Classic, creamy rice pudding! Boiled rice with milk, cream, egg, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and raisins.
“Rice pudding is how God intended us to eat rice,” my father announced when I mentioned I was thinking about making some. Well that settled it, rice pudding it would be.
With a little investigation, I found that there are two basic ways to make rice pudding—baking or boiling.
Then there is my father’s way, which is take some cold white rice, add some cream, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix and eat. Dad has been making rice pudding this way my whole life, but dad’s method has never appealed to me that much, so boiling or baking it would have to be.
The first recipe I tried called for 3/4 cup of heavy cream for a recipe that only served 2 people. Yikes! Too rich, couldn’t eat it. (Ever notice that recipes 20 years and older can be a bit heavy on the cream and butter?) A couple of adjustments later, I settled on this recipe, using the boiling method. It is especially tasty with raisins.
Rice Pudding Recipe
- Cook time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) of whole milk
- 1/3 cup (66 grams) of uncooked short grain white rice
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/3 cup (40 grams) raisins
Method
1 Cook the rice in milk: In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk, rice and salt to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer partially covered until the rice is tender, about 20-25 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
2 Mix egg and brown sugar, temper with rice mixture: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg and brown sugar until well mixed. Add a half cup of the hot rice mixture to the egg mixture, a tablespoon at a time, vigorously whisking to incorporate.
3 Add tempered egg mixture back to rice mixture: Add egg mixture back into the saucepan of rice and milk and stir, on low heat, for 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened, or about 160°F (71°C).
Be careful not to have the mixture come to a boil at this point or it will curdle. Stir in the vanilla. Remove from heat and stir in the raisins and cinnamon.
Serve warm or cold.
