Fruity rice pudding is an easy-peasy dessert that makes hot summer days bearable. It’s a classic comfort food well loved the world over. Cooking the rice is the most time consuming phase, which requires only 20 minutes, after that all you have to do is mixing and layering.

Flavouring depends on your taste, the possibilities are endless. Vanilla goes well with almost every kind of fruit, but cinnamon can be also an alternative, in this case apricot is a good choice. Moreover, you can add cocoa powder to the rice pudding, which is superb with raspberries. This time I layered the pudding with raspberries and bilberries, but any available fruit can be used.

Ingredients:

• 1 l (~4 1/4 cups) milk
• 200 g (~1 cup) rice
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp butter
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 250 ml (~1 cup) whipping cream
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• 2 handfuls of berries

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring milk, rice, salt, vanilla and lemon zest to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the rice is tender, stir in sugar and butter, and cook until they melt. Turn off the heat and let the pudding cool completely.

Whip the cream with one tablespoon of powdered sugar until it reaches stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding. Layer the rice pudding with fruits in glasses or dessert bowls. Chill before serving.