Black rice and palm sugar pudding

This dish was created by Mary when she discovered the Ceylonese palm sugar custard. She decided to add black rice to the custard and I suggested we should make it nonya style—like a custard cake—with the rice layered in the centre. The dish became a legend; it is a tribute to her that so many bave adapted it for their own menus.

The colour scheme of this dessert is very subtle, with hues of dark cream, brown and black, and it has overtones of a crème caramel but with a much more int