Lemony Brown Sugar Baked Rice Pudding - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup raisins or 1 cup sweet dried cherries
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups whole milk
2 cups half-and-half cream
2/3 cup light brown sugar (or more if desired)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon, zest of
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

Set oven to 325 degrees.
Grease a 1-1/2-quart baking dish.
In a saucepan, heat the water and lemon juice to boiling.
Remove from heat and drop in the raisins (or dried cherries if using).
Let sit for 3-4 minutes to absorb the liquid and plump up.
Combine the rice with milk and half and half cream, brown sugar and salt in the prepared baking dish; mix to combine.
Bake for about 1 hour, stirring often so the rice doesn't settle to the bottom.
Remove from oven and stir in the lemon juice/water/raisin mixture with the lemon rind and the cinnamon.
Return to oven and bake for about another 1-1/2 hours, or until the milk is absorbed.