Caramel Rice Flan
- Butter or cooking spray for the souffle dish
- 23 cup Arborio rice
- 4 3/4 cups milk
- 2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons cardamom pods, cracked with the side of a knife
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 13 cups sugar
- Heat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Lightly butter, or use cooking spray, on a 1 1/2-quart souffle dish (preferably nonstick).
- In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil.
- Stir in rice and cook for 15 minutes.
- Drain, then add rice to a medium saucepan with 4 cups of the milk, the cinnamon sticks and the ground cardamom.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the rice is very tender.
- Drain away any milk that has not been absorbed, then put rice into a medium bowl and stir in the lemon zest.
- To make the custard, in a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, combine the remaining 3/4 cup milk, the cardamom pods and the cream.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, yolks, salt and 1/3 cup of the sugar.
- When the milk mixture comes to a simmer, slowly ladle it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
- Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the pan (discarding cardamom), then stir in the rice.
- To make the caramel, in a heavy small saucepan stir together the remaining cup of sugar and 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil.
- Cook over high heat for 5 to 8 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture turns a honey-amber shade.
- Immediately pour into the souffle dish, swirling to make sure the caramel coats about 3/4 of the height of the dish.
- Without waiting for the caramel to harden, immediately pour the rice mixture into the caramel-coated souffle dish.
- Fill a large roasting pan halfway with very hot tap water, and place the souffle dish in the roasting pan.
- Cover roasting pan tightly with foil and punch several holes in the foil in the corners of the roasting pan.
- Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for about 2 hours (start checking after 1 hour and 45 minutes) or until the custard is set around the edges but the center still jiggles slightly.
- Remove dish from the water bath, cool on a rack, then refrigerate until set and cold, at least 6 hours or preferably overnight.
- To serve, place the souffle dish in a large bowl filled with enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the souffle dish.
- Let stand for 20 minutes, dry the bottom of the souffle dish, then run a knife around the edge of the custard and turn it out onto a platter.
- (It will stick and not look picture perfect.)
- Serve with a spoon.
butter, arborio rice, milk, cinnamon, ground cardamom, lemon, cardamom pods, heavy cream, eggs, egg yolks, salt, sugar
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013575 (may not work)