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Combine the milk and sugar in a heavy saucepan, and heat over a medium-high heat, stirring a little to dissolve the sugar.

Meanwhile, mix the rice flour in a small bowl with a little cold water, using a teaspoon, until it is well blended and forms a thin batter the consistency of single cream.

When the milk is hot and steaming, add the rice flour mixture to the pan, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent lumps from forming. Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and is the consistency of a thick sauce. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes until it no longer smells of raw flour, continuing to stir so as to prevent it sticking to the pan.

Remove from the heat and ladle the muhallebi while still hot into individual bowls. Hold the ladle high while pouring to create the bubbles on the surface appreciated by connoisseurs.

Serve cold, sprinkled with powdered cinnamon. This dessert tastes best the day it is made, but can be stored for up to three days in the fridge.

If you wish to stencil the top, cut the desired motif out of wax paper, place it on the surface of the muhallebi after it has cooled and set, and lightly sift powdered cinnamon over it. Remove and repeat with the remaining bowls. Alternatively, you can lightly stamp the tops with a biscuit cutter dipped in powdered cinnamon.

Sütlaç

Rice Pudding

3 tablespoons white short-grain rice

4 cups cold water salt

3 cups milk

6 rounded tablespoons sugar

There are two secrets to an ambrosial sütlaç: rich, creamy milk and a long simmer over a very gentle heat (in the old days the pan was left on the dying embers overnight, as with porridge). It is also wise to leave it at least one night before serving. In some households and restaurants today, with time and patience in short supply, sütlaç is thickened with extra rice flour. But a long, gentle simmering allows the rice grains to break down and release their starch into the milk to form a gooey, homogeneous texture. Mahmut bin Tosun, writing in 1893, recommended adding a piece of beeswax the size of a chickpea for an even creamier color.

Place the rinsed rice in a heavy pan with the cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to minimum and leave it, uncovered, for an hour or so, checking from time to time and giving it a stir, so that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom. Cook until the rice grains have almost dissolved and all the water has been absorbed.

Pour in the cold milk, bring to a boil, and turn down the heat as before. Allow to simmer very gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes, this time stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until all the sugar has dissolved and the pudding has reached a creamy consistency.

Pour into individual dishes and serve chilled. Alternatively pour into earthenware or ovenproof bowls. When it is cold and has formed a skin, scorch the surface under a hot grill. Serve cold.

Çukulatali Muhallebi

Chocolate Pudding

3 cups milk

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 teaspoons instant coffee (optional)

2½ tablespoons corn starch

bitter chocolate shavings to garnish

This chocolate pudding is a winning version of the traditional favorite muhallebi. It is delicious and light and, unlike chocolate mousse, does not involve raw eggs. The coffee is optional, but it makes the taste of the chocolate more pronounced.

Heat the milk in a heavy saucepan.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, and coffee, if used. Blend thoroughly with a teaspoon so that the fine cocoa powder coats all the sugar granules. Only then will the cocoa dissolve evenly in the milk.

Stir the mixture into the hot milk.

Dissolve the corn starch in a little extra cold milk or water to form a smooth batter. Add to the hot milk, increase the heat, and cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens so that it coats the back of the