• Risalamande (creamy rice pudding)

    Serves: 12
    Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes + cooling

    Ingredients

    • Pudding

    • 1L (4 cups) full-cream milk
    • 10ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
    • 10ml (2 tsp) cinnamon
    • 150g arborio rice
    • 2,5ml (½ tsp) salt
    • 80g blanched almonds, chopped
    • 1 whole almond
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) sugar
    • 250ml (1 cup) whipping cream
    • Fruit sauce

    • 850g (2 tins) pitted black cherries, drained, saving the juice
    • 105g (½ cup) castor sugar water
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) cornflour
    • fresh or tinned cherries, to serve
    • flaked almonds, to serve

    Instructions

    1

    For the pudding, place the milk, vanilla, cinnamon and rice in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer over low heat and cook until the rice has cooked and the milk has thickened, stirring often to ensure it does not stick to the bottom, about 1 hour.

    2

    Add the salt. Do not worry if the mixture seems too milky, it will be completely slurped up by the rice. Allow it to cool.

    3

    Add the chopped almonds, whole almond and sugar. Whip the cream and fold it into the cold rice mixture. Refrigerate.

    4

    For the sauce, bring the cherry juice to a boil, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Reduce the heat to a simmer.

    5

    Using a separate cup, add a little water to the cornflour, stirring to make a paste. Take 30ml (2 tbsp) of the hot cherry juice and add to the cornflour paste. Stir and pour into the juice in the pot.

    6

    Add the cherries to the hot mixture and stir until the sauce thickens slightly.

    7

    Serve in glasses topped with fresh or tinned cherries and flaked almonds.

    Recipe by Angelina Claassen