Can I Use Coconut Milk For The Rice Pudding Cake?

Our answer

Nigella's Rice Pudding Cake (from COOK, EAT, REPEAT) is a version of the Italian torta di riso. Rice pudding is mixed with butter, sugar and eggs and baked in a springform tin. The whisked egg whites act as a leavening for the cake.

The recipe uses full-fat or whole milk. We would be slightly cautious about using canned coconut milk or "light" coconut milk for the recipe as it is much higher in fat than cow's milk, which could make the cake more heavy and cloying, and also it is much sweeter than cow's milk, which would make the finished cake taste very sweet. If you wanted to use coconut milk then we would suggest using one can and making up the rest of the volume with milk. If you need to avoid the lactose in milk then you could use coconut milk from a can and your favourite unsweetened plant-based milk. In the UK there is a "coconut drink" that seems to be a combination of coconut milk, water and rice milk or almond milk (plus some stabilisers). This may work as an alternative in the same quantity as the cow's milk. However, please note that as we have not tried the recipe with plant-based milks, we are unable to guarantee the results.