Some tips before starting to prepare our rice cake.

-My 3 pomegranates weighed a total of 1.3 lbs, from which I extracted 9 oz of seeds and 1 cup of juice.

-To extract juice from the pomegranate seeds, I use a cold press juicer, practical and quick to use. If you don’t have one or don’t need it, you can also use a classic potato masher (as I did until some time ago).

-If the juice is sweet, the amount of sugar I’ve indicated for the jelly is more than enough; otherwise, add a little more based on your taste.

-The amount of starch (rice or cornstarch) I’ve indicated is for a fluid jelly, almost a ‘coulis’. If you want it a bit thicker, use 3 tbsp of starch.

-The amount of sugar in the cake is based on the fact that I used lactose-free milk and butter, which are sweeter than traditional ones. If you use traditional milk and butter, the perfect sugar amount for this dessert is instead 1 cup.

-This cake improves with time, so I recommend preparing it at least a day in advance, then storing it in the fridge, well-closed in a cake carrier.

Gather all the ingredients to make the cake.

In a large, thick-bottomed saucepan, pour the Originario rice, add the sugar, salt, cold butter in pieces, finely grated zest of a lemon and an orange (already washed and dried), 4.5 cups of milk at room temperature, stir just enough and place on the smallest burner on medium flame, with a lid, checking often until it comes to a boil, as it might overflow.

As soon as the milk starts boiling, lower the flame and let it cook until the rice has absorbed all the milk. During this time, you can stir only a couple of times (it will take about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the quality of the rice). The final appearance will be like a dry risotto (personally, I prefer to coarsely blend the mixture to make it a little creamier).

Transfer it immediately to a bowl and let it cool for about 20/30 minutes, stirring it occasionally.

While the rice is cooling, line a 12-inch loaf pan with parchment paper or you can butter and flour it (a solution I strongly recommend, as parchment paper encourages and retains condensation).

When the rice is warm, separate the yolks from the whites and beat the latter until stiff peaks form (this will take about a couple of minutes).

In the meantime, add the yolks to the rice mixture and stir to soften it (if the yolks are a bit small, you can add another one).

Then add the liqueur (if you don’t like it, you can add the juice of half an orange and a little more citrus zest as desired).

Preheat the oven to 350°F, whether static or fan assisted.

Add a spoonful of beaten egg whites at a time to the rice mixture and, using a spatula, mix with a gentle motion from the bottom, i.e., from the bottom of the bowl, to the top, to avoid deflating the egg whites. Continue this way until all the egg whites are incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the pan, level it with the back of a spoon, gently tap the pan on the table to distribute the content evenly, and place it in the oven, middle rack, for about 60 minutes. The baking time varies depending on the type of oven and baking (if it cooks simultaneously above and below, electric, gas, steam, and so on), so I recommend checking it carefully.

When it seems cooked, stick a skewer in the center which should come out perfectly dry.

Remove the pan from the oven and do not touch it for at least three hours. You will notice that as it cools, the cake tends to shrink a bit and lower in the center; this is normal.

After three hours, carefully turn the rice cake upside down directly onto a serving plate, remove the parchment paper and pan, and let it settle.

Now let’s make the pomegranate jelly.

Clean the pomegranates, extract the seeds, and juice them. Weigh the juice and pour it into a saucepan, together with the sugar, lemon juice, salt, grated citrus zest as desired, and cook it on the small burner on low flame, stirring continuously until it starts to thicken.

As soon as it starts to thicken, turn it off immediately and transfer it to a heat-resistant steel or glass container and let it cool completely, without covering it, to prevent condensation. Do not be fooled by the fact that the hot jelly appears semi-liquid. It will reach the right consistency when cold.

The next day, we can slice the rice cake and serve it with a teaspoon of pomegranate jelly.

Additional idea. If you want to decorate the rice cake with pomegranate jelly, as I did, leave a small amount (about a coffee cup) of cooked but still hot jelly in the saucepan. Add a scant teaspoon of cornstarch and another couple of grams of granulated sugar and stir very well to avoid lumps. Cook it for another 5/7 minutes at most on very low heat, then let it cool, turning off and moving the pan away from the burner immediately. The next day it will be perfect for making small decorations that won’t fall off.

Bon appetit