Rijstevlaai — Rice Pudding Tart with a Yeast Crust

Have ready a 28 cm metal tart pan with a removable bottom and sides at least 3 cm high, a heavy-bottomed saucepan, a shallow dish for cooling the rice, bowls, a rolling pin, a mixer and a cooling rack. Warm 80 ml milk until just lukewarm, not hot. Mix 200 g type 500 wheat flour with the yeast, 20 g sugar and 2 g salt, add the milk, 1 whole egg and 25 g softened butter, and knead for 8–10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for 60–75 minutes, until roughly doubled in volume; prepare the rice during this time.

While the dough rises, pour the remaining 750 ml milk into the saucepan and add the uncooked rice, 80 g sugar and 1 g salt. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30–40 minutes with the lid slightly ajar. Stir frequently along the bottom so the milk does not scorch. The rice should be completely tender, with no hard centers, and the mixture creamy and still loose, not a dry, solid lump; if the grains are still firm, cook for a few minutes longer over very low heat with the lid on, stirring regularly.

Transfer the entire rice mixture to a shallow dish and spread it out so it releases heat more quickly. Leave for approximately 30–45 minutes, stirring gently a few times, until it reaches room temperature and stops steaming; cool longer if needed. Do not add eggs to hot rice. Prepare the crust toward the end of cooling; if the dough finishes rising earlier, keep it covered until rolling it out.

Grease the bottom and sides of the pan with the remaining 5 g butter, and dust the work surface with 10 g type 500 wheat flour. Gently deflate the risen dough and roll it into a circle approximately 34–35 cm in diameter and 3–4 mm thick. Transfer it to the pan and fit it against the bottom and sides without stretching; trim off any small excess at the edge and use the scraps to patch thinner areas so they do not form a thick rim. Prick the base with a fork, leaving a thin, even layer of dough.

Separate the remaining 2 eggs into yolks and whites. Stir the yolks into the rice cooled to room temperature, and beat the whites with a mixer, gradually adding the remaining 20 g sugar toward the end, until stiff and glossy. Gently fold the beaten whites into the rice with a spatula and transfer all the filling to the crust, smoothing it below the dough rim. Let the filled pan rest for 15 minutes; meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C on the conventional (no-fan) setting, with a rack in the lower part of the oven.

Place the pan on the lower rack of the preheated oven and bake at 200°C on the conventional setting for 30–35 minutes. The crust edge should be golden and the filling set and lightly browned in places; the center may jiggle gently as a whole, but should not ripple like liquid. If the center is still liquid, bake for another 5–10 minutes; loosely cover the top with aluminum foil if it darkens too quickly.

Set the pan on a cooling rack and leave for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the outer ring, leaving the tart on the metal bottom, and cool on the rack for at least another 90 minutes, until completely cool. If the filling is still warm, extend the cooling time; do not slice the warm tart, as the rice layer will not yet be stable. Remove the cold tart from the pan bottom and divide into 12 dessert portions.