Baked Rice Pudding..

That milk in the fridge is teetering on the brink of its BB date..

There’s no way on earth that I’m going to throw it out, so I thought – WWMDMD?

– What Would My Dear Mama Do? –

Why, she’d make Rice Pudding of course! It was her favourite way of using up extra milk – and we absolutely loved it..

EQUIPMENT:

• A 2.5 litre ovenproof dish
• A sieve.
• A fine grater.
• A wide-mouthed microwavable jug.

INGREDIENTS:

• 120g Pudding Rice (it’s with all the other rice in the supermarket aisle)
• 800mls cold milk
• 25g unsalted butter
• 40g of golden caster sugar
• Zest of one orange
• 2 capfuls of Vanilla extract – I used Vanilla Paste today.
• a good grating of fresh Nutmeg

METHOD:

• Generously butter the oven-proof dish.
• Heat the oven to 160 Fan
• Rinse the pudding rice well under cold water. Shake dry. Put it into the buttered dish.
• Add the orange zest, and Vanilla

• Put the milk, remaining butter, and the  sugar into the wide-mouthed jug, and give it about 3 minutes in the microwave, until the butter is almost melted. Or just heat it in a saucepan.

• Pour the milk mixture on top of the rice.
• Sprinkle in the sugar.
• Give it all a good stir.
• Grate over the Nutmeg

• Put it in the oven and bake for an hour. The sugar in the mixture will have made a lovely sweet top coat for you, so you’ll have to dig a small spoon in to make sure that the rice is all cooked.. – CAREFUL! ‘It is hot-hot’ – as my Mum would have said!
• Leave it to cool for as long as you like – it really is very, very hot – up to a couple of hours, then serve when it’s almost lukewarm.

 

NOTES:

• This is a perfect pudding to make long before you need it – the rice seems to keep it warm for ages. It actually tastes much better when it’s almost lukewarm.
• When the hour’s cooking is up, you’ll be surprised to see quite a lot of liquid milk left in the dish – don’t panic about this – it will be absorbed as the pudding cools. Give it 5 more minutes if you’re really worried, but trust me on this, it’s done!
• As children, we always got our Rice Pudding with a dollop of jam on it, so I’m partial to this.
• The picture below has a spoonful of my favourite Strawberry Jam, and about a tablespoonful of pouring cream. Absolutely delicious!

• A spoonful of fruit compote of any variety is also excellent.
• Lightly stewed fruit is also lovely – try gently heating some chopped-up Strawberries with a dessertspoon of sugar and squeeze of lemon juice, then spoon it over the pudding.
• My friend Julie makes  fabulous Blueberry Compote, simply by heating fresh or frozen blueberries with a splash of water – no sugar required! Here’s her recipe https://eatingforireland.com/2020/01/28/the-great-blueberry-scandal-and-this-perfect-blueberry-sauce/
• Of course, you can add some Raisins or Sultanas into the cooking – add them during the last half hour or so of cooking.