Cooking with Kids: Rice pudding - a nice pudding for young bakers

Pic: iStock

I always loved rice pudding as a child. 

I have fond memories of stirring a big dollop of raspberry jam into a warm bowl to make the pudding a wonderful bright pink.

There are two main ways to make the pudding. The first is to stir all of the ingredients together and bake it in the oven.

This causes the exposed sugars to caramelise and creates a really tasty golden layer on the top. 

The second option is to make the pudding on a stovetop, which does tend to be a bit quicker, as you can stir and agitate the rice a little more to speed up the soakage of the sweetened milk.

Either method is fun for children, but the oven method is probably easiest for very young children. 

They will get the experience of weighing and measuring the ingredients and stirring them in the bowl before scooping the mixture into the ovenproof dish.

It is nice for them to smell the vanilla and cinnamon before it goes into the mixture.

Fragrant smells like these can help to build their curiosity about how food is made.

Baked Vanilla Pudding

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

A kitchen classic - ideal for kids.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 10 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 3 tbs golden caster sugar

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 130g pudding rice

• 750ml milk

• 180ml cream

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC/gas mark 3. You will need to find an ovenproof dish that will fits about a litre and a half of pudding.

2. Measure and weigh each of your ingredients and put them into a big bowl. Stir them all together.

3. Scoop the mixture into your ovenproof dish.

4. Ask an adult to put the dish into the oven and sit back and relax for the next hour and ten minutes while it bakes and bubbles.

5. When it is cooked through it should be golden brown on top and the rice will be soft and plump.

6. Allow the pudding to cool once you take it from the oven.

7. Coconut rice pudding with berries and jam

Coconut Rice Pudding with Berries and Jam

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

A fruity take on a kitchen classic!

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 250mls milk

• 400ml coconut milk (from a can)

• 2 tbs golden caster sugar

• 150g pudding rice

• 4 tsp raspberry jam

• strawberries and raspberries to decorate

Method

1. Measure out your ingredients.

2. Ask an adult to open the tin of coconut milk and to scoop out the contents into a jug for you.

3. Put the milk, coconut milk, caster sugar and pudding rice into a saucepan. It is best to use one with a heavy base because it will help stop the pudding from burning while it is cooking.

4. Ask an adult to help you put the saucepan onto the hob. Keep the heat on the hob low and stir the pudding every now and then to stop it sticking. It will take about 20 minutes to thicken.

5. When it has cooled scoop it into four bowls and put a spoon of jam into each bowl and add some berries on top.

Activity: The veg patch

If you are lucky enough to have a veg patch there are lots of jobs for little hands at this time of year. 

They can help collect any remaining seeds which can be saved until next year. 

Depending on your winter plan it may be time to get the soil ready to rest over the colder months. 

Children can help to incorporate compost or seaweed into the soil with small garden forks and then sprinkle the area with clover seeds. 

These will grow over the winter and add nitrogen to the soil, which will help new plants to thrive in the springtime.