How to make proper rice pudding – recipe

There are almost as many rice puddings as there are savoury rice recipes. If the dazzlingly white, school-dinner gloop put you off, this is a much more luxuriant baked dessert, gently spiced and finished with sweet wine and cream. It can be enjoyed warm or cool, on its own or with a spoonful of jarred fruit or some vivid pink spring rhubarb.

Heat the oven to 160C (140C fan)/325F/gas 3 and find a wide baking dish large enough to hold about 1.2 litres of liquid; butter or grease the dish. Melt 450g butter (or a dairy-free alternative) in a saucepan over gentle heat and add 50g soft light brown sugar, stirring to dissolve.

Tip in 100g pudding rice and stir to coat, then keep stirring until the grains turn semi‑translucent and begin to swell. Add 1 litre whole milk, scraping the pan to dislodge any stuck grains, then grate in half the zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and stir in ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon (or a small length of cinnamon stick), 1 bay leaf and the seeds from ½ vanilla pod plus the empty pod.

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