Anna Higham of Quince Bakery's Rice Pudding Tart with Strawberry Compote

Method

Combine the milk and double cream in a wide pot and place over a medium heat. Split open the vanilla pods and scrape the seeds out. Rub them through your sugar. Add this vanilla sugar, the scraped pods and a pinch of salt to the warming liquids. Whisk this mixture to make sure it is not catching on the bottom of the pan. Once the milk is hot, turn up the heat until it reaches a rolling boil. Add the rice whilst whisking and immediately turn down the heat to a strong simmer. Simmer the rice for about 40 minutes, whisking every now and then to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom and to help release the starch from the rice. After about half an hour start tasting, the rice needs to be fully cooked but there will still be a fair mount of liquid in the pan. When its ready the rice will be tender and you’ll start to see the rice on the surface of the liquid in the centre of the pan but there will still be a ring of liquid around the outside. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl to cool. Continue to stir it as it cools.

For the strawberry compote wash and de-hull your fruit. Cut them into quarters and combine with the sugar and vinegar in a heavy bottomed pan. Mix this well so that the strawberries get a little mashed and there are no patches of dry sugar. Place or a medium high heat and bring to the boil. Cook the compote on a high heat for around 10 minutes until it is thickened and beginning to set.

Preheat your oven to 190c (170c fan assisted)Add your egg yolks to the cooled rice pudding. Whisk your egg whites until medium peaks and fold through the rice pudding. Pour this into your Mud Australia piece. Swirl in the strawberry compote and finally sprinkle over some demerara sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the top is deeply golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.