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Creamy Rice Pudding
1 quart rich milk 1/2 cup rice, scant 1/3 cup sugar Grated yellow rind of 1/2 lemon A pinch of salt Wash the rice thoroughly by putting it into a dish, pouring hot water over it, and whipping it with a batter whip, then pouring off the water, repeating the process till the water remains clear. Be careful to grate off only the yellow part of the lemon rind. Put all the ingredients into a pudding dish. Cover the dish, set in the oven, and bake very slowly till the rice is tender. The pudding should be stirred occasionally during the cooking. When the pudding is nearly done, the cover may be removed to allow the top of the pudding to brown.
Success in making this pudding depends entirely on the baking. It should be bake slowly, until the rice is thoroughly tender, but not too long; for if baked too long, the pudding will be too dry. It is best served the day after it is made, and should be of a rich, creamy consistency when cold; some might enjoy it served hot. One-eighth package of raisins may be added to the pudding, if desired.
A baked rice pudding with no eggs and no thickener beyond the starch of the grain itself, which means the oven does all the work. The recipe says so outright, and it is right.
- Oven temperatureThe book only says "very slowly," which in period terms means a slow oven, somewhere around 300F. Err on the low side: too much heat sets the milk skinning and catching at the edges before the rice is soft through.
- TimingExpect 2 to 2 1/2 hours covered, plus 15 to 20 minutes uncovered at the end to brown the top. Test the rice, not the clock: pull it the moment the grains are fully tender and there is still loose milk moving around them.
- Rich milkThe book does not define this, but it means unskimmed whole milk, not today's standardised low-fat; whole milk with a little cream stirred in is a fair modern stand-in. Skim or low-fat milk will give a thinner result however long it bakes.
- The riceUse a short or medium grain white rice such as arborio, pudding rice or Calrose. Long grain stays separate and never releases the starch that makes the dish creamy; parboiled and instant rice are useless here.
- WashingThe recipe asks you to repeat the hot-water rinse until the water runs clear, but gives no reason; with modern packaged rice one or two rinses is enough, and do not overdo it, since you want some of that starch.
- Lemon rindTake only the yellow zest, as instructed. The white pith underneath turns bitter over two hours of baking and cannot be corrected afterwards.
- StirringStir two or three times in the first hour to keep the rice from settling into a solid layer on the bottom, then leave it alone so the surface can set and colour.
- Raisins"one-eighth package" assumes a period raisin box whose size is not recorded here; if it was a pound, an eighth comes to roughly 1/3 cup, which is a sensible quantity. The recipe does not say when to add them.
- Yield and servingServes four to six. It thickens considerably as it cools and overnight in the refrigerator, which is why the book prefers it the next day; if it sets too firm, loosen it with a spoonful or two of cold milk.