Luxury Vanilla Rice Pudding with Gin Soaked Prunes

It's been a long long time since I last made rice pudding. Now I've made it again, I think it may feature on our menu more often.....

I think what puts me off is the long 2 hour baking time. It just takes so long to oven bake rice pudding !

This was made in just 15 minutes in my electric pressure cooker. What's more, it's so so simple. You don't have to serve it with gin soaked prunes - apples and cinnamon or other fresh fruits would be lovely. Even a great big dollop of homemade jam !

Soak your prunes in gin for a minimum of overnight. The prunes shown here were VERY mature and had been soaking in a jar for over a year. The remaining alcohol in the jar was a dark sticky brown and lovely and syrupy from the natural sugars in the prunes. Simply pop a few on top with a spoonful or two of the deadly liquer.

Rice Pudding Recipe

400mls of whole milk

150mls of double cream

80 grams of pudding rice

40 grams of sugar

1 vanilla pod

small knob of butter

Put all the ingredients into the electric pressure cooker. Remove the seeds from the vanilla pod. Add both the seeds and the pod to the pot. Bring the temperature up to almost simmering and give a good stir. Put the lid on and set to high pressure for 15mins.

When the time is up, release the steam. You may need to cook it for a few minutes more to thicken the rice pudding a little. It will still be a little wet.

Pour into a large bowl and cover with cling film. Make sure the film touches the surface of the rice pudding to stop it forming a skin. Allow to sit for about 30mins to absorb some of the remaining "sauce" and thicken. The cling film helps keep the heat in - it will be perfect temperature to serve

Enjoy !

Sarah-Jane Nash, August 2011