A refreshing twist on an old favourite.

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole milk
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 2 strips pared lemon rind
• ½ cup short-grain rice
• 1 cup cream
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ½ large papaya

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a 5-cup capacity ovenproof dish.
2. Bring the milk, sugar and lemon rind to scalding point and stir until sugar dissolves.
3. Add the rice and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly so the milk does not catch. Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish. Cover with foil or a lid.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent a skin forming. Stir in the cream and cardamom, then cook for a further 5 minutes. Cool, then chill. Serve in individual serving glasses topped with papaya puree.
5. To make the puree, remove the seeds from the papaya half and peel. Place the pulp into a food processor and process until smooth. Sweeten to taste. Accompany with a crisp shortbread like these Passionfruit Shortbreads if wished.

Cooks Tips

- You could use ginger in place of cardamom.