flipBündner Nusstorte — Grisons Caramelized Walnut Tart
Bündner Nusstorte — Grisons Caramelized Walnut Tart
Why this dish? The walnut tart from neighboring Engadine is the emblematic pastry of Grisons, precisely designed to keep for weeks and accompany travelers. For Giacometti, perpetual migrant between his native valley and Paris, it's exactly the kind of sweet that survives the train journey.
A shortcrust pastry filled with walnuts coated in a cream caramel, baked golden. Dense, rich, and slightly bitter from the caramel, it keeps for several weeks: the long-distance pastry.
This tart, we make it to last. The walnuts in caramel, tightly packed under the crust, and it keeps for weeks without flinching — that's why we took it on journeys. The caramel must have that hint of bitterness, otherwise it's too sweet, mawkish. Me, on the night train to Paris, I always had a piece in paper: a taste of the valley to chew as the landscape recedes behind the window.
- •Flour, butter, sugar, egg — for a shortcrust pastry (crust)
- •Walnut halves — a large amount (filling)
- •Sugar — plenty (caramel)
- •Cream — a good glass (smooth caramel)
- •Honey — a spoonful (binder and flavor)
Bündner Nusstorte — Grisons Caramelized Walnut Tart
A shortcrust pastry filled with walnuts coated in a cream caramel, baked golden. Dense, rich, and slightly bitter from the caramel, it keeps for several weeks: the long-distance pastry.
Why this dish? The walnut tart from neighboring Engadine is the emblematic pastry of Grisons, precisely designed to keep for weeks and accompany travelers. For Giacometti, perpetual migrant between his native valley and Paris, it's exactly the kind of sweet that survives the train journey.
This tart, we make it to last. The walnuts in caramel, tightly packed under the crust, and it keeps for weeks without flinching — that's why we took it on journeys. The caramel must have that hint of bitterness, otherwise it's too sweet, mawkish. Me, on the night train to Paris, I always had a piece in paper: a taste of the valley to chew as the landscape recedes behind the window.
Ingredients (period version)
- Flour, butter, sugar, egg — for a shortcrust pastry (crust)
- Walnut halves — a large amount (filling)
- Sugar — plenty (caramel)
- Cream — a good glass (smooth caramel)
- Honey — a spoonful (binder and flavor)
Ingredients
- Flour — 300 g (dough)
- Cold butter — 150 g (dough)
- Powdered sugar — 100 g (dough)
- Egg — 1 (dough)
- Walnut halves — 250 g (filling)
- Sugar — 250 g (caramel)
- Heavy cream — 200 ml (smooth caramel)
- Honey — 1 tbsp (binder and flavor)
Method
- Prepare a shortcrust pastry (flour, butter, powdered sugar, egg), wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
- Make a dry caramel with the sugar, deglaze with warm cream and honey off the heat, add chopped walnuts; let cool slightly.
- Line a tart pan with two-thirds of the dough, pour in the walnut filling.
- Cover with the remaining rolled-out dough, seal the edges, brush with egg wash and prick the top.
- Bake at 180 °C for about 35–40 minutes until golden brown; cool completely before slicing. Keeps 2 to 3 weeks in an airtight container.
How it was made : The Bündner Nusstorte originated in Grisons, popularized by Grisons pastry chefs who emigrated throughout Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its design — a candied filling sealed between two layers of dough — makes it a long-lasting pastry, ideal for travel and export, a true ambassador of the canton.
The contemporary twist : Decorated on top with a fine line engraved with a knife tip, sober and geometric, like a signature incised in plaster.
Sources : Patrimoine culinaire suisse — Bündner Nusstorte · Cuisine et pâtisserie des Grisons (Engadine)
Alberto Giacometti · Charactorium
