Engadiner Nusstorte

This is a genuine Swiss recipe, passed on to me by Gerald. It is a sweet nutty pie, made with a sweet pastry, quite similar to that used in the Italian Cheesecake.

First make the pastry: combine the flour, sugar and salt and rub in the margerine. Add the egg and form into pastry. Rest the pastry in a fridge for about half an hour.

Take a cake tin of around 22-24cm diameter and grease the bottom and sides. Divide the pastry into 3 equal portions. Roll out one third for the base and put it into the tin. Roll out another third into a long sausage to use as the sides. When you put this into the tin, make sure that it is completely sealed at all the joins; brush with water to help this. Press the sides and bottom with the back of a spoon to make sure the seal is good.

Make the filling whilst the pastry is chilling: In a pan on a medium heat, roast the sugar until it is light brown and the sugar melts. Add the nuts and heat the mixture a little more. Turn the heat to low and add the cream; stir for a little longer. Finally mix in the honey.

Allow the filling to cool and then pour into the prepared base. Finally, roll out the remaining third of pastry and use as a lid. It is very important that the lid is completely sealed, so brush the top of the sides with water. You can use any pastry offcuts to make some decorations; stick these on after brushing their undersides with water.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for around 55 minutes. Straight after cooking, loosen the sides from the tin, in case the filling leaks. Turn out of the tin when luke-water, to make sure it doesn't stick to the tin. The cake will keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks if it's wrapped in foil.

Variation: After cooking top with a thin layer of melted chocolate.