Gareth took issue with Cat calling this a rice pudding brûlée because he says it isn’t a rice pudding, but she thought it would sell better this way in the shop (she’s a huge rice pudding fan herself) and it turns out she was right, because it was extraordinarily popular. This is inspired by a pastry Gareth used to eat when he was living in Holland and working at the three-Michelin-star restaurant, Oud Sluis. The restaurant sat close to the Belgian border and with it, rijsttaartje – a traditional Flemish pastry – became something he would regularly indulge in. We like to think this tart is a refined homage to that delicious and memorable pastry.

The brûlée is best done right before serving but, because of the starch in the rice, the custard forms a thin skin on the top which slows the dissolving of the toffee – so if you need to let it hang around for a bit, this will buy you that little bit of extra time.

MAKES 1 x 25cm TART

caster sugar, for the brûlée

Rice custard

75g cooked short-grain rice 

180g milk

580g cream

230g soft brown sugar

1g ground cinnamon

3g lemon zest

3g vanilla paste, or the seeds from a vanilla pod

250g egg yolk

3g salt

SUPPLEMENTARY RECIPE

Shortcrust pastry (Pâte Brisée)

200g plain (all-purpose) flour

100g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

3g salt

50g water

Dulce de leche

70g dulce de leche (sweetened condensed milk)

Preheat the oven to 165°C. 

Rice custard

In a saucepan, combine the cooked rice, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and vanilla and bring to a simmer while whisking. Once boiled, transfer to a blender and blitz on high for 2 minutes or until it becomes a smooth puree. Strain through a sieve and pour a small amount onto the egg yolks to temper them. Whisk this together until incorporated, then add the remaining cream mixture and the salt. Using a hand-held blender, blend until the mixture is shiny and smooth – to prevent air from being incorporated into the mix, keep the head of the blender underneath the surface. Decant into a measuring jug to use straight away – you want to keep it as warm as possible to ensure the mixture cooks evenly in the oven.

To assemble and bake

Spread the dulce de leche (see below) over the bottom of the pastry shell (see below). Place the tart into the oven and pour the custard on top of the caramel layer. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the custard is slightly wobbly in the centre, then remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Once the custard has completely cooled, remove the tart from the tin. Portion the tart into slices using a hot, sharp knife. Sprinkle each slice with a generous amount of caster sugar. Using a blowtorch, caramelise the sugar until it is deep golden brown in colour and evenly distributed across the tart.

Supplementary recipe - Shortcrust pastry (Pâte Brisée)

Place the butter, flour and salt into a bowl (this process can also be done in a kitchen stand mixer or food processor). Using your fingers, work the ingredients together until they resemble fine bread crumbs and no lumps of butter are present.

Add the water a little at a time (or in a steady stream if using a kitchen stand mixer), until it forms a firm but malleable mixture. If you used a food processor earlier, it’d be best to finish this one off by hand.

Move the dough to your benchtop and work into a puck-sized shape. Wrap with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180°C. Place the pastry on a piece of baking paper and cover with a second piece of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry into a circle roughly 35 cm wide, and around 3mm thick. Allow the pastry to firm up again in the fridge for at least an hour before lining the tin (if lining the tin immediately, be sure to rest it for at least an hour).

Remove one piece of baking paper from the pastry and drape the pastry over your tart tin. You may find this easier to do by using a rolling pin.

Press the pastry into the knuckles of the tart tin using the flats of your fingers.

Use a sharp knife to remove any excess trim from the edges of the pastry. Allow the pastry to sit for 15 minutes or so in the freezer for one final rest.

Take one large sheet of aluminium foil and gently press into the edges of the pastry shell, ensuring that the sheet is big enough to go over the edge and completely line the tart. Fill it to the brim with uncooked rice, then fold the foil gently back over the top and place into the oven.

Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the edges of the pastry are a nice medium-golden colour. Remove from the oven and sneak a look under the foil to check the doneness. Cook until the colour is consistent, then allow to cool at room temperature. Remove the foil and rice when cool enough to touch.

Dulce de Leche

Take any number of 400g cans of condensed milk and remove the labels. This will make the clean up that much easier and also protect you from any contractual obligation you have to any other canned goods brand.

Place the cans lid side up inside a saucepan that will allow you to have at least 2 cm (¾ in) of water above the tops of the cans, but not be in danger of overflowing when the pot boils – roughly another 2 cm.

Pour hot water into this pot – the hotter the better. This won’t affect how the caramel cooks, but the timer starts once the water comes up to temperature, so this just gets you there quicker.

Place the pot onto the stove and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and set a timer for 6 hours. Keep an eye on the water level and top it up with hot water as you go so that the cans stay underwater at all times. The water provides a protective barrier (as it cannot go above 100°C, give or take). Let the water run out, and the milk inside the can will burn on the base as well as expand and explode in some cases. Although the liquid condensed milk is contained inside a can, the parts of the caramel that aren’t submerged remain lighter than the parts that are, especially once the proteins start to set and the milk becomes solid.

Once the time is up, remove the cans from the water and allow them to cool before opening – trust us. The pressure built up inside the can over time can cause the contents to spit out whilst still hot and it’s not a pleasant experience. You can also leave these cans inside the water until it can be safely removed once the water cools. This may take up to half an hour depending on the amount of cans you’ve chosen to cook, but the extra bit of time won’t change how the caramel comes out.

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