Rice Pie – Italian Easter Cake
Ready in
2h 50 min
Preparation
1h 40 min
Cooking
60 min
Portions
10 Person
Cost
medium
difficulty
medium
Cilento Easter Cake
Rice Pie a italian easter dessert
The rice pie is a tasty and fragrant dessert of the Cilento tradition during the Easter period, but it can also be found throughout the Salerno area. A real delicacy based on eggs, ricotta cheese, rice, sugar and cinnamon which symbolizes life and prosperity. The rice pie or as it is called in Cilento “A pizza re riso” is quite elaborate to prepare but, then, the friability of the shortcrust pastry and the creaminess of the filling will repay you for all the time spent. Furthermore, the presence of aniseed liqueur gives it an extra touch of flavour, making it even more inviting.
Even if purely Easter, the rice pie is a dessert present on the occasion of births, baptisms, communions, weddings or where you want to represent a new life. It is an excellent dessert, therefore, it can be prepared for convivial lunches, buffets, picnics or on any occasion you want. In any case, it is a dessert that knows how to conquer the palate of young and old, thanks to its harmonious combination of flavors and textures.
Ingredients
Dough
- 500g/18oz flour 00
- 200g/7oz butter
- 200g/7oz sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 organic orange zest
Cream
- 1 liter milk
- 7 whole eggs
- 150g/5oz rice parboiled
- 500g/18oz sugar
- 600g/21oz fresh ricotta cheese
- 100g/3,5oz lard
- 100g/3,5oz candied citron
- 30g/1oz cinnamon in powder
- 1 organic lemon zest
- 30ml aniseed liqueur
- j.e. flour for rolling out
Decorazione
- 70 g vanilla icing sugar
Follow Us
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
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 and cinnamon
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
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
Nice thick content, thanks for the post
Thank you for this article