How to make rice pudding

Rice pudding is a traditional dessert in many countries whose main ingredients are rice, milk and sugar. There are different theories about its origin. Some say it comes from Asia and spread across Europe and Africa and, also reached America after colonisation. Others point out that the first use of rice in the West was for dessert, rice pudding with almond and cinnamon milk. This dish is known to have been served to the king of France, Louis IX, in a meal attended by St. Thomas Aquinas in the middle of the 13th century, before later arriving in Spain 

There are many varieties of rice pudding depending on the country and each of them is made with some special ingredient of its own. 

Although in Spain we eat it cold, in other places it is served warm. In Asturias it is usually served with sugar burnt with a hot iron. In some areas raisins are added. It is also common to add port wine. In Italy it is flavoured with orange peel.  In Iceland it's butter, apples in Germany, caramel in France and almonds and cherries in Norway. In the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries, it is usually flavoured with vanilla, in the Mediterranean with cinnamon, in the Caribbean islands with coconut or condensed milk, with saffron in Iran and with cardamom in northern India. In Turkey it is a traditional dessert and is called sütlaç.

How do you make rice pudding?

There are several ways to prepare it, but the rice is usually simmered in milk with sugar, lemon and a cinnamon stick.

Recipe to make homemade rice pudding

Ingredients (6 people)

- 1 litre of full fat milk
- 100 g. round grain rice
- 200 ml. of water
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 6 tablespoons of white sugar
- Rind from half a lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Salt

How to make

1. Heat the milk in a pan with the cinnamon stick, the lemon rind and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and just before it boils, take it off the heat and put to one side. 

2. Place the rice in another pan with water and let it boil until the liquid is absorbed. 

3. Add half of the milk to the rice, the rest will be kept with the lemon rind and cinnamon, as you will be adding it little by little to the pan as it the liquid evaporates. Simmer for about 45-50 minutes. 

4. When the milk is almost completely used up, but the mixture is still liquid, pour in the sugar and butter, stir and serve in bowls.

5. Let it cool. Before eating it, sprinkle with cinnamon powder or if you have a kitchen burner, add some sugar and flambé it.

Tricks for a perfect rice pudding

• Wash the rice a little before boiling, but not too much so as you don't want to lose starch.

• Making rice pudding is simple, but it requires a bit of patience. Stirring is not recommended while cooking.

• Avoid using white lemon rind as it has a bitter taste. 

•  Rice pudding can be made quickly with a cooking robot. To do this, simply fit the butterfly to the whisk and pour in the milk, rice, lemon peel and the cinnamon stick and programme for 45 minutes, 90ºC at speed 1. Then add the sugar and butter and programme for 10 minutes, 90ºC, Speed 1, or pour into bowls and let cool.