Rice Pudding with Sorbet and Peaches

To make the sorbet: Combine the water, sugar, and syrup and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Reserve 1/4 cup peach puree and set aside, covered, in the refrigerator. Stir the remaining puree and the liqueur into the sugar base. Put the mixture in an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

To make the sugar garnish: Spray a baking sheet with vegetable-oil spray, then wipe with a paper towel to remove any excess. Or line it with a Silpat. In a small, heavy saucepan, combine all ingredients except the pistachios. Place over medium-high heat until the mixture reaches 310 F on a candy thermometer, or just begins to turn a golden color. Remove from heat and let the syrup cool for a few minutes. Gently stir in the pistachios.

Gather a spoonful of syrup, then drizzle back and forth over about a 6-inch area in a criss-cross design. Repeat to form four traceries. Set aside and let cool.

To make the rice filling: Combine the milk, cream, sugar, and zest in a covered saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the mixture with the point of a knife, then drop in the vanilla pods and star anise. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium. Add the rice, stir, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook about 20 minutes, until nearly all the liquid is absorbed. Take off the heat and let cool. Pick out the vanilla bean pods and star anise.

To assemble: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Fill the shells with the rice mixture to a depth of 1/2 inch. Leaving the skin on, slice the peaches in half, then into quarters, and remove the pit. Slice the quarters into very narrow slices . Using one peach per tart, arrange the peach slices on top of the tart in a radial design, standing the slices in the rice pudding in the tart, in effect reassembling the peach on top of the tart. Gently run your finger around the slices one way to tilt them slightly in one direction. Repeat with the remaining tarts. Dust them with confectioner’s sugar. Place the tarts on a baking sheet and bake 5 minutes to brown, or brown with a salamander.

To serve: Put the white chocolate in a piping bag fitted with a fine plain tip. Pipe two parallel lines on one side of a chilled serving plate, then pipe two more lines crossing them at one end at right angles. Repeat with all plates. Fill a piping bag with a fine plain tip with raspberry puree and pipe two straight lines of raspberry puree at right angles to one another on the opposite side of each plate from the white chocolate. Place a tart in the center of each plate. Put four 1-inch ovals of the reserved peach puree along one raspberry line on each plate, and another one on the opposite side of each plate; put a dot of raspberry puree in the center of each. Anchor a few mint leaves in the solitary peach puree spot on each plate. Form four small quenelles of peach sorbet and place one on top of each tart. Anchor a sugar garnish in each sorbet quenelle.

Tart Shells

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingers until the mixture resembles meal. Add about a tablespoon of ice water to the egg and whisk just to combine; sprinkle over the flour mixture. Stir together with a fork until just combined, adding a few sprinkles of ice water at a time as needed. As soon as the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, stop adding water. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The tart dough may then be used, or may be wrapped and frozen up to 8 weeks, then thawed for use.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Divide the dough in half and roll out one half very thin on a floured work surface. Cut into 5-1/2-inch circles to fit into 3-1/2-inch tart molds. Press gently into the molds, fluting the upper edge, and place the filled molds on a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Fill the bottoms with dry rice or beans to weight them down. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until golden. Remove; let cool. Remove the weight. Set aside. Or, the tart shells may be filled with the dough and then frozen for up to 8 weeks; bake, unthawed, at 425 F for 15 minutes, then at 375 F for 30 more minutes.