Torta tal-Marmurat
Taverna Sugu's David Darmanin admits to preferring handing over pastry duties to elves, except for his traditional bitter chocolate and almond pie. He explains how he goes about it.
Information
| Main Ingredient | chocolate |
| Preparation Time | 90 minutes |
| Cooking Time | 40 mins |
| Course | Dessert |
| Recipe Serves | 8 |
| Recipe Type | Traditional: Maltese |
I can’t see the point of following pastry recipes to the tee (as I’ve been wrongly taught) if the quality of ingredients keeps changing. Eggs come in different sizes, flour producers keep changing wheat types, yeast reaction times vary according to humidity levels and so on and so forth. Cooking is very much about instinct, and pastry is no exception. The difference lies in the fact that it requires so many years of practice to get the ‘pastry feel’ that there is little doubt about the lifelong dedication required in being a good patissiere, ‘pastizzar’, or ‘dulcier’. You either spend your life finding ways of improving in the hot section or you do the same in the pastry section. You would need to have two lives to do both. Few people I know excel in both areas, no matter what they claim.
This is why I usually delegate ravioli, pies, desserts or whatever requires use of flour and ‘il-Kenwood’ to others. Torta tal-marmurat is a different story: baking it gives me such a high that I selfishly keep the task to myself. Nobody seems to mind.
I once tried baking this pie using the dough normally associated with treacle rings (qaghaq tal-ghasel), but quickly learnt that you will be punished for experimenting with the real, good-old marmurat. Pasta frolla with lemon rind works wonders.
You need:
For the pasta frolla:
200g flour
60g sugar
80g unsalted butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Lemon zest
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For the candied peel:
3 oranges
2 tangerines
200g Demarara sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
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For the filling:
200g almonds
100g candied peel
150g dark chocolate
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
75g dark chocolate to finish
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How:
To make the pasta frolla:
Mix the flour, sugar and zest together. Make a well in the centre of the mix and combine the eggs and butter – which you would have cut in tiny squares. Knead lightly so as to prevent the butter from melting. Allow the dough to rest for 1 to 12 hours before rolling it out and placing it gently onto a buttered pie dish. Do not trim the edges as you will need to make a border.
To make the candied peel:
Cut the orange and tangerine peel into squares. Boil in a pan until soft. Add sugar and cinnamon and allow to reduce until it reaches the desired consistency.
To make the filling:
Chop the almonds and chocolate finely and combine the candied peel, sugar and eggs. Fill up your pie dish and overturn the untrimmed edges so as to make a border. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius until the crust looks nice and golden. Finish by pouring the extra chocolate, which you would have melted in a bain-marie, and overturn the edges to create a border.
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David Darmanin runs Taverna Sugu in Birgu. Taverna Sugu has been reviewed by Malta restaurant and review website planetmona where it was awarded 4 stars by Editor-in-Chief Mona Farrugia and a current 5 stars by readers and diners.
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