This is "The" torta made in the town of Marradi.
Nothing to see with the traditional Tuscany "Castagnaccio", but a smooth and delicated taste for a recipe, handed down by word of mouth, that date back to the 18th century.
The filling
1 kg of mashed marroni,
1 litre of milk,
4 eggs,
400 grams of sugar,
a few drops of vanilla essence,
half a glass of rum,
2 spoons of alchermes liquor,
a pinch of salt,
a grated lemon rind.
Slit the marroni, especially if fresh, and heat them on an open flame for 2-3 minutes using a chestnut roasting pan (or put them into the microwave).
Peel them. Boil the marroni
in salt water for 1 hour.
Strain and mash fine.
The puff-pastry
200 gr of flour,
a knob of butter,
milk and water as required.
Mix the mashed marroni with sugar, vanilla, lemon rind, rum and alchermes.
Beat the eggs and add to the mix. Leave to rest for 2 hours.
Add milk and mix again. In the meantime mix the flour, butter, milk and water to make a smooth ball of dough. Roll out the dough (called “pasta matta”, crazy dough) and cover the bottom and sides of a baking tin.
Pour no more than 4 cm of filling onto the puff-pastry.
Cook in a preheated oven at 120 C° for three hours making sure that the compost does not boil.
Check to see if the cake is ready by inserting a toothpick.
This torta MUST be eaten in diamond cut (rhomboidal) slices when cool.
