Firin Sutlac (Baked Turkish Rice Pudding)
Turkey's most beloved milk dessert: creamy rice pudding baked until the top blisters into a caramelised, mahogany-brown skin. Served chilled in little clay bowls, it is pure nostalgia.
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Ingredients
150 g (3/4 cup) baldo or other short-grain rice
400 ml (1 2/3 cups) water, for cooking the rice
1.5 litres (6 cups) whole milk
200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
3 tbsp wheat starch (or rice flour), dissolved in 100 ml cold milk
1 sachet (5 g) vanilla sugar
2 egg yolks, for the golden top
2 tbsp milk, to loosen the egg wash
A pinch of salt
Ground cinnamon or crushed hazelnuts, to serve
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the rice, put it in a wide pot with the water and a pinch of salt and simmer gently until the water is absorbed and the grains are soft, about 12-15 minutes.
- 2
Pour in the milk, bring it just to the boil, then simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring often so nothing catches.
- 3
Add the sugar and vanilla sugar and stir until dissolved.
- 4
Whisk the wheat starch into the cold milk until smooth, pour it into the pot in a thin stream and cook, stirring constantly, for another 5-8 minutes until the pudding lightly coats the back of a spoon.
- 5
Divide the pudding between 8 small ovenproof bowls or clay sutlac dishes and let them cool for 10 minutes.
- 6
Set the bowls in a deep roasting tray and pour hot water into the tray to come a third of the way up their sides.
- 7
Beat the egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of milk and gently brush a thin layer over the surface of each pudding.
- 8
Slide the tray under a hot grill (or into a 240C oven, top shelf) for 5-10 minutes, watching closely, until the tops are blistered and deep mahogany brown.
- 9
Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 4 hours and serve cold, dusted with cinnamon or crushed hazelnuts.
Walk into any muhallebici — a traditional Turkish milk-pudding shop — and the counter will be lined with rows of firin sutlac, their scorched tops glowing under the lights. That burnished, caramelised skin is what separates baked sutlac from ordinary rice pudding: underneath it hides a cool, creamy, gently sweet pudding scented with vanilla.
The method is simple but rewards patience. Baldo rice, the plump short grain used across Turkey, is first cooked in water until soft, then simmered in whole milk with sugar until the mixture coats the spoon. A slurry of wheat starch (or rice flour) gives it that signature muhallebi silkiness. Traditional clay bowls are ideal because they take the heat of the grill beautifully, but any small ovenproof ramekins work.
For the famous top, an egg-yolk wash brushed over each bowl before a few minutes under a hot grill guarantees deep, even browning. Bake the bowls sitting in a tray of water so the pudding below stays soft while the surface scorches. You will find baldo rice, wheat starch, vanilla and even the classic clay sutlac bowls at Turkish Online Market.
Chill for at least four hours before serving — sutlac is always eaten cold, ideally with a sprinkle of cinnamon or crushed hazelnuts and a glass of Turkish tea alongside.
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