Sweetness and Spice and All Things Nice!

Crema di Riso con Cardamone, Polvere di Cassis, Essenza di Rose, Pistacchie & Miele
Cardamom, Cassis Powder & Rosewater Rice Pudding with Pistachio & Honey

 

 A simple, small, but sweet and satisfying little rice pudding was just the thing to finish of my little supper this evening. Being as my first course was so very light, I decided to indulge a little and make this little beauty.

Perfumed with an exotic hint of rosewater, cardamom and cassis-powder, scattered with pistachios and drizzled with honey it is both easy to make and delicious to eat. Let me tell you how...

 

This is a basic and simple, classic rice pudding- all it takes is some nice full milk and about a half an hour of gentle stirring every now and again... and in this case, to make it a little special, just a few unusual ingredients...

 

 This was just a small, individual serving and the ingredients were as follows- 1 cupful of pudding-rice, 1 teaspoon of cassis powder, 1 teaspoon of rosewater, 2 cardamom pods and a little honey and pistachio to scatter when finished.

 

 
A simple but rich and exotic little treat! What's not to like?

 

 Grind the cardamom pods finely and add them to two teaspoons of milk, with a teaspoon of sugar and bring it up to the boil. Add the rice, stir-in well and when it has come back up to the boil reduce the hat to a slow simmer and allow to cook for 20 minutes.

 

 After 20 minutes or so, add the cassis powder and rosewater. Cassis powder is made from ground, dried black currants... it has all of the flavor, but no sweetness of its own. If you can not get the powder, you can always substitute it with a black currant cordial for example- or of course with fresh currants! I just used what I had- as usual!

Stir-in well and allow to simmer on for a further 10 minutes or so until the rice is rich and creamy. Keep your eyes on the rice and add more milk as necessary should it begin to dry up.

 

 
Once the rice is soft and creamy, turn off the heat and allow it to sit and rest for a further 5 minutes. In this time the rice will continue cooking and becoming more fluffy.

Sprinkle generously with pistachios and drizzle with honey before serving... and enjoy! The aroma and flavor of the cardamom, rosewater and cassis are really lovely together! I think you might just like it!