Cheap Desserts:Depression Style Rice Tart

Of you are looking for cheap desserts, Depression style rice tart can fit the pie pan.

Seriously, I am looking through my vintage cookbooks more and more these days, especially those published around the time of the Depression through World War II. Those women had to feed their families on limited funds and limited ingredients. More and more, as grocery prices seem to swing out of control I find that these old recipes work great for me.

I was skeptical about this rice tart. It seemed a little weird to me but I had several cups of left-over rice that needed to be used up and it seemed a good way to do it. Since it was leftovers there was not much to lose on this one.

I made pate sucre for the crust.  I was afraid that the tart would not be sweet enough. A lot of vintage recipes use much less sugar, palates were more refined and less glotted with high fructose corn syrup back then so you will find you often need to add a little more sugar for today’s tastes. I needn’t have worried. It was plenty sweet, although not overly so. I liked this, and so did the family. The thing I had to get past was the texture of rice…I am not a big fan of rice pudding because of texture issues.

This tastes a lot like an egg nog flavored rice custard. The meringue would not stiffen…the day was a bit too humid and the house was a bit too hot..and then I was talking while I was using the torch to brown the meringue quickly..so it isn’t beautiful.

If you like rice pudding you will probably like this a lot. It is a great way to get rid of leftover rice. Use what you have..I had brown rice and jasmine white so I mixed them. It was fine. I also used a ten inch pie plate for this.

Pate Sucre

• 2 1/3 cups  pastry flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

1. In a food processor  combine the flour and sugar.
2. Add the butter and process until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of the cream.
4. Pour  it in the food processor and process until a ball begins to form.
5. Use the other tablespoon of cream if necessary.
6. Remove the dough from the machine, and on a lightly floured surface, press down into a circle.
7. Wrap  and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
8. Roll and fit into pie plate.
9. Prick with fork and bake at 350F until done – about 15 to 20 minutes.

Rice Custard Filling

• 3 cups of cooked rice
• 3 cups of whole milk
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup rum (or 1/2 tsp rum flavor)
• Freshly grated nutmeg

1. Heat the milk,  rice, flour, salt and sugar stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.
2. Spoon a little of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, beating well until the temperatures of the milk mixture and the eggs are about the same.
3. Pour the yolks into the milk mixture simmer for about three minutes.. stir constantly.
4. Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup unsalted butter.
5. Stir in the vanilla and the rum and pour into the baked crust.
6. Grate nutmeg over the top.
7. Chill overnight.
8. You can use the egg whites to make a meringue or top with whipped cream.

serves 8-10

images-Marye Audet