Rice Pudding with Cardamom Poached Peaches
I would wager a guess that many people across the globe would choose a rice dish as the dish that reminds them most of home. A grain of rice once cooked slowly, whether that’s in a rich chicken stock, with spices or in soup, will soak up all those flavours, soften and become one of the most comforting things to eat. My mum would always make huge pots of rice, swimming in creamy, sweetened milk and vanilla, ladled into unmatched bowls and finished with a dollop of ruby-red raspberry jam. My mum only has a handful of recipes up her sleeve but I always loved to watch her cook them. I adore the jam topping but I also love these syrupy, cardamom-scented peaches. Cold with extra cream is my preference. It’s a humble bowl but this is really home for me, it’s something I look forward to cooking with my own daughter in the years to come.
Ingredients
- 175 gramspudding or short-grain rice
- 900 milliliterswhole milk, plus 150 ml whole milk (optional)
- 150 millilitersdouble cream
- 85 gramscaster sugar
- 1 teaspoonvanilla bean paste
- 4large ripe peaches
- 10cardamom pods, bashed 1
- 100 gramssoft light brown sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspooncornflour
Instructions
- 1
For the peaches, pit and slice the peaches into 6 wedges each. Tip into a large saucepan with the cardamom pods, light brown sugar and lemon juice and bring to a low simmer. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, or until syrupy.
- 2
Pour a little of the syrup into a cup and mix with the cornflour. Pour this into the peaches, gently stir and bring back to a simmer for several minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- 3
Wash the rice in a sieve under cold running water for 5 minutes, or until the water runs clear. Add to a large saucepan with the 900ml milk, cream, caster sugar and vanilla. Cook over a low heat for 35–40 minutes, stirring frequently until the rice is just cooked through.
- 4
Once the rice is cooked, remove from the heat. You can now serve this warm or leave to cool, then transfer to the refrigerator and leave until cold. If left to cool, stir the extra 150ml milk into the rice to loosen when ready to serve.
- 5
When ready to serve, scoop out the cardamom pods from the peaches and discard, then serve the rice pudding in bowls topped with the peaches.