Torta di Riso alla Toscana
Carrara/Pontremoli, Tuscany
Tuscany's rice cake — a baked custard-style dessert of Arborio or Originario rice cooked in full-fat milk with sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla, then baked in a pastry shell. Distinct from the rice cakes of Emilia (which are more béchamel-enriched) and from rice pudding (which is a porridge). The Tuscan torta di riso is eaten as a morning pastry in Florentine bars — thick, yellow from the eggs, with a caramelised surface and a dense, creamy interior where the rice grains are visible but fully cooked. A Carrara and Pontremoli specialty.