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Rijstevlaai is a creamy Dutch rice pudding cake baked over a thick, buttery dough, often topped with fresh fruit or almond flakes. The recipe includes a moist pie base with a traditional mix of milk, yeast, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and flour, with added flavorings like cardamom and lemon zest. The rice pudding is made with coconut milk, vanilla, lemongrass, cardamom, rice, and lemon zest, then whipped with sugar, egg yolks, and egg whites. The dish is baked at 180°F for 45 minutes and can be garnished with sweet liqueur or brandy.
Rice pudding is served plain in many cultures, or perhaps with just a scoop of whipped cream and a cherry. In Belgium and the Netherlands, it forms the excuse needed to make a creamy dessert called rijstevlaai, or simply Dutch rice pudding cake. Occasionally topped with a thin layer of baked fresh fruit or almond flakes, this cake-like cake is a simple rice pudding baked over a thick, buttery dough that, when completed, has combined the two main components in a marriage successful in texture and flavour.
Rijstevlaai calls for a firm moist pie base with a tender brown crust. A traditional recipe mixes milk, yeast, butter, eggs, sugar, salt and flour. Some recipes add other flavorings to the cake like cardamom and even lemon zest to make it stand out.
The rice pudding for the rijstevlaai is a major contributor to the overall moisture and flavor of the dessert. While a store-bought custard or pudding will work, many make their own with a blend of coconut milk, vanilla, lemongrass, cardamom, rice, and a little lemon zest. This is brought to a boil, then simmered for no more than five minutes. Then, after the mixture is removed from the heat, a sequence of other ingredients are whipped into the pudding: sugar, egg yolks and then the egg whites, separately.
After greasing a pie pan, many spread the pastry around the edges, leaving a little more around the perimeter to take on a darker brown hue. After letting the batter rise for about an hour, rice pudding can be poured over it. The rijstevlaai isn’t oven-ready, however, until a final layer goes on top. Some simply garnish the top of the rice pudding cake with shaved almonds and a sprinkle of butter or egg whites. Often chefs add thin slices of peach or apple, then sprinkle with brown sugar and extra granulated sugar.
It wouldn’t be unusual to bake the dish with just the rice pudding on top. Most cook rijstevlaai at 180°F (about 82°C) for no more than 45 minutes, until the top has taken on a harder brown texture. Other countries prepare similar versions of this dessert. In France, it’s called tarte au riz, while in Germany, it’s reisfladen. A regular addition to any of these regional dishes is sweet liqueur or brandy, often in a flavor that complements a fruit on the pie top.
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