Italian Rice Cake
adapted from Lucullian delights
for a 26 cm cake pan
for the shortcrust pastry
300 gram flour - I used cake flour
150 gram sugar
150 gram softened butter - diced
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 orange
1 pinch salt
for the rice pudding
300 gram rice - use risotto rice
1 liter milk - I needed 2 more deciliter
1 tablespoon liquor - I kinda forgot about this step
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
6 tablespoons sugar - I added only 4 tsp.
To make the crust measure the flour. Make a well in the middle and add sugar, salt, baking powder, orange zest and the diced butter. Rub all the ingredients together, it will be a crumble. Beat the egg separately and then add it to the crumble. Rub it until it becomes a dough. Wrap it in plastic and let it chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Now here comes the rice pudding part. Pour 1 liter milk in a big pot and bring to a simmer with the lemon zest. When the milk is simmering, add rice and cook it until it is the consistency of a rice pudding. Around 30-40 minutes. Depending on the rice. Remove from the heat and add 3 tablespoons of sugar. Let the pudding cool down completely.
When the rice is cold, add 2 egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar and a spoon of liquor. Beat the egg whites and fold it to the rice gently.
Roll the pastry out and line the bottom and sides of the cake pan. Pour in the rice mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes on 170C. When it cooled down, add either a powdered sugar coat or add some preserve, as I did.
