Michelle Darmody: My favourite way to make rice pudding
We have a strange relationship with milk purchasing in our household — for some reason we either have far too much or far too little in the fridge. A friend who regularly stays with us when passing through Dublin, always arrives with a carton of milk under her arm, 'just in case'. When we do have a glut I usually transform it into buttermilk for soda bread, by adding some lemon juice, or sometimes I use it to make comforting milk desserts. These desserts feel particularly apt at this time of year.
Rice Pudding is one of the more common creations and it can be adapted using whatever spices and flavourings you wish; some nutmeg and honey, cinnamon and orange zest, dried cranberry and juniper. The recipe included here uses cardamom and a pinch of saffron. The Rice Pudding takes a while to bake but very little time to prepare. It can be served with stewed fruit or enjoyed just as it is.
I use full-fat milk in all of these recipes. Ensure you use dark chocolate for the Chocolate Milk Pudding as a lighter variety will get very diluted and you will miss out on the rich chocolaty taste. The Milk Cake recipe is quite an old-fashioned one and the result is a very simple cake, but it is delicious in its simplicity, especially when served fresh.
- 100g short grain rice
- 30g muscovado sugar
- 2 pinches of saffron
- 5 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 700mls milk
Preheat your oven to 150°C.
I use a small skillet or cast-iron omelet pan for this recipe. It is 8 inches wide and about 2 inches deep. Any oven-proof dish of a similar size will do. I like making the pudding in a shallow dish as it gives more of the crisp golden topping, but you can use a deeper dish if you like.
Add the rice and sugar to your dish. Crumble the sugar if it is in lumps. Add the saffron and cardamom pods and gently pour in the milk. I give it all a stir so the saffron and cardamom are distributed throughout. Carefully place it in the oven.
Bake for about an hour and a half until the rice has puffed up and has soaked up most of the liquid. The top should be golden and the edges bubbling.
- 300mls milk
- 140g butter, cubed
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 eggs
- 250g golden caster sugar
- 300g plain flour, sieved
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder, sieved
- 1 level tsp grated nutmeg
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a 12x 9-inch baking tin with parchment.
Gently heat the milk and butter in a saucepan, add the vanilla, and set aside. Do not let it go cold.
Whisk the eggs until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar then add the flour, baking powder, and nutmeg.
Beat the warm milk mixture into the rest of the ingredients and scoop the batter into your prepared tin. Bake for about 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Once cool enough to handle, transfer the cake onto a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares to serve.
- 1 tbs plain flour, sieved
- 2 tbs golden caster sugar
- 500mls milk
- 50mls Kahlua or another coffee liqueur
- 60g butter, cubed
- 100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 80mls cream, whipped to stiff peaks
- 30g hazelnuts, roughly chopped then roasted
Mix the flour and sugar together in a heavy-based saucepan and set aside.
Warm the milk gently in another saucepan until it is just reaching the shivering stage. Try not to let it boil. Then whisk it into the flour and sugar.
Cook this gently, while continuing to whisk, for about four minutes. Whisk in the coffee liqueur and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and the finely chopped chocolate.
Scoop the mixture between four or six serving dishes, depending on your preference. You can serve the puddings warm or cold. I serve them with a dollop of whipped cream and a generous sprinkling of the toasted hazelnuts.
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