Apple caramel rice pudding

To go with the Three Rice Salad, I added a fourth rice: pudding rice.
Got this recipe from Food from Plenty, Diana Henry and she credits French Laundry in California. Good pedigree.
And it was gorgeous.

Gently slowly cooked apple slices (i was using windfall from Matt's parents) in cider, so they kept their shape and took on amazing flavour.

Gently cooked the rice in water for 4 minutes, then drained and washed. Then cooked for 25 in milk, stirring occasionally.

Then made caramel - always my favourite bit. I love the burnt colour slowly developing and having to rescue it before it ends up a burned mess. So made that, then added 8 tbsp of cold water, and stood back as it spattered and sput. Then stirred in the caramel to eventually get a thin caramel.

Then assembled the dish in glasses. Layer of apples, spooned on caramel, layer of rice, repeat.

All in all the deep umber amber richness of the caramel deepened a creamy, appley pudding, seeping through it bringing all the flavours and aspects together and enhancing each. Just divine.

It went down a storm :)