Oreo, Pistachio, Rice and Pomegranate Cake

Hello,

If you’re looking for an easy to make yet tasty cake recipe this could be a good choice: essentially it is a thick layer of cardamom and coconut flavored rice pudding sitting on Oreo and pistachio base and topped with pomegranate jelly. The cake is not too sweet, so if you have a really sweet tooth you might want to increase the sugar quantities indicated in the recipe by 30%.

Time is a key factor when making this cake, for the rice layer to set firmly, it should be kept refrigerated for about half a day and another few hours for the topping.

Let’s jump in.

Ingredients (for a 24 cm diameter round pan)

For the Oreo base:

• 220 g Oreo
• 90 g pistachios (hulled)
• 100 G melted butter
• ¼ teaspoon salt

For the rice pudding layer:

Rice

• 250 g round-grain rice (I used Arborio)
• 1 l full fat milk
• 100 g desiccated coconut
• 100 g sugar
• 2 cardamom pods
• ¼ teaspoon salt

 Crème anglaise

• 200 ml full-fat milk
• 100 ml double cream
• 45 g sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped cream

• 150 ml cream
• 45 g sugar

For the pomegranate topping:

• 250 ml pomegranate juice*
• 40 ml water
• 4 gelatin leaves
• 50 g powdered sugar
• pomegranate arils for decoration (about ¾ cup)

*You’ll need 2 large pomegranates for making the juice and for the decoration.

Utensils:

• digital scale
• blender
• hand whisk
• pots and bowls
• saucepan
• digital thermometer
• 24 cm diameter springform pan
• parchment paper
• spoon, wooden spoon
• spatula
• strainer
• mortar

Dump the hulled pistachios into the blender bowl and blend. Should be pretty fine, but not powder-like. Transfer into a mid-sized bowl.

Same story with Oreos: into the blender bowl, blend and add to the pistachios. Pour in melted butter, add salt and combine.  

Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

Prepare a springform pan. Though this is a non-stick pan I am using, I still find it a safer solution to cover the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the sides. Transfer the Oreo - pistachio – butter mixture into the pan and press it down evenly (you can do this with a fork or the bottom of a glass).

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In a mortar, crush the cardamom pod, remove the shell and crush the tiny seeds inside.

Pour 1 liter milk into a mid-sized saucepan, add rice, sugar and salt, bring it to boil on medium heat. Simmer - while stirring occasionally - for 15 minutes. Then add the desiccated coconut and the crushed cardamom seeds and keep on simmering for another 5-10 minutes until rice grains get softish. You should still be able to differentiate between rice and the cream it is not supposed to be just a large ricey lump. In the latter case, it is overcooked.

Set aside to cool.

Pour 200 ml milk and 100 ml double cream into a small saucepan and bring it to boil. Once bubbles appear on the surface, remove from the heat. In the meantime, add sugar and vanilla extract to the egg yolks and whisk until the mixture becomes light and creamy and its color has slightly faded.

Pour the hot milk onto the egg mixture in a thin stream while stirring constantly. It is very important to follow these instructions (bit by bit, constant and vigorous whisking) otherwise the eggs get cooked instantly by the hot milk and we definitely do not want to end up with sweet scrambled egg pieces floating in the milk.

Then pour the milk and egg mixture back into the saucepan and heat on low heat very gently, while stirring until its temperature reaches 80 °C. Then pull off the heat to cool. 

Using an electric whisk, or any other appliance you would normally use to make whipped cream with, prepare the whipped cream. 

Gather the components of the rice pudding.

First, fold the whipped cream into the crème anglaise, then combine one third of this with the cooked rice to loosen it up a little. Finally, carefully fold the rest of the crème anglaise-whipped cream mixture into the rice.

Dump it on top of the cake base and spread evenly.

Place it into the fridge for at least overnight (12 hours is even better). 

Remove arils from the pomegranates.

There are a number of ways to do it, I prefer to remove the top of the fruit, then score the skin from stem to end along the white sections and pull the wedges apart and remove the arils.

Transfer the arils into the blender bowl and blend for 1-2 minutes. Then press through a fine mesh strainer to acquire the juice.

Place gelatin leaves into cold water, let them soak for 5 minutes to soften.

Slightly warm 40 ml of water in a small cup or ramekin in the microwave (800 Watts 30 seconds).

Squeeze gelatin leaves one by one to remove excess water, then transfer them into the warm water and stir until they dissolve.

Mix powdered sugar and pomegranate juice until sugar is dissolved then add the gelatin.

Carefully pour the pomegranate juice all over the cake, making sure that it spreads everywhere. Add pomegranate arils immediately according to your preferred design. Cover and keep in the fridge for 4 hours more. 

That is pretty much it … serve and enjoy!