Chilled rice pudding with shortbread and jam

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Place the rice in a bowl and run it under the cold tap for a few minutes, this will wash off excess starch. Once it’s washed, transfer the rice to a rectangular ovenproof dish.
3. Place a saucepan on the heat and add the milk. Warm this to just above hand temperature before pouring over the rice in the dish. Halve the vanilla pods, scrape the seeds from the pods into the dish and add the halved pods as well. Stir in the icing sugar and salt.
4. Place a sheet of baking parchment onto the surface of the rice and milk; this will prevent a skin from forming. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 45 minutes until the rice is just cooked. You’ll know by tasting a few grains. It should be soft.
5. Meanwhile, to make the shortbread, place the icing sugar, vanilla and butter in a mixer using a paddle and mix until smooth. Add the flour and mix until a rough dough just comes together.
6. Place the dough on a sheet of flour dusted parchment paper and fold the paper over on itself. Roll the dough into a rough rectangle until it is about 2 cm thick. Place this on a tray and rest in the fridge for one hour.
7. Now back to the rice pudding. Once it’s cooked, remove the parchment and scrape the mixture into a clean bowl. At this stage the vanilla pods have done their job so can be discarded. Chill the rice in the fridge (it will absorb more of the liquid as it chills).
8. Towards the end of the hour of shortbread dough chilling, heat the oven to 185°C. Line a baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper.
9. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and peel back the parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into rectangular biscuits and carefully move them to the baking tray using a spatula.
10. Sprinkle with caster sugar and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
11. When ready to serve, whip the 100 ml of cream until it holds soft peaks. Fold this through the pudding to lighten the texture. Adjust the seasoning with icing sugar if needed. Serve in bowls with a spoonful of jam and some crumbled shortbread biscuits. Keep the rest of the biscuits to enjoy with a cup of tea.