Chocolate Rice Pie – Italian Easter Cake
Ready in
2h 50 min
Preparation
1h 40 min
Cooking
60 min
Portions
10 Person
Cost
medium
difficulty
medium
Italian Easter Cake
Chocolate Rice Pie of Cilento
The chocolate rice pie or also known in Cilento as “A pizza re riso ca ciucculata”, a dessert loved by everyone, especially by chocolate lovers and children, and it is for them that this dessert was invented in Cilento, where a mother, to make her children happy, added a handful of cocoa to the classic rice pie. The chocolate rice cake, therefore, is very similar, both in composure and crispness but does not have the same charm as its older sister, which is considered more refined. The chocolate rice pie is also part of the traditional Easter desserts and is mainly consumed on Easter Monday. It is a suitable dessert, therefore, for outings, picnics, trips but also to be consumed at home with friends and a cup of tea, for breakfast or simply whenever you feel like it.
Ingredients
Dough
- 500g/17,5oz flour 00
- 200g/7oz butter
- 200g/7oz sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 organic orange in zest
Cream
- 1 liter milk
- 7 whole eggs
- 150g/5oz rice parboiled
- 500g/17,5oz sugar
- 600g/21oz fresh ricotta cheese
- 100g/3,5oz lard
- 100g/3,5oz candied citron
- 50g/2oz unsweeted cocoa
- 30g/1oz cinnamon in powder
- 1 organic lemon zest
- 30ml aniseed liqueur
- j.e. flour for rolling out
Decoration
- 70 g vanilla icing sugar
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Directions
First we make the shortcrust pastry. On the pastry board, pour the flour and make the fountain*
Put the sugar in the fountain, break the eggs and grate the orange peel over all the flour
Take the butter at room temperature and cut it into small pieces on top of all the flour
Quickly mix all the ingredients, so that the dough does not overheat with the heat of your hands
Roll up the dough, then, mash it a little
Wrap the dough in a cloth and put it to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, otherwise 12 hours
While the shortcrust pastry rests, pour the milk into a saucepan, when it boils, add the rice, lard*, lemon zest, half the sugar and half the cinnamon, cook for 40 minutes over moderate heat, stirring occasionally
When the rice is cooked, and all the milk has been absorbed, put it to cool for 30 minutes in a bowl and turn it often
In a large bowl or with the planetary mixer, whip the eggs with the remaining sugar, cinnamon and cocoa
Now insert the ricotta, directly into the whipped eggs, the ideal would be to pass it through a sieve or with a potato masher
Add the rice and the cedar cut into small pieces. Turn the cream continuously with a ladle, otherwise it sticks
Incorporate all the ingredients (ideally with your hands), until you have obtained a homogeneous cream
Take the shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator, roll it out with a rolling pin until you reach a sheet with a maximum thickness of 1/2 (half) cm uniform and rounded
With the pastry, line a 26cm pan, make it adhere well and cut all the excess dough that comes out of the edge
Prick the bottom of the pan with the tines of the fork, pour the cream of rice and level it
Knead the shortcrust pastry, roll it out with a rolling pin and make another sheet 1/2 (half) cm thick, then, with the washer, cut the sheet into 1 cm wide strips
Take the shortcrust pastry strips and place them diagonally on the cake, from left to right and vice versa, in this way rhombuses will be formed which in jargon are called grid
Lower the edge of the shortcrust pastry, sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar all the grill and edges
Turn on the oven to 180°C (350°F), when ready, bake the cake and cook for 40 minutes, then lower the temperature to 160°C (320°F) and continue cooking for another 20 minutes
Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then, with a slightly larger and rounder tray, turn the cake upside down, as if it were an omelette, let it stand upside down for 10 minutes, then turn it over with another tray and do it cool down
Before serving, the rice cake should be sprinkled with vanilla icing sugar
Tips
- To have an excellent shortcrust pastry, knead it the day before.
- When you roll out the dough, always sprinkle it in flour every time, otherwise it sticks.
- For rice cakes and pastiere, always use a light aluminum pan, they cook better.
- Cooked rice must be cold before adding it to eggs.
- * The lard or lard is extracted from pork fat, if you want to make it at home, go and see the recipe on my website.
- * The fountain is the hole that is made in the flour so as not to let the liquid ingredients come out.
- * Silicone spatula leccapentola.
Storage
- The rice cake can be kept for three to four days, always covered by a bell, otherwise it dries in a cool place at room temperature but, if it’s hot, it should be put in the fridge.
Equipments
- Casserole (Pot)
- Wooden ladle
- Kitchen washer
- Rolling pin
- Pastry board
- Grater
- Knife
- Leccapentola *
- Planetary or mixer
- Crush potatoes or sieve
- 26cm pan
- Tray
- Colander
- Oven
- Cooker
- Fridge
- Bowls
I love this recipe