Alla Carrarina rice cake

 

This recipe comes from the Italian Tuscany, one of many that uses rice as a base for making cakes, pastries and desserts.

The difference from carrarina is that it is the easiest to make. As the name suggests, this version comes from Carrara, a town on the Tuscan coast famous since ancient times for its marble quarries.

There are several peculiarities to review. The first is the huge amount of eggs it uses (10). Well, indeed there are some recipes that indicate that you should use up to 20 (!!!) eggs, so we would be conservative in this regard.

As you know, the more eggs you use, the more sugar you must have to use to hide the taste of the egg, so the calories would skyrocket.

Another important issue is how to beat the eggs. It should be done for 20 minutes so that they take in as much air as possible. If you don't do it like this, the cake will be too coarse and heavy.

I usually use a mixing bowl at medium speed or the robot's mixing utensil to avoid doing such a heavy task.

Another important issue is the way to cook rice. Despite to be milk and rice, the second is not cooked in the first - as if it were rice pudding - but is boiled in water. This is important because the starch released from the rice is not ingested directly into the cake, but is discarded with the cooking water.

INGREDIENTS (4/6 people):

• 150 grams (5.3 oz)  of rice
• 10 large eggs (better XL)
• 1 liter (5 cups) of milk (you can opt for semi-skimmed)
• 350 grams (12 oz) of sugar + 4 tablespoons of sugar to make the caramel
• 100 ml (half a cup) of sambuca *
• The grated skin of a lemon (without the white part that would make it bitter)
• Butter

* Sambuca is an Italian liquor obtained from the pomace of the grape. It is similar to French pastis, Lebanese arak, Greek ouzo, or Turkish raki. If you can't find it, you can use anise or some sweet liquor.

First we boil the rice in plenty of water with a pinch of salt. When it is al dente we remove it, drain and let it cool at least while we prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Boil the milk to which we add the half a cup of liquor, the grated lemon peel and the sugar. We stir until the sugar dissolves. We remove and let it rest so that it becomes warm.

We beat the 10 eggs for at least 20 minutes so that they take in as much air as possible. Let it rest.

We preheat the oven to 180 degrees (356 F).

Now we are going to prepare the mold. One of the metallic type is usually used. At the bottom we pour the four tablespoons of sugar and a few drops of lemon juice. We put on the fire so that the sugar caramelizes and then, once it is off the fire, we grease the internal walls with butter so that it is easy to unmold.

Next we are going to assemble the cake. First we place the rice on the bottom. Next we pour the warm milk with the flavorings and then the beaten eggs. We stir with a spatula so that they mix well and direct to the oven, where it should remain for about an hour and a quarter, more or less (to check that it is done you will stick a toothpick in the center and if it comes out dry, it is ready).

It is removed from the oven, removed from the mold when warm and chilled in the refrigerator as it is rarely eaten hot.