Caramelized Rice Pudding

• whole milk↗3 cups
• arborio rice↗1⁄2 cup
• vanilla↗1⁄2

  bean split, and seeds scraped and reserved

• heavy cream↗3⁄4 cup
• granulated sugar↗1⁄4 cup
• coarse salt↗1⁄4 teaspoon
• large egg yolks↗2
• ground cinnamon↗1 pinch

  plus more for sprinkling

• turbinado sugar or 1/4 cup other raw sugar↗1⁄4 cup

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350°F Put milk, rice and vanilla bean and seeds into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rice has absorbed most of the liquid, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard vanilla bean.

2. 2

   Whisk cream, granulated sugar, salt, yolks, and cinnamon in a bowl. Pour into rice mixture, stirring constantly. Return to heat; bring to a simmer. Divide among 4 6-oz ramekins set in a roasting pan; add boiling water halfway up sides. Bake until almost set, 15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes.

3. 3

   Sprinkle tops with raw sugar, dividing evenly.

4. 4

   Using a kitchen torch, caramelize sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon.