Baked rice pudding with cinnamon

I’ve only been a dad for nine months, but I think it’s changed me a little. Up until the birth of Lord Pooh Farty, (my 9mth old son), I tended to be a bit stoic, after all us English aren’t the best at showing emotion. No longer so it would seem.

Over the weekend, I watched one of my childhood favourites with the nipper, Disney classic, The Rescuers. Apart from making me feel a little old when I realised it came out in 1977, (I had the sound track on vinyl), it actually choked me up a little. I think it was childhood nostalgia, a momentary sadness for the passing of one of the happiest times of my life – I used to get so excited about Christmas as a kid. It also triggered happiness at being able to share the experience of the film with my son, just as mum did with me.

Funny how something so small can stir emotion, interestingly, the word nostalgia is derived from the Greek word ‘nostos’, which means homecoming. Common triggers of nostalgia include stimuli like a smell or sound, even taste. This brings me to the food part of this post, a winner that my mum used to make me, baked rice pudding. I used to love this as a kid! It’s simple and incredibly economical.

The recipe I used, isn’t quite true to my mums, it’s a combination of two recipes. The result is a creamy, lightly spiced dessert that will comfort and lift your spirits.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 1½ hours
Equipment: Oven-proof dish

Ingredients

1 cup Arborio or short grain rice
7 cups/ 1 ½ pints of milk – ideally full fat milk (use almond milk if lactose intolerant)
40g unsalted butter – chopped into small cubes
¼ cup raw sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/3 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup sultanas or raisins (dates or figs work well too)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Heat oven to 150degreesC
Pour the milk into a 1.2 litre oven dish, and then add the rice, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla and sultanas.
Evenly space the cubes of butter out on the top of the rice pudding mixture and sprinkle the nutmeg on the top.
Bake for 1-1 ½ hours (until the pudding has browned and the rice is soft).
Serve with on it’s own or with cooked fruit, jam, cream, maple syrup or milk.
Delicious hot or cold.

Baked rice pudding – a staple British pud at it’s best!

So what nostalgic moments have choked you up and what childhood food memories do you cherish the most?

Tags: Rice

About the Author

Gareth Englishman in Sydney loves a whisky, pies and all things savoury. Digital Marketer by day, cook the rest of the time. Amateur writer, photographer & aspiring anthropologists.