In a bowl, sift together flour, rice flour, powdered sugar, salt & baking powder. Add butter & rub together with fingertips to make soft crumbles.
In a small bowl, beat egg; add to flour mixture & work into a smooth ball of dough. DO NOT OVERMIX. Flatten dough ball & wrap in plastic wrap; chill in refrigerator.
Rice Pudding Filling
Place rice in a saucepot. Cover with water & bring to a boil. Rinse rice; return blanched rice back in saucepot & cover with milk. Add cinnamon stick & lemon zest. Cook over low heat, stirring often until rice has absorbed most of the milk & rice mixture becomes soupy.
Remove rice/milk mixture from heat & add butter; stir well. Place rice mixture in a bowl to cool. Stir & cool for about 20 minutes. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar & vanilla; add to cooled rice mixture.
Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Remove pastry from refrigerator & divide evenly into 8 pieces. Form into balls & roll each one lightly in flour then using a rolling pin flatten into a small circles. Line 8 paper cups with pastry & place them in a muffin pan.
Spoon the rice pudding into the pastry shells & bake about 30 minutes or until golden brown on the edges & they test done with the tip of a knife. Do NOT OVERBAKE as they will become quite dry. Prepare poached pears.
Poached Pears
Peel, halve & core pears.
Place wine & cinnamon in a skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat; add pears. Reduce heat to low; cover & poach for 10 minutes. Turn pears; poach 5 more minutes or until tender. Remove pears from wine & set aside. When cooled, place cut side down on a cutting board & slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices Then into pieces to fit tart tops. RESERVE POACHING WINE for sauce.
Port Wine Sauce
In a small saucepan, place reserved cooled poaching wine PLUS enough extra port wine to make 2 cups. Whisk in sugar to taste & cornstarch. Heat to a gentle boil, whisking constantly until mixture forms a nice gel consistency. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.
Serving
Top each rice tart with a small fan of poached pears then spoon wine sauce over each. Nothing says you can’t add a dollop of whipped topping as well!
Recipe Notes
You will probably have some of the pears left over. I just diced them up & added them to the sauce.