Rice, Cocoa & Hazelnut Cake / Torta Di Riso, Cacao E Nocciole

Ginny Grant

Makes

one 22 cm cake

Preparation

15 mins

Cook

1 hr 15 mins

Cool

1 hr

Ingredients

a knob of butter, to grease the cake tin
2 tablespoons flour (can be gluten-free if necessary)
500ml whole milk
100g (½ cup) sugar
100g (½ cup) risotto rice
100g roasted, skinned hazelnuts, or use toasted almonds
2 whole eggs, lightly beaten, plus 3 egg whites
1 tablespoon nut liqueur or rum (optional)
3 tablespoons cocoa (ideally Dutch process)
6 tablespoons caster sugar
icing sugar

NOTE

I use pre-roasted hazelnuts (from Hazelz) but if you are using skin-on raw nuts you will need to toast these in a 180°C oven until golden. While still warm, fold them into a clean tea towel and allow to steam for 5 minutes, then rub in the cloth to remove the skins.

In the rice-growing regions of Italy, rice was used in cakes as it was an easily accessible and affordable ingredient. Often used as a filling or thickener, the soft starchy texture of rice helped to keep the cake moist. Northern-style Italian rice cakes often feature nuts, usually almonds, plumped up raisins or sultanas and sometimes candied peel and crushed amaretti biscuits. But if you find a fruit-infused rice-pudding cake simply abhorrent, then this version with a nutella vibe may be more your thing. I prefer to eat this still slightly warm with some poached fruit. This is based on a recipe by Biba Caggiano from her excellent book Trattoria Cooking.

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Instructions

1.Line the base of a round 22cm baking tin with baking paper, then grease with a little butter and dust with the flour, shaking out the excess.
2.Heat the oven to 170°C.
3.Heat the milk and sugar and bring up to a near boil.
4.Add the rice and cook over a low heat, stirring until the rice is tender, about 20-25 minutes.
5.Watch it in the last few minutes of cooking as it can catch or burn on the bottom.
6.The rice will be very moist. Spread out on a tray to cool, then put into a large bowl.
7.Process the hazelnuts to a fine crumb (but not a powder).
8.Stir the beaten whole eggs through the cooled rice with the liqueur.
9.Then stir through the hazelnuts and cocoa. The mix will have a loose consistency.
10.Beat the egg whites to soft peaks then slowly add the caster sugar a little at a time and beat to stiff peaks.
11.Fold through the rice mix, one-third at a time. Put into the tin and smooth the top.
12.Bake until the cake is puffed and pulling away from the sides of the tin and a skewer comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes.
13.Cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes – it will deflate slightly. Remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar to serve.
14.Serve with mascarpone, whipped cream or yoghurt and some seasonal fruit.
15.The cake is best eaten on the day, but it can be made a day ahead, refrigerated and brought to room temperature to eat.

Recipes & food styling Ginny Grant / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Jessica Crowe

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