Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's rice pudding with butterscotch apples recipe

Thanks to the school version (out of an enormous tin, I suspect), I used to hate rice pudding. Only recently did I discover how sublime it can be. It's easy, too – the secret being in the occasional stir that helps separate the grains, and the half-and-half mix of milk and cream. Serves 6 For the rice pudding 50g unsalted butter 100g pudding rice 500ml whole milk 500ml double cream 50g caster sugar Fresh nutmeg (optional) For the butterscotch apples 4-5 firm, tart, eating apples (about 400-500g) 50g unsalted butter 50g light brown sugar Heat the oven to 140C/gas mark 1 and butter a deep ovenproof dish. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and add the rice, stirring until coated with butter (it shouldn't fry or even sizzle). Mix the milk and cream together and add to the saucepan. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Transfer to the ovenproof dish, grate a little nutmeg over the surface (if using) and cook for 3-3½ hours. Every 30 minutes, stir gently from bottom to top to separate the grains and work the surface skin back into the pudding, until the rice has expanded to fill the dish and is quite tender (2½-3 hours should do it). For the last 30 minutes, leave to cook without stirring so a golden-brown skin forms, turning the oven up to 170C/gas mark 3 for the last 10 minutes. Peel and core the apples and cut them into 1-2cm dice. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the apples very gently. After 2 minutes, sprinkle with the sugar then gently toss and fry for 12-15 minutes, until tender and glazed. Serve immediately with a generous dollop of the hot rice pudding. • This is an edited excerpt from The River Cottage Year by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Hodder & Stoughton, £20). © Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 2003. Buy a copy for £16 from the Guardian bookshop