August 11, 2010

Risini (rice pudding tartlettes) - part 2 - the real ones!



Yesterday I wanted to make something good and special for Wally. He is having a lot of work lately and I decided to make him something chocolaty to satisfy his craving. I looked for hours for a good recipe for chocolate cupcakes. I am really not good at making cupcakes. I have tried them more or less 10 times by now and only 2-3 times they came out good. 






Those few times they were, I have to admit, REALLY good. But the other times they were awful! Not that the taste was bad…I think it’s hard to fail in that sense….but they came out so dry that they were almost (or totally!) uneatable. I am on a real quest for a fool-proof recipe of chocolate cupcakes. If you, amazing food bloggers have one, please send me the recipe, the link, write a guest post, send me a basket with a few cupcakes to try J, anything! I won’t give up, not yet!

In the meantime, however, I had to move to plan B but I wanted a good plan B. Those who now read me regularly will remember my risini recipe from a couple of weeks ago. It was really appreciated and at that time I mentioned that that one was a simplified version of the risini I used to have as a kid. So I have decided to keep my promise of trying and sharing the “real” recipe for the risini.

Only one comment: these really were (I’m using the past tense because I barely had the time to shoot a few pictures and they were gone!) like the ones my mom used to buy me!


Risini
yields about 18 risini*
Ingredients

For the crust
240 gr (8.5 oz or 1 cup and 1 tbsp) flour
160 gr (5.6 oz) butter
80 gr (2.8 oz) confectioners’ sugar
2 egg yolks

For the filling
150 gr (5.3 oz) rice for risotto (Arborio, Vialone Nano...anyone you can find)
1 litre (33.8 fl oz or 4.22 cups) whole milk
5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
150 gr (5.3 oz) granulated sugar

*Mine were pretty big. I would suggest making 20-22 small risini

To make the filling:
Put the milk in a pot together with the vanilla extract and bring to boil. Add the rice (previously washed) and wait for the milk to boil again, then add the sugar and a let cook on very low flame for at least one hour, stirring continuously.

When the milk is completely absorbed (but the mixture not dry!), pour the cooked rice in a mixing bowl and let cool completely. When completely cooled, add the eggs.

While the rice is cooking prepare the crust

To make the crust:
Mix the cold butter with the confectioners’ sugar and then add the egg yolks. Mix thoroughly until the egg yolks are completely incorporated.

Add the flour and quickly work the mixture with your hands until you obtain a compact dough. (Do not overwork it though or it will “burn” and you will obtain a very hard crust once baked)

Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and let it sit in a cold place for at least an hour. (I usually put it in the fridge)

To assemble the risini:
Preheat the oven to 350F and greese two muffin pans with baking spray.

Coat the pans with the dough and pour the filling until almost full, leveling it off.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the filling is dry and gold. Let the risini cool almost completely before trying to unmold them or the dough will completely break into your hands (that’s what happened to me with the first one that I was eager to try out!!)

When the risini are completely cold and unmold sprinkle them with confectioners’ sugar and enjoy them!

Have a sweet day!

31 comments:

  1. Never heard of risinis but they sound really good!

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  2. rice pudding in tarts looks delicious

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  3. The title pulls you in...and then seeing your beautiful presentation!

    These would be fantastic for serving at holiday and parties too. I'm all about portion-controlled sizes and I luv these little tarts. Saved these to recipe file..I must try these.

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  4. @May: you should really try them! Either version of the recipe is good but this is my favorite. Thanks for stopping by!
    @Torviewtoronto: thank you!
    @Cristina: I LOVE single portion desserts! I think they are a smart way to give yourself a treat without exaggerating and they are very convenient to serve!

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  5. Sara, these look toooo cute. I love them. I love everything with rice pudding.... SOunds and looks scrumptious....Definitely on my to make list!

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  6. @Joudie: thanks! Instaed, I made your bagels the other day and they came out marvellous! I am going to post soon about that, linking to you, of course! It's amazing how you present recipes in a very simple way, I've always been scared of making bagels but with your recipe everything went so well!

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  7. OMG!!! They look awesome - thank you for sharing the recipe!!!

    Happy baking!
    LeeYong rolfmester@yahoo.com

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  8. These look gorgeous and so tasty! I would love to try it!


    P.S. You have a typo in the ingredients for the pastry, instead of flour you have four.

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  9. @Jehan: thanks for the compliment AND a bonus thank you for noticing the typo....I would like to say I put it on purpose to see if you guys read carefully but it's not true :)

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  10. These look wonderful! I love rice pudding but have never had it in a tart. Yum!

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  11. I have only had rice pudding failures... these look so good I might have to try again!

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  12. Those look very tasty. You always do such beautiful recipes and take gorgeous photography.

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  13. Thank you all ladies! @Kim: rice pudding was a curse when I was trying to make it with my mom back in the days...I don't know why...maybe a wrong recipe. These tartlettes are pretty fool-proof! Let me know how it goes if one day you decide to give it a try.
    @Christiane: thanks...you don't see all the failures and backstage although sometimes I post also those.

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  14. These look fantastic, gorgeous truly

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  15. Oh boy! You are am amazing cook! We just made rice pudding - Indian version but not quite a beautiful as your creation....what a novel idea!

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  16. Thank you Jennifurla and Simran for the big compliments!

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  17. Sara, I've never had these before, but I love rice pudding, I want to try yours! I agree your photos are lovely!
    -Gina-

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  18. Thank you for the compliments about the photos. When I started this blog my pics were AWFUL so I've worked hard to improve them....it seems like I'm in the right direction but there is always so much work to do!

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  19. They look delicious! Rice pudding is great and this is a new one for it! I'm new here and see lots of great recipes to look at. Your photos are great too. Way to go!

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  20. Yum! Very different from a chocolate cupcake but I'm sure equally as good.. I have a great chocolate cake/cupcake recipe if you're interested.. I'd have to email it though if you're interested let me know :) sweetebakes@gmail.com

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  21. @Pam: welcome to CaffeIna. I am glad you enjoyed the recipes and photos. I hope you will stop by soon again:)
    @Evan: totally interested! Will write you soon (my husband is here and is very happy...there is still hope for me and cupcakes to be friend and for him to eat good ones!)

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  22. Sara, thats great. I am glad you liked them and they worked well for you.... It is a great recipe! Cant wait to see your post..

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  23. These sound excellent, my girls would love them!! I just have to figure out how to make 100 at a time!

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  24. @ChefDennis: hahaha that is always my problem! I barely had enough time to take the photos and they were over. But making 100 at a time...a bit time consuming. We should make a risini workshop one day and join forces :)

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  25. These are just too adorable! Love your blog!

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  26. @Ivonne: it's a huge honor for me to have a comment from one of the funders of the Daring Kitchen! Thanks for stopping by! I'm a huge fan of your blog!

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  27. wow, I really like that recipe!

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  28. Cavolo che meraviglia! Ricordo che da bambina era il mio dolce preferito da pasticceria. Ti sono venuti bellissimi!!! Mi ero messa a tradurre il testo per poterli fare, poi ho visto che hai inserito il link ad un blog italiano... che fortuna!
    Anche le tue fotografie sono molto belle... composizione e taglio perfetti!
    Peccato che non riesca a capire ciò che scrivi.

    Enjoy!

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  29. Che forte! Vedo che da te sono le 12:10 pm, invece qui in Italia (Rimini) sono le 21:12 pm...

    Saluti da Rimini!

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  30. Fatti e inseriti nel blog citandoti! Una piccola aggiunta nel ripieno: la scorza d'arancio non trattato nel ripieno... più buoni di quelli acquistati.
    La mia nipotina ne ha mangiato uno a merenda... si è leccata i baffi.
    Tank you Sara!

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