I love rice pudding but often find it sweet and cloying, altogether too reminiscent of school dinners for my liking. This one satisfies my need for a rich dessert without being sickly – the recipe doesn’t use much sugar, with most of its sweetness coming from the raisins.
We sometimes forget about desserts when we’re refuelling after a race or long run. Mistake! A hearty rice pudding can round off a recovery meal nicely, as well as providing a good source of calcium and Vitamins A and D. We reduce the fat content in this recipe by using skimmed milk, but add Greek yoghurt to give it a creamy taste. This is not a low cal dessert then (what would be the point in that?) but it’s much healthier than a traditional full-fat cream and whole-milk rice pudding.
Note that this is an old-fashioned baked rice pudding; it’s not runny like shop bought varieties, which means it’s great cold and is good for packed lunches too. You can make this plain too – simply substitute a can of evaporated milk for the coconut milk and leave out the orange zest, raisins, almonds and coconuts.
Spiced Rice Pudding
Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients
110g pudding rice
400g (1 can) coconut milk
400ml skimmed milk
50g Demerara sugar
100g Total Greek yoghurt
75g raisins
50g chopped nuts (we used a mix of almonds and hazelnuts)
25g dessicated coconut
Zest of half an orange (optional)
Half teaspoon cinnamon
Half a nutmeg, grated
25g butter
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F / Gas Mark 2 / 140C Fan Oven.
2 Lightly butter an ovenproof dish.
3 Toast the coconut lightly in a pan over a medium heat until it just starts to brown. Note: keep a close eye on it – it can burn very quickly.
4 Starting with the rice, place all of the ingredients except the nutmeg and butter in the dish and stir well.
5 Sprinkle with the grated nutmeg then dot with the butter.
6 Bake for 30 minutes, then stir thoroughly. Stir again after another 30 minutes then leave to cook for another hour. Place a sheet of baking parchment over the top if it starts to brown too much towards the end of cooking.
Serve warm with creme fraiche, Greek yoghurt or fruit compote.
Saachi kimonos says
Thanks for this great Recipe!