Sütlaç — Turkish Rice Pudding
Turkish rice pudding, baked until the top blisters dark and the inside stays silky — served cold from the fridge.
Method
- Rinse the rice, then simmer it in the water in a heavy pot over low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the grains are soft. Cooking the rice in water first, not milk, keeps the milk from catching.
- Pour in the milk and bring slowly to a gentle simmer, stirring regularly. Do not let it boil over.
- Simmer gently for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often and scraping the base, until the rice is completely soft and the milk has thickened slightly.
- Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Adding sugar earlier slows the rice from softening.
- Stir the slaked rice flour again and pour it in slowly while stirring. Cook for 5 minutes more until the pudding coats the back of a spoon; it will still look looser than you expect.
- Stir in the vanilla, then divide between six heatproof ramekins or a baking dish.
- Stand the dishes in a roasting tray and pour hot water around them to come halfway up the sides. The water bath protects the sides while the top colours.
- Bake at 220°C, or under a hot grill, for 15 to 20 minutes until the surface is blistered and dark brown in patches — the signature look of fırın sütlaç.
- Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Sütlaç is always served cold, dusted with cinnamon.
How to make Sütlaç — Turkish Rice Pudding
Sütlaç is found in every Turkish dessert shop, usually in a small brown earthenware dish with a scorched top. The oven-baked version, fırın sütlaç, is the one worth making; the plain stovetop pudding is good, but the blistered surface is what makes it memorable.
Cook the rice in water first
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Starting the rice in water rather than milk softens the grains without the constant risk of milk catching on the base. Only once the rice is tender does the milk go in.
Leave it loose
Take the pot off the heat while the pudding still looks too thin. It thickens as it bakes and again as it chills, and a pudding that is perfect in the pan will be stiff and pasty by the time it is served.
The blistered top
A very hot oven or a grill, plus the protection of a water bath, gives the characteristic dark patches in fifteen minutes or so. Watch it closely: there is a short window between blistered and burnt.
Serving
Chill for at least three hours and serve cold, dusted with cinnamon. Some shops add a little mastic for the resinous aroma typical of Turkish milk puddings; it is optional and a little goes a long way.
Traditional Turkish cookery; fırın sütlaç, the oven-baked version, is the one served in Turkish dessert shops. Editorially researched from widely documented preparations, and not kitchen-tested by Axadle.
Contains dairy from milk. Naturally gluten-free and egg-free; check that your rice flour is not blended with wheat.
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