The recipe for the Beneventan tart I am sharing today was born out of chance. After preparing my tiramisu, I had leftover ladyfingers and absolutely did not want them to go to waste, so I wondered what dessert I could prepare? The recipe that intrigued me the most was the Portuguese cake, but despite the name, I discovered it was Italian, Beneventan tart. It is not a cake, but a tart, a shell of shortcrust pastry filled with ladyfingers arranged in a herringbone pattern and a very simple and soft cream made of milk, sugar, eggs, and the delicious Strega liqueur, typical of the city of Benevento!
The preparation of this wonder is quite simple, perhaps the only step that requires more attention is arranging the ladyfingers in a herringbone pattern, so I thought I’d leave you step-by-step photos hoping to be helpful! Once the ladyfingers are arranged and the milk cream is poured, let the tart sit for at least ten minutes before baking, because the ladyfingers will soak up the cream and the result will be magnificent.
Discover also:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8/10
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 483.89 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 68.53 (g) of which sugars 42.77 (g)
- Proteins 9.88 (g)
- Fat 19.75 (g) of which saturated 11.26 (g)of which unsaturated 7.12 (g)
- Fibers 0.83 (g)
- Sodium 91.29 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 170 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for the Beneventan Tart
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup vanilla powdered sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 lemon zest (grated)
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 cups semi-skimmed milk
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- Half lemon zest
- 2 tbsp Strega liqueur
- 12 ladyfingers
Tools
- Bowl
- Tart pan
- Whisk
- Saucepan
The Beneventan Tart
Put the flour, sugar, butter in small pieces, a pinch of salt, and grated lemon zest in the bowl. Crumble everything with your hands and obtain a sandy mixture. Add the two slightly beaten egg yolks and knead quickly to obtain a homogeneous and compact dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour. In the meantime, prepare the cream.
Heat the milk in a saucepan, it should not boil. Turn off the heat and add the sugar, half a grated lemon zest, and Strega liqueur, mix with a hand whisk and let it cool.
Add the eggs and mix with the hand whisk to combine, set aside.
Take the pastry from the fridge, roll it out with a rolling pin and place it in the mold, prick the surface with a fork, and arrange the ladyfingers in a herringbone pattern (it seems difficult, just follow my photos and you will see that it will be easy), cut the ladyfingers taking into account the measure I need to fill the whole mold and with the scraps fill the holes that will form. Pour all the cream, (do not worry if the ladyfingers rise from the base, you must let the tart rest for about ten minutes before putting it in the oven to return everything to normal because the cookies will absorb a good part of the cream).
Bake in a static oven at 340°F for about 45/50 minutes.
Take it out of the oven, let it cool and then put it in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors blend and set.
