Torta di Riso al Profumo d' Arancio

I un-ashamedly lifted this recipe straight from another blog


I saw it posted the other week and it just sounded so lovely, that I not only had to give it a try, but share it with all of you too.

Don't worry though, I did ask permission first!

Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things is a great blog written by a fantastic foodie and fellow Canberran who shares her food, philosophy and photographs with such style and enthusiasm, and generosity too! Thankyou Lizzy!
http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2012/10/torta-di-riso-al-profumo-d-arancio.html#comments


Lizzy has said that this recipe reminded her of her childhood, and a similar recipe her mother made. My memories of rice pudding are the traditional type, made of rice simmered with milk and sugar and flavoured with nutmeg instead of vanilla or orange; My hubby remembers only cooked rice mixed with sugar and cream to a wet type of dessert with no nuances of flavour at all; My kiddies are more familiar with our own family version of rice simmered with pandan and cardamon with a palm sugar syrup... I guess however you make it, a memory is only a taste away.....

I certainly was impressed with the idea of this dish. I'm always looking for desserts that would translate well to catering/ cafe menus, and I think that a slice of this torte is much more elegant that a sloppy pudding in a bowl indeed- no matter how nice it tasted!

Torta di Riso al Profumo d'Ara
 or: Orange Rice Cake

1.7 lt lactose free Milk
1 Vanilla Pod
rind of half a Lemon
1 cup White Sugar
300gr Aborio Rice
6 Eggs, separated
1/4 cup Orange Liquor
1/3 cup Raisins
zest of one Orange





For the flavourings, peel the lemon thinly in nice big strips to make it easier to fish out of the pot later, and scrape all the lovely little seeds from the vanilla pod

Combine the milk, vanilla seeds and pod, lemon rind and sugar in a large sauce pan and bring to the boil

Add in the rice, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly- like a risotto- until the rice is just softened and the milk mixture is nice and creamy.
Pull out the vanilla and lemon strips, then let the rice cool

Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks

Mix the egg yolks with the orange liquor until creamy looking, then stir into the rice mixture. Make sure it gets really well mixed through as this is the 'glue' for the whole cake

See how fine a microplane can zest an orange? So beautifully without any of the bitter white pith at all. I much prefer using one of these than a zester or grater

Toss in the orange zest and raisins and give it another really good stir

Add in about a quarter of the egg whites and mix through to lighten the mixture up. Then carefully fold through the rest of the whites, making sure you don't get carried away and knock all the air out of the mix.

Gently pour the mixture into a lined 24 cm cake tin.

Bake at 180*C for an hour, covering the top after about halfway through so it doesn't over brown

Let the cake cool in the tin and rest overnight in the refrigerator for it  to firm up and for the flavours to really settle in

Now for a bit of extra yumminess!

I really didn't want to waste that poor little nude orange, so while the cake was baking I made so candied orange slices.


I cut the orange into thin slices, then popped them into a very small saucepan with an obscene amount of sugar- about 1 1/2  cups, and just enough water to make sure the slices were covered.
Stir it around for a while to make sure the sugar is dissolved properly, then leave it on a gentle simmer for the hour or so until the slices and their skin are translucent and have that shiny, glossy look that says they've absorbed about as much sugar as they can handle. You might have to put a little more water in now and then, or at least turn the slices over to make sure they're all getting their share of sweetness.




Place your cake on a serving platter, top with the candied oranges or dust liberally with icing sugar, and enjoy!

Such a lovely moist cake that still holds its shape perfectly and slices beautifully- just use a wet knife to help things along
The vanilla and lemon add a solid grounding for the risotto, with the orange giving it a stronger scented flavour that is just lovely and sweet

I have to admit, that I had wondered if all the mucking about to make a perfectly good rice pudding into a cake was going to be worth it- but it certainly was indeed, and I'll be making this a regular for sure

So Dear Readers, what type of Rice Pudding do you remember from your childhood, and does it differ greatly form your family favourite now?









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