Baked Austrian Rice Pudding ("reisauflauf")

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 250 g short-grain rice (or risotto rice such as arborio)
• 1 liter milk (or replace 250ml by cream)
• 100 g brown sugar
• 4 small ripe bananas
• 3 eggs (separate)
• 50 g butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 dash salt
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, for coating

Recipe

• 1 slice vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds.
• 2 bring milk and if using cream to a boil and add rice and vanilla seeds.
• 3 reduce heat, cover pot and let rice steam until soft (about 20minutes).
• 4 separate eggs and beat egg whites with a dash of salt until firm.
• 5 mix butter, sugar until creamy.
• 6 add egg yolks, cinnamon and lemon zest. mix again.
• 7 cut bananas in 5mm slices/rounds.
• 8 add rice and mix until "batter" is homogeneous.
• 9 incorporate beaten egg whites slowly.
• 10 butter a casserole or a cake pan and pour in half of the rice batter. spread mixture evenly.
• 11 cover rice batter with banana slices and cover with the other half of rice batter. spread evenly.
• 12 sprinkle with 3 tablespoons brown sugar.
• 13 let bake at 175°c for about 25-30 minutes until a golden brown crust has formed.
• 14 enjoy!