Brûléed rice pudding cake with pear compote

Name: Brûléed rice pudding cake with pear compote
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: Serves 8-10
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 180g arborio rice; 80g light brown soft sugar; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon; Finely grated zest 1 orange; ¼ tsp fine salt; 850ml whole milk; 50g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease; 3 medium eggs; 30g golden caster sugar; For the pear compote; 3 ripe pears (any variety), peeled, cored and cut into 2cm chunks; 30g light brown soft sugar; Pinch ground cinnamon; Juice ½ orange (see Tips); Specialist kit; 20cm round loose-bottomed or springform tin; Spray bottle (optional); Blowtorch

Portion size: Serves 8-10
Hands-on time 45 min, plus 45 min cooling. Oven time 1 hour, plus 1 hour cooling
Difficulty: medium

Freezable

Gluten-free

Emily Gussin

Food producer and sustainability lead, delicious.

Save

Creamy and tender with a pleasant bite and a crunchy crackled brûléed sugar topping, this rice pudding cake will be your new obsession. Here, arborio rice provides structure with a touch of bounce to bring you custard and cake in one.

For another cosy autumnal bake, try our ginger and pear traybake.

Before you start

Risotto rice works best here but you could also use paella rice or pudding rice – the latter will disintegrate more, however, so the texture won’t be the same.

Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode

Ingredients

180g arborio rice
80g light brown soft sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Finely grated zest 1 orange
¼ tsp fine salt
850ml whole milk
50g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
3 medium eggs
30g golden caster sugar

For the pear compote

3 ripe pears (any variety), peeled, cored and cut into 2cm chunks
30g light brown soft sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
Juice ½ orange (see Tips)

Specialist kit

20cm round loose-bottomed or springform tin
Spray bottle (optional)
Blowtorch

Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode

Method

Put the rice, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest, salt and 700ml of the milk in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring every now and then to make sure the milk doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan, then reduce the heat so there’s minimal bubbling and cook the rice is tender and the milk has been absorbed.
Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining 150ml milk and the butter. Stir together and set aside to cool for 45 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the base of the cake tin with butter and baking paper.
Recipe continues after advertising adslot-recipe-4
Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the cooled rice mixture and the whites to a large, clean bowl. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks (ones that don’t flop over when you lift out the beaters) using an electric mixer. Use a rubber spatula to beat the yolks into the rice mixture, then fold in the egg whites.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 55-60 minutes or until set with a slight wobble. Release the edge of the cake with a palette knife and remove from the tin, but keep it on the base. Sit on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, put the pears, sugar, cinnamon and a small splash of water in a medium pan over a medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes until collapsed into a compote. Stir in the orange juice and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cover with a lid to keep warm.
After an hour the cake should be slightly warm. Take it off the base and transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the caster sugar, spritz with a mist of water (ideally from a spray bottle), then blowtorch to create a crunchy bruléed surface. Serve with a spoonful of pear compote.