The far right jar on my windowsill is nearly depleted: I made rice pudding this afternoon. I also, as in the past, made my daughter promise that she will “never buy a box of pudding mix” in her life. A custard from scratch takes the same amount of simmering time, same amount of milk, but certainly doesn’t taste the same. From my head, I used my basic pastry cream recipe (1 C milk, scant 2 T cornstarch, 2 egg yolks, some sugar, vanilla pod; butter & salt whisked in at the end), and added extra milk for volume. The rice absorbs the rest. Arborio only, please.
My daughter oddly is not crazy about raisins in rice pudding, so made hers plain. However, I plumped some in Bourbon for my husband’s servings, folding them in at the end. I plumped way too many (and they were really moist and delicious) so I garnished the tops as well.
However, you know by now that I can never leave well enough alone. If you have a can of coconut milk in the pantry, try a 50-50 blend of milk and coconut milk for what I like to call “Coconut Crème Brulee Rice Pudding.” It also includes cardamom, and old-fashioned spice that I feel is underutilized today. But it adds both an exotic flavor and that je ne sais quoi that will leave your guests guessing – and asking for seconds!
Coconut Crème Brulee Rice Pudding
1 C Arborio or Calriso rice
2 C H2O, plus extra.
1 C Milk
1 C unsweetened Coconut Milk (not light), well shaken
2 egg yolks
2/3 C Sugar
2T Cornstarch
½ Vanilla bean, split & scraped
2 Cardamom pods (right)
1 generous pinch of salt.
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits.
Brown sugar (garnish)
Bring water to a bare simmer in a lidded pot. Add rice, place cover ajar, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring and adding H2O as needed. Cook al dente, as you would risotto. Turn off burner, stir rice, then re-cover until ready to use.
Meanwhile, whisk together milk, coconut milk, cardamom, egg yolks, sugar & cornstarch in a pot. Turn heat to low, watch and whisk accordingly. This steeps the vanilla and cardamom pods gently and fully. The mixture will thicken slightly, then come to a bare bubble, and really thicken, so watch and whisk.
Whisk the salt and butter and into the custard. Add the cooked rice, whisking to prevent lumps.
Remove cardamom pods and vanilla bean with a spoon, then sprinkle a small bit of brown sugar into the bottoms of clear wineglasses or other decorative stemware. Ladle pudding into them. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar evenly over the top of each glass. The sugar will melt into a glaze over the top, and bleed into a caramel-y syrup to the bottoms of the glasses. Or you can simply do a true Bruleé over the top, if you have the torch.
Serve warm or chill. Refrigerate unused portions.
Variations, Notes:
For more cardamom flavor, scrape two of the pods over a Microplane rasp (being careful not to reach the inner seeds). Drop the pods and the shavings into the cooking pudding.
For more vanilla and less coconut flavor, use 1 1/3 Cups milk and 2/3 Cup coconut milk.
The egg yolks impart both a silken richness and a wonderful color, but may be omitted for a lighter end product.
Bourbon soaked raisin are an excellent addition.
If using salted butter, reduce the salt.
My daughter oddly is not crazy about raisins in rice pudding, so made hers plain. However, I plumped some in Bourbon for my husband’s servings, folding them in at the end. I plumped way too many (and they were really moist and delicious) so I garnished the tops as well.However, you know by now that I can never leave well enough alone. If you have a can of coconut milk in the pantry, try a 50-50 blend of milk and coconut milk for what I like to call “Coconut Crème Brulee Rice Pudding.” It also includes cardamom, and old-fashioned spice that I feel is underutilized today. But it adds both an exotic flavor and that je ne sais quoi that will leave your guests guessing – and asking for seconds!
Coconut Crème Brulee Rice Pudding
1 C Arborio or Calriso rice
2 C H2O, plus extra.
1 C Milk
1 C unsweetened Coconut Milk (not light), well shaken
2 egg yolks
2/3 C Sugar
2T Cornstarch
½ Vanilla bean, split & scraped
2 Cardamom pods (right)
1 generous pinch of salt.
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits.
Brown sugar (garnish)
Bring water to a bare simmer in a lidded pot. Add rice, place cover ajar, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring and adding H2O as needed. Cook al dente, as you would risotto. Turn off burner, stir rice, then re-cover until ready to use.
Meanwhile, whisk together milk, coconut milk, cardamom, egg yolks, sugar & cornstarch in a pot. Turn heat to low, watch and whisk accordingly. This steeps the vanilla and cardamom pods gently and fully. The mixture will thicken slightly, then come to a bare bubble, and really thicken, so watch and whisk.
Whisk the salt and butter and into the custard. Add the cooked rice, whisking to prevent lumps.
Remove cardamom pods and vanilla bean with a spoon, then sprinkle a small bit of brown sugar into the bottoms of clear wineglasses or other decorative stemware. Ladle pudding into them. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar evenly over the top of each glass. The sugar will melt into a glaze over the top, and bleed into a caramel-y syrup to the bottoms of the glasses. Or you can simply do a true Bruleé over the top, if you have the torch.
Serve warm or chill. Refrigerate unused portions.
Variations, Notes:
For more cardamom flavor, scrape two of the pods over a Microplane rasp (being careful not to reach the inner seeds). Drop the pods and the shavings into the cooking pudding.
For more vanilla and less coconut flavor, use 1 1/3 Cups milk and 2/3 Cup coconut milk.
The egg yolks impart both a silken richness and a wonderful color, but may be omitted for a lighter end product.
Bourbon soaked raisin are an excellent addition.
If using salted butter, reduce the salt.
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