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste butter (for the molds)
- to taste powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Pan
- 1 Electric whisk
- 1 Pastry board
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Pastry wheel
- 3 Molds
- 1 Oven
Steps
Mix together the sugar with the sifted flour.
Place it in a mound on a pastry board, make a well in the center where you will place the lard and butter, mix with your fingertips until you get a crumbly mixture.
Add the grated lemon zest, a pinch of salt and cinnamon, and the eggs, knead with your fingertips and then quickly with your hands until you form a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Form a ball and place it in a clean cloth or cling film in the fridge until ready to use.
With the Bimby:
Prepare the shortcrust pastry:
Place the flour and sugar in the bowl for 3 seconds/speed 3.
Add the butter 10 seconds/speed 5.
Add the grated lemon zest, a pinch of salt and cinnamon, the eggs 30 sec/speed 5.
Remove the dough from the bowl, knead quickly to form a ball, and place it in a clean cloth or cling film in the fridge until ready to use.
Prepare the custard as indicated CLICKING HERE and let it cool.
In a large pan over heat, add the milk, with a bit of cinnamon and butter, melt the butter, once melted add the wheat and cook, stirring continuously until it becomes a cream, remove from heat and let cool in a bowl.
Separately, sieve the ricotta, add the sugar, and mix well with a beater.
Add the eggs and yolks, and continue to work with the electric whisks.
Add the grated citrus zest, honey, and the ampoules of orange blossom and millefiori, and the cooled wheat, mix again with the electric whisks.
Also add the custard and mix again until everything becomes creamy.
Finally, add the candied fruit and blend it into the mixture.
Butter 3 pie pans of 9.5 inches.
Preheat the oven to 356°F static.
Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll out one piece at a time into a thin sheet (the 4th piece will be used for the final strips).
Line all three molds with the dough, including the edges, cut the excess dough and set it aside.
Fill with the wheat filling.
Knead the scraps with the last remaining dough, roll it out and cut many strips.
Decorate by placing the strips, traditionally 7 for each pie (the strips should be placed diagonally, thus forming diamonds).
Bake the wheat pies on the lower-middle shelf of the oven (the shelf just above the base) at 356°F static for at least an hour, 1 hour and 10 minutes. The wheat pie should be golden and become a nice amber color. If necessary, let it bake a few more minutes.
Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan.
When it’s completely cold, if you prefer, you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar.
The wheat pie with custard should be consumed the next day.
Also try the rice pie from Cilento, you can find the recipe CLICKING HERE.
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