Chef Juliette
Almond Pudding
Six almond-lined moulds, gently poached until softly risen, with white-wine sabayon scented by orgeat. The lesson is simple and exact: the bain-marie must tremble, never boil.
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English Rice Pudding
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2502, English Rice Pudding, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Firm rice grains held in loose vanilla custard, baked in the serving dish and dusted with icing sugar. Pull it early, because the quiet standing time completes the oven’s work.
Desserts
French
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
10 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings
Pouding de riz à l’anglaise teaches restraint. The rice must remain distinct, the egg-thickened milk must stay loose, and the pudding must leave the oven before it looks finished. Know that one thing before touching the pan: it thickens as it stands.
The original formula was already domestic at heart: no saucier, no perpetual stockpot, no salamander, only a saucepan, a pie dish, and an oven. Its six ounces of rice and quart of milk make a larger family pudding, so every core quantity here is reduced to two thirds, including two eggs in place of three. The proportions remain intact and the result feeds four. There is no brigade scaffolding to strip away; the gentle milk cooking, the egg thickening, and the early pull are the dish.
When it is ready, individual grains sit in a pale vanilla custard that moves under the spoon rather than holding a rigid cut. Watch the centre, not the clock. If you wait for firmness in the oven, you have waited too long.
This pudding belongs first to the English nursery and family supper table, where rice, milk, butter, and eggs made a generous baked sweet from an economical pantry. It entered the French classical repertoire as a preparation à l’anglaise, preserving its English pie-dish service while applying the French habit of judging custard by texture. Despite its place among custards, it is not meant to set firmly: distinct grains and a loose whole are the defining character.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
short-grain white rice
Quantity
Scant ⅔ cup (150 ml / 113 g)
whole milk
Quantity
2⅔ cups (630 ml / 650 g)
granulated sugar
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 38 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g)
softened and divided
large eggs
Quantity
2
vanilla extract
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g)
icing sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| short-grain white rice | Scant ⅔ cup (150 ml / 113 g) |
| whole milk | 2⅔ cups (630 ml / 650 g) |
| granulated sugar | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 38 g) |
| unsalted buttersoftened and divided | 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) |
| large eggs | 2 |
| vanilla extract | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) |
| icing sugar | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
- •1½-quart oven-safe pie dish
- •Whisk
- •Fine-mesh sieve for the icing sugar
- •Instant-read thermometer, optional
Instructions
- 1
Prepare dish and oven
Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Use 1 tablespoon of the softened butter to coat the bottom and sides of a 1½-quart pie dish generously, especially around the rim where the custard is most likely to catch.
- 2
Cook rice gently
Put the rice and milk in a heavy saucepan and bring them just to a simmer over medium heat. Lower the heat and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring often across the pan floor, until the grains are swollen but still firm at their centres. The mixture must remain plainly liquid. If the milk catches, do not scrape the scorched bottom; pour the unburned pudding into a clean saucepan and continue. Ça se rattrape.
Keep the simmer lazy. A hard boil breaks the grains, reduces the milk too quickly, and leaves you with paste before the eggs have done their work. - 3
Enrich the mixture
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the granulated sugar, vanilla, and remaining 3 tablespoons of butter until the butter melts and the liquid gleams. Let it stand for 2 minutes so the eggs meet heat with some manners.
- 4
Temper the eggs
Whisk the eggs in a bowl until evenly blended. Gradually whisk in about 1 cup of the hot milky liquid, drawing it from around the rice, then gently stir this liaison, the egg thickener, back into the saucepan off the heat. Work steadily and never return it to the burner. The mixture should look alarmingly loose. It is exactly right.
- 5
Bake while loose
Pour everything into the buttered pie dish, distributing the rice evenly. Bake for 18 to 24 minutes, until the outer inch looks softly set but the centre still ripples broadly when the dish is nudged. An instant-read thermometer should register at least 160°F (71°C) near the centre. Do not wait for a firm surface; the standing time will finish the thickening.
- 6
Dust and settle
Take the pudding from the oven and immediately sift the icing sugar evenly over its surface, exactly as the preparation demands. Let it stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm from the pie dish while the custard still slumps around the spoon and the grains remain distinct. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Use short-grain pudding rice or another plump short-grain white rice. Long-grain rice stays too separate, while risotto rice works but produces a slightly starchier pudding; whichever you choose, stop the stovetop cooking while the centre still has resistance.
- •Vanilla is the chosen flavouring here because the source leaves the milk’s perfume to the cook. Keep it quiet. The pudding should taste first of milk, butter, rice, and egg, with vanilla behind them.
- •Do not place the icing sugar under a broiler. This is a dusted nursery pudding, not a caramel-crusted custard, and a salamander adds nothing the dish wants.
- •The decisive cue is movement. When the baked centre rolls in one broad ripple, take it out; when it quivers like firm jelly, it has already gone too far.
Advance Preparation
- •The dish can be buttered and all ingredients measured several hours ahead. Once the eggs enter the warm rice mixture, pour and bake it promptly.
- •The finished pudding is best served after its 10-minute rest. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for up to 2 days; rewarm gently, knowing the grains will soften and the custard will be thicker.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 215g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
19 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
140 mg
Sodium
110 mg
Total Carbohydrates
42 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
20 g
Protein
10 g
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