Every family should have their own rice pudding recipe. The right way to make rice pudding will always be debated. Growing up rice pudding was always an oven baked treat with a darkened skin formed on top after a gentle hour in the oven. However, this is a different take being more creamy and rich than the staple aberdonian baked rice pudding. I like to serve this with some spiced aromatic berries to give a contrast to the creamy rice pudding.
The process of covering the fruit with a hot spiced sugar solution is not quite blanching or poaching – lets call it mulling. By adding the this solution you immediately soften the berries as if in poaching but still retain the shape of the berry. The resulting solution gently infuses the mixture. I’ve even left the berries mulled for 24 hours to great success.
Variation: If you really want to use this a desert at a dinner party or at the end of a long week add 50g grams of good quality white chocolate and 1 tablespoon of butter for a white chocolate rice pudding. Equally, a hint of a spirit works well, consider cognac, unpeated whiskey or amaretto to deepen the flavour.
Times: 45 minutes Serves:4
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup Arborio risotto rice
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1/3 cup caster sugar and 5 tablespoons extra
200g of berries i.e. strawberries or blueberries
Pink peppercorns, cardamom pods and star anise
- Place your berries in a large container. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar, 4 pink peppercorns, 1 star anise and 2 cardamom pods to 100ml of freshly boiled water. Add to the berries and cover until ready to serve (can be placed in a fridge over night).
- Seperatley, add milk and rice to a deep pan and simmer for 40 minutes on the hob, or until the rice is soft. You may need to add extra milk during the simmering and regular stirring is nessacery.
- Add vanilla extract and additional sugar to taste.
- Serve with your mulled berries.
Recipes from my kitchen, Edinburgh, Scotland 