ERIKA ALLISTON : Sweet Pea – food blog

Rice Pudding

RICE PUDDING

It is funny how you grow up believing that certain foods should be made in certain ways. It is hard to break the mould of family tradition, especially for tried, tested and true recipes.

My English grandmother always made rice pudding in the oven, with butter, nutmeg, sultanas and fresh full fat milk, delivered in glass bottles to the house each day. As children we adored having the responsibility of leaving the small green token for the milkman, along with the empty bottles for him to collect and replace with filled ones. When you peeled back the thin aluminium cap, there was a thick layer of cream that had settled on the top.  Who ever was in charge of the tokens was in charge of the cream!

Thus for me this recipe was made in the oven, baked until a nice golden crust formed on top. It was only recently that I changed my tune and now enjoy stirring a steaming pot of this creamy desert on the stove top. One advantage I found to making rice pudding this way, is that you can better control its consistency, avoiding the disappointment of the desert drying out. And if you do not like nutmeg or cardamom, as mentioned in my recipe, you can replace these spices with half a vanilla bean!

RECIPE - SWEET PEA Blog

• 100 gr white pudding rice
• 750 mL whole milk (3.5% fat)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• generous pinch ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter

1. Bring 500mL of water to the boil
2. Add rice & boil for 3 minutes. Strain immediately & set aside.
3. Bring milk & spices JUST to the boil
4. Add pre-cooked rice & lower heat to a slow simmer
5. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the milk thickens.* Stir every 5 minutes. A skin/film will form, just mix it in, it will dissolve.
6. A few minutes before the pudding is ready, add the sugar & butter

*the cooking time will depend on the type of milk you use, your pot & stove. I remove the pudding from the stove when there is still some thickened milk left, to keep it creamy & moist, as the rice will continue to absorb while cooling.