Caramelised Lemon Rice Pudding

I know, I know, I know, for some of you, Rice Pudding brings back some old sad and scary memories of childhood and perhaps this may be a post that you want to skip straight past and move onto something else.

But this may be an option to change your life because this option may just bring your taste buds back into line with those of us who enjoy and love this dish.

So be brave - here goes, step into the future because this ties in several variances that may just do it for you.

Caramelised Lemon Rice Pudding (with options)
and feel free to run wild, I used Tangeloes as the citrus option recently (the photos below) and am wanting to have a crack at grapefruit soon.

200g short grain rice (arborio works really well as an option)
600ml each full cream milk & thickened plain cream
Zest of 2 lemons or 3 oranges (avoid the pith - bitter)
Juice of 2-3 lemons or oranges (make sure you sieve - no pips)
1 ½ cups caster or white sugar (I often use vanilla sugar if I have on hand - see below)
Pinch salt

2 tablespoons icing sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 150c.

Put all ingredients into an ovenproof dish with a tight fitting lid, mixing the cream, juice, zest and sugar well through.

As you can see I've used a Le Crueset casserole dish, nice and deep and able to go from the oven to the table.........

Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes to allow the ingredients to combine fully. The rice will glug up a touch - just stir and it'll be fine.

Mix well and place in the oven, bake for two hours at about 180. I usually check it every 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally but leave undisturbed for the final 30 minutes.

The mix will occasionally look as if the liquid has curdled but this is part of the process, simply mix well again and replace in the oven.

It's really important that the mixture thickens as the pudding cooks.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the lemon or orange juice and serve with scoops of ice cream along with the icing sugar and cinnamon.

 

 

Serves 6-8

Variation – spoon the rice pudding mix into individual ramekins and sprinkle with soft brown or muscovado sugar, either run under a hot grill to brulee or use a blowtorch to do the same.

This pudding may well remove the stigma rice pudding carries with some - enjoy!