Teurgoule

Mix directly in the dish. Mix 150 g rice, 180 g sugar, 6 g cinnamon and 1 g salt directly in the 3 litre earthenware dish, then pour in 2,000 ml whole milk and stir once to distribute the rice. Timing: 10 minutes. Mixing directly in the baking vessel avoids disturbing the developing surface later. Use pasteurised milk and keep it refrigerated before use. The rice and cinnamon are evenly dispersed through the milk with no dry clumps on the base.

Bake low and long. Bake uncovered without frequent stirring until the surface forms a thick deep-brown skin and the rice underneath is completely tender in a thick, creamy body. Timing: 300 minutes. Heat: 140 °C conventional oven. Temperature: 140 °C. Long low heat slowly hydrates the rice and concentrates the milk beneath the characteristic skin. The earthenware and milk are very hot; use dry oven gloves and avoid spilling the deep dish. A thick, deeply browned wrinkled skin covers the surface, the rice grains underneath are fully tender and the pudding beneath the skin is thick rather than soupy.

Cool safely. Leave the dish to cool briefly before serving warm or moving it to refrigeration. Timing: 30 minutes. Keep off the heat. A short cooling period improves serving texture without prolonged room-temperature holding. Refrigerate within 2 hours of leaving the oven. After 30 minutes the pudding has stopped steaming vigorously and has thickened further while the skin remains intact.