Tortionata or Torta di Lodi

This was the cake Nonna always made to give visitors to take home. It’s a speciality of Lodi, a beautiful old town in Lombardy, on the banks of the river Adda, south of Milan.
The cake itself is a crunchy, buttery, almondy shortcake, that is served broken into chunks – never sliced – it’s too crumbly to slice. It is sold in all the good pasticcerie in Lodi, and nowhere else.
There are various recipes. Here is my version, followed with a more standard recipe.

Tortionata or Torta di LodiMy version
150g white flour
150g butter
150g sugar
150g whole unpeeled almonds
1 egg yolk
Warm the butter to room temperature. Chop the almonds, without removing their skins. Toast the almonds in a frying pan with a knob of butter until lightly coloured. Mix the almonds, butter, sugar, egg and flour to form a loose dough. 
Press into an 25cm cake tin. 
With the back of a fork, form a pretty pattern on the cake. 
Bake at 150°C for 30 minutes or until lightly colouredTortionata or Torta di Lodi
Standard version
300 grams white flour 
300 grams butter 
150 grams sugar 
150 grams unpeeled almonds 
1 egg yolk 
grated rind ½ lemon.
Place all the ingredients in a processor and blitz until it forms a loose dough. 
Press into a 25cmcake tin. With the back of a fork, form a pretty pattern on the cake. 
Bake in a moderate oven on 120°C for 1 hour.