rice pudding cake

Nigella Lawson’s rice pudding cake turns milk-cooked arborio rice into a baked cake with lemon, vanilla and grated nutmeg. She serves this version warm with a separate raspberry-jam sauce.

Arborio rice, full-fat milk, fine sea salt and finely grated lemon zest heat just below boiling, then cook gently until the rice is cooked and the milk absorbed. Unsalted butter melts into the rice before the mixture cools.

The three eggs are separated. Stiffly whisked whites are folded into the cooled rice after the yolks have been whisked with caster sugar, vanilla extract and a little juice from the zested lemon.

The mixture goes into a buttered springform tin and receives grated nutmeg before baking until set. It rests on a wire rack until slightly warm, then is unmoulded onto a plate.

Just before serving, seedless raspberry jam heats with a separate measure of fresh lemon juice. The sauce goes into a jug warmed with hot water and emptied, ready to accompany the warm cake.