Tuscan rice pudding tarts! Delicious shortcrust pastry baskets with a creamy and crunchy filling.

An explosion in your mouth!

They were a staple of my childhood and youth, living just a stone’s throw from Tuscany, where they were a delicacy found in pastry shops, and my brother Andrea often brought them home. How delicious and creamy they were.

And, of course, that memory of my favorite flavor remains indelible (evidently favored by many since it continues to exist even today, over 35 years later).

I wanted to relive that taste, and I succeeded.

Are you wondering what Tuscan rice pudding tarts are?

I’ll explain it right away. They are called puddings but they are not puddings. They have the shape of a muffin but are prepared with shortcrust pastry on the outside and filled with a delicious rice and custard cream.

I prefer them on their own, just as they are in their original version, freshly baked, slightly warm and dusted with a light and imperceptible layer of powdered sugar.

But they are also perfect for an afternoon snack or served at the end of a meal, perhaps accompanied by a light orange sauce.

Making the rice pudding tarts is quite simple but requires several preparations.

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Moderate
Rest time: 1 Hour
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 20 Pieces
Cooking methods: Electric Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All Seasons

425.54 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 425.54 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 62.75 (g) of which sugars 30.26 (g)
Proteins 8.54 (g)
Fat 16.74 (g) of which saturated 10.38 (g)of which unsaturated 6.15 (g)
Fibers 0.85 (g)
Sodium 74.76 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 68 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients for Tuscan Rice Pudding Tarts

4 cups cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs (whole)
7 oz oz butter
1 cup cups sugar
Half lemon (zest grated)
1 pinch salt
2 cups cups milk
1 egg (whole)
1/2 cup cups sugar
1 lemon (zest)
1/4 cup cups cornstarch
2 cups cups milk
6 oz oz Arborio rice
1/2 pod vanilla
1 egg (whole)
1/3 cup cups sugar
3/4 oz oz butter
as needed butter (to grease the molds)
powdered sugar (for dusting)

Tools

Mold muffin
Pot
Pastry Board
2 Small Pans
Rolling Pin
2 Bowls
Food Scale

Let’s Prepare the Tuscan Rice Pudding Tarts

Making the rice pudding tarts is quite simple but requires several preparations.

Pour the milk into a large pot along with the vanilla pod, split lengthwise, and heat.
Just before boiling, sprinkle in the rice and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often. If the grains are soft, cover and turn off the heat.
Transfer the rice to a bowl, remove the vanilla pod, and incorporate the butter and sugar, stirring, and let it cool completely.
Incorporate the egg and mix.
Keep the rice cream aside, covered with plastic wrap.
Run the lemon under a stream of running water and pat it dry with kitchen paper.
Bring the milk to a boil in a small pot with the zest of a lemon.
(The lemon peel cut without the white part).
In a separate saucepan, beat the eggs with the sugar.
Add the sifted cornstarch, a little at a time, stirring with a whisk to avoid lumps.
Thin the mixture with a bit of milk poured in a stream, taking care to avoid the lemon peel ending up in the cream using a strainer. After adding all the milk, return it to moderate heat.
Turn off the heat and pour it into a cold container, stirring to cool it down, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and transfer to the fridge.
(Transfer to a bowl and let it cool with wrap in contact).
Start with the sanding: in a bowl, pour the sifted flour, sugar, a pinch of salt, and cold butter from the fridge cut into coarse cubes.
Work until you get a sandy-looking mixture.
Add the 2 whole eggs and the grated zest of a lemon.
Then start mixing everything together.
Knead briefly, just enough to compact the dough for perfect shortcrust pastry.
Only once the rice cream and custard are well chilled, combine them and mix with a spatula.
You will finally have the (delicious) filling to fill your rice pudding tarts.
Grease the mold with butter.
Take the pastry out of the fridge, roll it out on a pastry board with a thickness not too thin but not too thick.
With a 3.5-inch diameter round cutter or a glass, cut out many circles.
Line the muffin mold with these.
If you have a muffin mold at home, you can use that, otherwise, you can use disposable aluminum molds.
The filling should reach the edge of each tart, so adjust to be able to fill them all.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 390°F for about 25 minutes.
Place them in the center of the oven and check them every now and then.
When they are evenly golden brown, they are ready.
Remove your rice pudding tarts from the oven, let them cool.
Then unmold them and generously dust with powdered sugar.
Bon appétit.