This may be Lucas’s new favourite food. He gobbled down a massive portion in record time–it’s amazing just how much food that boy can eat when his taste buds get motivated….

In cold weather you can’t beat rice pudding and when we woke up to a second morning of frost I decided to use up the rest of Lucas’s milk before it went out of date. (I say Lucas’s milk because it’s full-fat and as per usual I’m trying to lose weight. I wish the farm we bought it from sold skimmed milk, too….) By the time I added the milk to the cooked rice the house smelled amazing–I love the smell of vanilla, don’t you?–and the decision to make a spiced dried fruits compote was definitely the right one.

The rice pudding is very lightly sweetened and would probably be pretty boring on its own–at least by my standards–but when you top it with a few spoonfuls of the compote it positively sings. The fruit was meltingly tender and picked up bags of flavour from the spices. I had to taste it, as Lucas’s food critiquing skills still only consist of throwing it at my glasses or grinning and saying “Mnhummm-yummm-num.” Thankfully today it was happy noises and babble.

Actually I think I’ll steal a bowl when he goes to sleep. He’ll never notice….

Lucas’s Rice Pudding

150g pudding rice (risotto rice could be substituted)
1 vanilla pot, split lengthways
pinch of salt
50g sugar
500ml full-fat milk

In a small saucepan simmer the rice in 500ml water with the vanilla pod and salt until almost all of the water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Add the sugar and milk. Stir well. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer very gently, stirring frequently. After about 30 minutes the rice pudding should be thickened but still slightly soupy.

Spiced Dried Fruits Compote

500ml pear (or apple) juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 tsp runny honey
200g dried apricots (snip about half into small pieces)
100g mixture of raisins and sultanas

Bring juice to the boil with spices and honey. Add fruit, return to boil. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer until the syrup is thickened to your liking.

If serving to children then I’m afraid you’ll have to fish through the pan for the cloves. Sorry!

Either serve hot compote on the cool rice pudding or cool compote on warm rice pudding. Enjoy!