^{Image: Rice pudding just come out of the oven}

When I was younger, my mum made traditional milk rice and I wasn’t a big fan of it.  This also mean that I’d never really had rice pudding either because the thought of the milk rice came to mind.

It was only a few years ago when Le Rice puddings came to town and I thought I’d try them out.  I really enjoyed them but couldn’t get into the flavourings - I much preferred the vanilla plain ones.

This last week, I thought I’d try out the new sticky date flavour realising that these were quite low in calories, and, although I did enjoy it, I still love the traditional vanilla version.

So after having the cold vanilla version, I had a thought to make my own home-made warmed up version for winter.  Never making one before, I wasn’t sure how to go about it, but primarily there’s a few essential ingredients - milk, cream, rice (cooked) and vanilla.  I have to admit, this was quite the treat, and, it’s not too sweet but is nice and creamy.  For those with a sweet tooth, add some more brown sugar or add some natural fruit to the mix - sultanas, pureed apple or strawberries for example.

Vegans, you could definitely use rice milk with this to keep with the rice flavour and mix in some vegan cream of sorts.  I’m sure this will be just as great!

^{Image: Puddin’ with cream}

Serves:

• 3 rammekins full with a little leftover for taste testing (well that’s my excuse)

Ingredients:

• pinch salt
• 1 cup rice
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbs pure vanilla essence
• 2 tbs dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup light cream
• extra cream for drizzling

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Boil the rice in salty water until cooked.
3. Once cooked, drain the water and pour the milk and boil.
4. Stir in the vanilla, sugar and nutmeg in.  Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Mix in the cream and warm through.
6. Take off the heat and spoon into three rammekins.
7. Sprinkle little brown sugar on top and bake in the oven for ten minutes.
8. Take the puddings out of the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before serving with cream of your choice.