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1
Line a 24 cm round cake tin with the short pastry, pressing it to a robust, even thickness up the sides. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, then blind-bake at 180 °C for 10 minutes. The pastry should be set and pale gold at the edges but not fully coloured — it will bake further under the filling.
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2
Combine the milk, lemon zest, and vanilla in a heavy saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the rice and cook over a low heat, stirring regularly, for 25 minutes until all the milk has been absorbed and the grains are fully soft — overcooked by risotto standards. The mass should hold its shape briefly when the spoon is drawn across the pan. Spread the cooked rice on a wide tray and leave to cool completely; the mixture must be cold before the eggs are added.
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3
This is where the dish lives or dies. Only when the rice is completely cold, beat the eggs with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is pale, then fold thoroughly into the cold rice. Hot rice scrambles the eggs instantly; a warm mixture produces a granular, uneven filling that will not set to the required dense, creamy interior.
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4
Pour the rice mixture into the blind-baked pastry shell. The filling should stand 4–5 cm deep; a shallower torta will dry out before the interior sets. Bake at 170 °C for 35 minutes.
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5
At 35 minutes, dust the surface evenly with the remaining caster sugar and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes. The surface should be golden and visibly caramelised; a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
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6
Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin before slicing. Warm, the filling is too soft to hold a clean cut; fully cooled, it firms to the correct dense, sliceable consistency in which the rice grains remain visible.