When did rice pudding become so fashionable? In days of yore, it would never have been seen outside the nursery or the boarding school. Now, thanks in part to our increasing need for childhood comfort in an adult world, and to the renaissance in British cooking, it is sneaking its way on to the smartest restaurants in town.
At Canteen, a lively modern caf? in Spitalfields, the vanilla rice pudding sits next to treacle tart with clotted cream and gingerbread with quinces. At Gordon Ramsay’s glamorous Boxwood Caf?, the New York-London crowd tuck in to rice pudding with orange marmalade, while Sir Terence Conran’s Paternoster Chophouse teams rice pud with damsons.
This sentimental favourite can be improved by using risotto rice such as arborio; by sweetly scenting it with real vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg; and by using milk alone, without cream, for a lighter but still comfortingly creamy result.
If you want to be even more fashionable, pour the rice pudding into four small ramekins, cool and refrigerate overnight. To serve, turn them out on to serving plates, and drizzle with a little extra honey.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Prep 5min
Cook 30mins
150g risotto rice
Pinch of salt
500ml milk
250ml water
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean, split
3tbsp honey
Ground nutmeg or cinnamon
METHOD
Combine the rice, salt, milk, water, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.
Simmer at a gentle bubble for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is plump and tender. Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean and scrape the vanilla seeds back into the rice. Add the honey, stirring well, and spoon into four small bowls or ramekins. Dust with nutmeg and serve warm.