Mini Rice Pudding Pies (Rijstevlaai)

Yeasted dough:

• 500gr bread flour
• 11gr instant yeast
• 150gr butter *room temp
• 3tbsp honey
• 1tsp salt
• 1 egg (room temp)
• 150ml full-fat milk
  

Rice pudding filling

• 75gr dessert rice
• 1 vanilla pod
• 500ml full-fat milk
• 75gr sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 egg whites
  

Topping

• 250ml whipped cream
• 3tbsp sugar
• 1tsp vanilla
• Chocolate shavings

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1. Add your rice, vanilla, sugar & milk to a saucepan, pop this over medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer while stirring constantly so the milk doesn’t burn on the bottom. Once the sugar has dissolved, let it simmer for 12 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Set this aside to cool completely, you could easily make this a day ahead
2. Add all your yeasted dough ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low for around 4 minutes, this should form it into a shaggy dough. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for 2 more minutes till you have a smooth dough
3. Divide the dough in 2 and leave to rise under a clean kitchen towel for 20 minutes. After rising, you can wrap the piece you won't use and store it in your freezer for up to three months
4. Preheat your oven to 200c
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough till around 0.5cm thick and line your (small or large) tart cases with the dough
6. Take your cooled rice pudding and add your 3 egg yolks, mix this until it is incorporated. 
7. Take your lined tart cases and fill them halfway with the egg-rice mixture
8. In a separate clean and grease-free bowl, whip your egg whites till stiff peaks form. Gently fold your fluffy egg whites through the remaining egg-rice mixture
9. Top your tarts with the rest of your filling and bake at 200c for 15-20min
10. Let the pies cool completely on a cooling rack before decorating, if they would be warm the whipped cream would melt all of the pies
11. Whip your cream together with the sugar & vanilla till stiff, be careful not to overwhip your cream, once it’s overwhipped it will start to curdle and you wouldn’t want that!
12. Decorate your chilled rijstevlaai with whipped cream & chocolate shards and enjoy!

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