Sluttishly Sweet: Cardamom and Vanilla Rice Pudding with Raspberry and Rose Compote

Homemade rice pudding is a thing of glory. Easy to make and involving nothing more taxing than stirring, this dessert will fill your home with delicious, comforting smells of cardamom and vanilla and make you want to snuggle someone (or the bowl, I snuggle the bowl).

There are of course some days when only a slow baked, sticky, nutmeg-y rice pud will do and I'm all for those when I have the patience, but this version has leapfrogged that for top spot of heavenly desserts for me. The warming cardamom and sweet, heady vanilla rice pudding is gently off set by the tart and floral raspberry and rose compote to ensure that I'm mega swooning all over my spoon.

Cardamom & Vanilla Rice Pudding with raspberry & Rose Compote (serves 4)
You will need:
For the rice pudding

• 800ml milk
• 400ml double cream
• 10 green cardamom pods
• 2 vanilla pods, split lengthways and seeds scraped onto a knife
• 200g pudding rice 
• 100g caster sugar

For the compote

• 150g frozen raspberries
• 50 ml Chambord raspberry liqueur
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1 tblsp caster sugar 
• 1 tbsp water

Make it!

1. Put the milk and cream into a saucepan on a low heat. Bash the cardamom pods and add them to the pan along with the vanilla seeds and pods, heat until blood temperature then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes.
2. Put your compote ingredients in a pan and heat gently, give the pan a swirl to help all the flavours mingle and the berries to break down. Once it's thickened taste and add a bit more sugar if you like but it wants to be quite tart. Leave to cool.
3. After 30 minutes use a tea strainer to fish out the green cardamom pod cases, I like to leave the vanilla in until the end. Add your rice and return to the heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a gently simmer and cook for about 30-35 minutes, stirring often, until the rice is cooked. If it is a bit thick you can just add a bit more cream or milk.
4. Fish out the vanilla pods then serve immediately with a big dollop of compote on top.