Crostata al Limone
According to legend, the citrus trees were brought to Lake Garda in the 14th century by the Franciscans. The first Limonaie or lemon groves were created on the west bank around Gargnano and Limone.
Lake Garda is one of the northernmost areas where citrus fruit is grown for sale because of the Mediterranean climate and the careful protection of the plants during the winter months. Lemons not only taste good as lemonade, but they are also ingredients in many delicious dishes such as the traditional Italian lemon cake "Crostata al Limone del Lago di Garda".
For the shortcrust pastry:
- 200 g of flour
- 100 g of butter
- 1 egg
- 50 g of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
Knead the ingredients into a dough. You can leave it to rest in the refrigerator before processing and then roll out and place in a greased or parchment-lined mould. Put some dough aside for the traditional grid shape on the cake.
For the filling:
- 200 g of sugar
- 5 eggs
- 100 g butter (room temperature)
- Grated lemon peel
- Juice of 3 lemons and 1 orange
For the filling, beat the sugar and eggs. Add the butter and the lemon rind and mix. Very gently stir in the lemon and orange juice. Pour the filling on the shortcrust pastry in the cake tin. Cut the remaining dough into 6 strips and place in a grid pattern. Bake the cake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.