Dear baking world,
When I was a little girl, I would go absolutely cookoo for cold rice pudding. I would, of course, pick around the raisins because raisins poison the sweet, white custard. (Insert joke about “taking a bite of a cookie and thinking you’re getting a chocolate chip and it’s a raisin. Worst let down over.”) Imagine my glee when I visited my sister in Germany and discovered that rice pudding is a breakfast thing and comes in little yogurt-sized containers. I ate them every morning unabashedly (and maybe a few at night, too.)
I went on a quest to find something equivalent in the States, but some things just don’t hop oceans very well and this is one of them.
So my solution? Homemade rice pudding. It’s the only way to go.
I loved this recipe. It was quick, easy and the aroma of boiling milk with almond seriously makes me want to cry every time I smell it.
The recipe that I adapted this from recommended to use medium grain rice due to a perfect starchiness to thicken the pudding. However, I used long grain rice (problems of being on campus with only one grocery store and a limited choice of rice) and I thought the results were just fine. In fact, they were beyond fine. They were absolutely heavenly.
Enjoy this recipe and enjoy the random heat wave that struck the Midwest. I’m currently sitting in the sun in my apartment window and lapping up the Vitamin D. (I’m actually overheating a little bit.)
Happy baking,
Brita
- 4 cups milk (I used 1% and a bit of heavy whipping cream)
- 1/2 cup raw rice (long grain or medium grain white rice)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Dump the milk, rice, salt, and split vanilla bean into a large, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
- Uncover and continue simmering, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and the pudding is reduced to about 3-1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. (It’s important to let the pudding simmer gently, not boil, and you’ll need to stir constantly toward the end of cooking to prevent scorching.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract (if using).
- Slowly add the cooked rice mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, making sure to scrape the bowl.
- Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring and scraping the sides and bottom of the pan constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of the spoon, about 1 minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat.
- Transfer the pudding to a bowl or serving dish and lay a sheet of plastic wrap right on the pudding’s surface to prevent a skin from forming.
- Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
Baking Is A Science 
yummy…
It was quite delicious!