Riz Impératrice (Empress Rice Pudding)

Before starting this Riz Impératrice recipe, organise the necessary ingredients for the candied fruits.

Macerate the candied fruit cubes in the kirsch syrup. Stir at regular intervals.

For the rice pudding: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Blanching the rice: Place the rice into a saucepan filled with cold water.

Bring to a boil.

When the preparation first comes to a boil...

... strain through a fine sieve...

... and rinse with cold water.

Cooking the rice: Heat the milk.

Cut a vanilla pod lengthwise.

Using one half only, scrape the seeds out...

... and place the pod and seeds in the milk.

Add the castor sugar...

... and the butter.

When the milk starts boiling...

... add the blanched rice...

... and combine.

Continue cooking over a slow and steady heat for 25 or 30 minutes, stirring often.

Make sure the preparation does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

For the Bavarian cream: Soak the gelatine sheets in a big bowl filled with cold water.

Pour the castor sugar over the egg yolks.

Blanch with a whisk.

Using the other half of the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds out and add the seeds and pod to the milk. Bring to a boil.

Don't forget to stir the rice in the other saucepan.

When the milk starts boiling...

... pour 1/3 over the blanched egg yolks.

Combine well.

Add this preparation to the remaining milk...

... and cook 'à la nappe' (i.e. until the consistency is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon).

When the preparation reaches a temperature between 82 and 85°C, pass through a chinois or a fine sieve.

Press down on the preparation with the whisk to extract as much flavour as possible.

Strain the gelatine, squeezing it between your hands.

Add the gelatine to the hot cream.

Mix well until completely dissolved.

Leave the preparation to cool down to 30°C, stirring often.

Beat the whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream.

Don't forget to stir the rice in the other saucepan.

Reserve the whipped cream in the fridge.

The rice is cooked when almost all the cream has been absorbed.

Transfer into a recipient and leave to cool down to 30°C.

Assembling the cake: Gather all the preparations on your kitchen worktop.

The whipped cream, the rice pudding at about 30°C...

... the Bavarian cream (set but not jellified) at about 30°C and the macerated candied fruit.

Add a little Bavarian cream to the rice...

... and stir to soften the preparation. Remove the vanilla pod.

Add the rest of the Bavarian cream...

... and combine again.

Add the macerated candied fruit, along with the syrup.

Combine well.

Check the temperature of the preparation, which should not exceed 30°C. For this step, I recommend using a digital thermometer with probe.

Add one third of the whipped cream.

Fold gently.

Add the rest of the whipped cream...

... and fold gently until the preparation is homogeneous.

Using an oil spray, grease a tinplate rosace round mould. This operation is essential to ensure an easy release from the mould later. If you don't have a spray, simply use a little oil to grease the mould. Make sure you do not use butter!

Using a ladle...

... fill the mould with the rice preparation...

... up to the rim.

Cover the surface with cling film...

... and let set in the fridge for at least two hours. Ideally, this recipe should be prepared the day before, then stored overnight in the fridge.

For the finish: Gently remove the cling film.

Release the rice pudding cake on a round serving plate. Traditionally, riz impératrice is served with red currant jelly.

Optional: For this recipe, I added an extra decorating touch. I piped some vanilla Chantilly into small pointed dots...

... all around the edge of the entremets.

Heat some redcurrant jelly. Whisk the jelly until smooth and homogeneous.

Pour it into a piping bag, then lay the bag flat on your kitchen worktop to let the jelly cool down to 25 or 30°C maximum.

Pipe the redcurrant jelly into the ridges on the surface of the cake. Serve the rest of the jelly as a side.

Finish the decoration by placing a small cube of candied fruit on every Chantilly dot. Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve.