Moroccan Rice Pudding

Ingredients

• 8 cardamom pods
• 125 g pearl rice
• 500 ml milk
• 2 vanilla beans (aroma)
• a few drops bitter almond essence
• 3 tbsp orange blossom water
• 6 sheets white gelatin
• 100 g sugar
• 40 g pistachio nuts
• 50 g candied orange peel
• 325 g heavy cream
• 3 untreated oranges
• 1 Pomegranate
• 200 g kumquats

Instructions

1. 1.

   Release the cardamom seeds from the pods and crush them finely in a mortar. Bring the rice, milk, cardamom, vanilla, almond essence, and orange blossom water to a boil. Cook covered over very low heat for 25 minutes until tender.

2. 2.

   Soak gelatin in cold water. Boil 125 ml water with 50 g sugar, then remove from heat. Squeeze out excess water from the gelatin, dissolve it in the warm syrup, and stir into the rice. Cool the rice until it begins to thicken.

3. 3.

   Meanwhile, roughly chop pistachios in a blender, set aside some pistachios and a bit of candied orange peel. Fold the pistachios and orange peel into the slightly thickened rice.

4. 4.

   Whip the cream stiffly and fold it into the rice. Spoon the mixture into eight rinsed ramekins (100 ml each) and chill until firm.

5. 5.

   Peel the skin of one orange with a julienne peeler. Squeeze about 200 ml of juice from the oranges. Melt the remaining sugar in a pot to a golden brown caramel, stir in the orange zest, pour in the orange juice, and simmer gently for 10 minutes until syrupy; then cool.

6. 6.

   Break open the pomegranate, remove the seeds with a fork. Slice kumquats thinly. Plate the rice pudding from the ramekins onto plates. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds, kumquats, remaining pistachios, and leftover candied orange peel over the pudding. Drizzle with some orange syrup and serve the rest on the side.