Rice Pudding
This is food to stave off the cold and darker months and this recipe is the one my mother always used and the one I always return to. In my humble opinion it is complete perfection and no other recipe comes close to this version. Simple, nostalgic, I wouldn’t dare adulterate it. The key is the ratio of 100g rice to 1 litre of whole milk. It seems an impossibly high volume of liquid for such a meagre amount of rice however, trust the process the rice will slowly swell to incorporate all the rich dairy. I flavour the rice pudding with a whole vanilla pod so that it is richly flecked with vanilla seeds throughout, but you can also grate nutmeg over the service before baking, as this is traditional.
ingredients
recipe serves 4 hungry people
40g butter
70g caster sugar
100g pudding rice
1 vanilla pod, split
1 litre whole milk
150ml double cream
pinch of salt
blackberries, or blackberry jam, to serve
method
Preheat the oven to 150C fan oven. Melt the butter in a solid-base, flameproof casserole dish, add the rice and sugar. Stir until the rice is coated. Pour in whole milk and add a split vanilla pod, double cream and a pinch of salt. Slowly bring the mixture to a simmer. Once this is reached, give the mixture a final stir and pour into an oven proof dish.
Place in the oven and bake for about 1hr 30 mins. Check halfway if the surface is browning to quickly cover with kitchen foil and return to the oven. Once there is a thin skin on the surface and the pudding just wobbles in the centre it is ready. The rice will continue cooking as the heat disperses. Serve at room temperature and enjoy with blackberries, or blackberry jam.
