There is never a time in my house when rice pudding is not greeted with cheers. With a little stewed fruit, it’s a creamy, healthy dessert.

These days, we make it with lactose free milk. I’ve not yet not tried making it with plant-based milks, but I see plenty of vegan variations online. A lot of these variations also use maple syrup, and there’s no reason you can’t serve this with a little maple syrup too! Stewed or fresh fruit, a little ice cream, on its own, it’s really lovely warm or cold.

While rice originated in Asia, it was warmly embraced once it found its way to Europe and England. I found this lovely article which takes a look back 600 years to some of England’s earliest known recipes. Rice then was both used as a savoury (type of risotto) dish, i.e. the Rice (Ryse) of Flesh with broth (see the 14th century recipe!). Also cooked back then was a rice pottage using just water. This would evolve into the rice pudding.

As for that evolution, the type of thing Henry VIII might have eaten, here is that recipe, which used almond milk and honey:

“Take a porcyoun of Rys, and pyke hem clene, and sethe hem welle, and late hem kele; then take gode Milke of Almaundys and do there-to, and sethe and stere hem wyl; and do there-to Sugre an hony, and serve forth.”
-Medieval rice pudding recipe as quoted by Romero, J. (2020, April 3). Medieval Rice Pudding. Love British History. URL. Translation also on website

While we’re on the subject of old-fashioned recipes, here’s a nice accompaniment to rice pudding – stewed pears!

Ingredients

½ cup short grain (or medium if that’s all you got) grain rice. Can use a fraction more, won’t hurt
4 cups milk of your choosing (about a litre, full cream, lactose-free, plant-based), can be a bit more, won’t hurt
½ cup raw sugar (for that hint of molasses flavour)
1-2 tsp vanilla extract, depending on your taste
sprinkle cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

Remove excess starch from rice by washing in a strainer under cold water. Drain well.
Put milk and sugar into saucepan and bring to boil. As soon as it boils, add in the rice and immediately reduce heat. If you don’t you might burn the rice. Stir for a few minutes.
Cover with a tight lid and simmer very gently on a very low heat (almost your very lowest). For the first half hour, check every ten minutes and stir to ensure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom or sides.
The rice will absorb the milk, so cook until almost all the milk has been absorbed. This will be about an hour, or just a bit over. Taste to ensure rice is soft with no crunch. It should be creamy.
At this point add essence and stir. It doesn’t matter if the texture is a little soupy, the rice continues to absorb the milk even off the heat. You can also sprinkle with a little cinnamon for flavour and good looks. If not eating straight away, leave to cool for about 20 minutes before refrigerating.
Serve hot or cold with stewed/fresh fruit, or honey, or maple syrup, or ice cream.

Hello!

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding