Dessert

Bundini di riso (rice pudding pastries)

Name: Bundini di riso (rice pudding pastries) recipe
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 100g short-grain risotto rice, such as arborio or carnaroli; 2 cups (500ml) milk; 1 tbs unsalted butter; 2 eggs, beaten; Pinch of salt; Zest of 1 lemon; Zest of 1 orange; 1 tsp natural vanilla extract; 1 quantity sweet shortcrust pastry dough; Icing (confectioner’s) sugar, for dusting

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by delicious. team

delicious. team

May 11, 2021

“Many say that the mark of really good Florentine pasticceria is its bundini di riso, a classic breakfast item among the line-up at any pastry shop. The short pastry case should be thin, ever so slightly sweet on the soft, blond side. The rice pudding should be moist but firm, not hard and not too sweet, as the pretty, powdery icing sugar that coats the top supplies enough sweetness,” says Emiko Davies. This is an edited extract from Torta della Nonna by Emiko Davies (Hardie Grant Books, $34.99).

100g short-grain risotto rice, such as arborio or carnaroli
2 cups (500ml) milk
1 tbs unsalted butter
2 eggs, beaten
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1 quantity sweet shortcrust pastry dough
Icing (confectioner’s) sugar, for dusting

Method

1.

To make the rice filling, cook the rice and milk in a saucepan over a low-medium heat, stirring frequently until the rice is soft and the mixture is thick and creamy, about 20 minutes (keep a careful eye on it so that it doesn’t overflow or burn). Take off the heat, add the butter and let it cool slightly before adding the eggs, sugar, salt, the lemon and orange zest and vanilla. Leave to cool completely. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2.

After resting the pastry dough, place on a lightly floured work surface and roll out the pastry to a 2-3 mm sheet. Cut out rounds and press into eight oval pastry cups or an eight-hole friand pan, leaving a few millimetres of pastry overlapping the lip of the cup. Fill with the cooled rice filling.
3.

Bake the bundini for about 30 minutes, or until lightly golden and firm. Let them cool a little in the pan before cooling completely on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving. These are best eaten the day they are made ( possibly warm) but you can store then in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.