Exact quantities, then the method.
This is an old-fashioned baked rice pudding with one good twist: the milk is steeped with Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos before the rice goes in. That way the vanilla and the honey-malt warmth of the Rooibos cook right through the pudding instead of sitting on top, and the milk takes on a pretty dusty-pink colour into the bargain.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Vanilla Rooibos Rice Pudding recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/rooibos/vanilla-rooibos-rice-pudding/
It is the slow, low-oven sort of rice pudding, the kind that forms a soft golden skin and needs no attention while it bakes. There is a nod to two traditions here, the South African spiced milk puddings and the British nursery version, but mostly it is just a comforting bowl with a quiet, unusual depth to it.
You'll need
- 4 Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos pyramid bags
- 600ml whole milk
- 100g British pudding rice (short-grain), rinsed once in a sieve under cold water
- 50g golden caster sugar
- 30g unsalted butter, cut into small dice
- 50ml double cream, to finish
- A generous grating of fresh whole nutmeg, about half a teaspoon worth
- A small spoon of apricot conserve or a drizzle of acacia honey to serve, per bowl
Method
- Pour the whole milk into a small heavy-based pan and warm it over a medium-low heat to about 80C, so it is steaming with the first fine bubbles at the edge but not yet simmering.
- Take the pan off the heat, drop in the four rooibos bags, cover and leave to steep for ten minutes. Warm milk rather than boiling draws out the vanilla cleanly without catching the lactose.
- Heat the oven to 150C fan, 170C conventional or Gas 3.
- Lift out the bags, pressing each against the side of the pan, and discard. The milk should be a pale dusty pink and smell strongly of vanilla and honey.
- Rinse the pudding rice briefly under cold water, spread it evenly over the base of a 1-litre shallow baking dish, and scatter the sugar over the top.
- Pour the warm infused milk over from a low height to keep things settled, dot the diced butter across the surface, and grate over plenty of fresh nutmeg.
- Bake undisturbed in the middle of the oven for a full two hours. Do not stir. A golden skin forms, the rice swells, and the liquid reduces to a soft custard beneath.
- Rest the dish for five minutes, then stir the double cream gently through, breaking the skin only at the edges so the middle keeps its dome.
- Spoon into bowls and top each with a little apricot conserve or a drizzle of honey. Best eaten warm.
The tea it is made with, and what to make next.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Dragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g
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