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Do you remember the Ready Brek advert with the tag line “central heating for kids”? I was reminded of this recently. On returning from a breezy, slightly chilly beach walk, I was tempted to put our heating on. But it’s still September! Every year we hold out as long as possible, huddling pathetically in jumpers and blankets before admitting defeat and switching the heating on for the first time. There is almost a competitive element as we see how late in the year we can get (that really is pathetic, I know). Anyway, a large bowl of creamy, comforting, aromatic (thank you nutmeg) rice pudding later and I was as warm as toast. I would love to conduct a study to see if regular intake of home- made rice pudding could reduce central heating bills. I am totally serious.
I also have an entirely un-medical firm belief that rice pudding has magical healing powers. I’m sure I could find some science to support this argument (omitting the word “magical”) but frankly, that would be dull. I’m entirely ignoring the fact that some people with “colds” need to tempoarily avoid dairy. Next time you have a sore throat or feel shivery and “under the weather”, hungry but cannot face eating a meal, just bung this in the oven. It’s so easy to make you can do so without really waking up and then go back to bed/ sofa and forget it for a couple of hours (except that it makes the house smell amazing).
Personally, I could eat this every day except for in high summer and have to exert some self control. This is a traditional, unadulterated, simple recipe. For me, that is the best way to treat a simple, traditional dish and anything else is contrived and fussy. You could get away with adding a handful of sultanas if you feel the need, just don’t tell me. Its not beautiful and does not lend itself to stunning blog photos but its a damn fine pudding, forgotten by many. Just add pudding rice (short grain rice) and a 1.1L bottle of whole milk to your weekly shopping list and make this a regular comfort.
Ingredients
20 g unsalted butter, softened
130 g pudding (short grain) rice
60 g golden caster sugar
1.1 L whole milk
0.25 tsp ground nutmeg
Dish
A 2 L ovenproof dish
Oven
Pre- heat the oven to 150C (140C Fan)/ Gas Mark 2
Method
1. Butter the ovenproof dish.
2. Place the rice and sugar in the dish and stir. Pour the milk over the rice and sugar and dot the remaining butter over the top.
3. Sprinkle over the ground nutmeg (don’t ever forget the nutmeg!).
4. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 50 minutes to 2 hours. The top should be golden and the centre creamy.
Is that the easiest home-made dessert?
ScrummyWalks 