Sütlaç, it melts on your tongue

This recipe is from a Turkish cookbook I got from the local library and it was a great succes. I am not usually the biggest fan of desserts, but my boyfriend has a sweet tooth. However, this pudding looked so delicious on the picture and after reading the description I came to the conclusion that it was a very light dessert I absolutely had to try. I made it with almond milk, instead of a non-vegetal product. The only seasoning in this pudding is vanilla, but please feel free to use more, like lemon zest or rose water. As a garnish, I added some ground cinnamon and dried roze petals and look what a beauty it became! In the written recipe it said you should constantly stir the milk while it simmers, until it thickens. But it didn't. Not so much anyway. At one point I just got tired of it and went on to the next step, even though the milk was not of the expected consistency. I just assumed it was because of the almond milk. In the end, the result was perfect. It takes a while to prepare this pudding, but it is really worth it! I also made the original version with full milk once, but the almond dessert was by far the nicest. So even if you are allowed to eat dairy products, please consider using almond milk! Ingredients, serves 6-8 - 2L almond milk - 100g round grain rice (I used Arborio) - 100g sugar - 2 tbsp rice flour - 2 tsp vanilla essence

Put the rice in a big heavy-botomed pot and add 250mL water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer until all the water has been absorbed. Then add the milk, turn up the heat and bring to a boil while slowly stirring. Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer while the milk thickens. It should take about 20-30 minutes. If after 15 minutes you still don't notice any change in the consistency, just take the lid off the pan and that should do the job. The milk should be somewhat like cappuccino milk. Not exaggerated foam, but the proper, thik milk layer you get in the better cafes. Add sugar and vanilla and let simmer for another 20 minutes (I know, it takes a lot of time). In the meantime, preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Put 2 full tablespoons of rice flower in a little bowl and add water while whisking until it becomes a smooth paste. Add a big soup spoon of the hot milk from the pot and keep stirring to avoid lumps. Add the mixture to the pot and stir for 7 more minutes. Turn off the heat and transfer the milk to a oven dish. Please make sure the oven dish is deep enough, because the milk will rise when inside the oven and you don't want it to get all over the place, do you? If you have a family tagine, you could also use the bottom. Put the pudding in the middle of the oven and bake for about 30 minutes until the top shows some brownish spots. If it doesn't, then use the oven grill and wait until the colour of the pudding is to your satisfaction. Take it out of the oven, let it cool and then put it in the fridge overnight.Please don't be tempted to eat the pudding until the day after you made it, because you'll be sorry. To decorate, I used cinnamon and rose petals. Serve cold, with fruit like blueberries and raspberries. Afiyet Olsun!