The Hungry MouseDecadent Sweet Cream Rice Pudding
Rice has got to be one of my favorite foods. Fried rice. Buttered rice. Jambalaya. Rice crackers and krispies. You name it, I most likely have a closely-guarded stash of it in my cupboards.
I especially love rice pudding. I can eat bowls of it at a time, which is why I don’t make it that often. But when I do feel like a treat, I don’t mess around.
This rice pudding pulls out all the stops. (I’ll say it again: I don’t eat like this every day.)
Made with whipping cream instead of milk, this rice pudding is ultra rich. It gets a double dose of sweetness from white sugar and a touch of honey. It’s velvety and soft, with great texture from the pearly grains of rice.
This recipe is a snap to throw together, then it slow cooks on the stove for 2 hours. It’s a great thing to make for a dinner party dessert. I put it together before I start making the meal, then let it do its thing as I cook. It just needs to be stirred occasionally.
Decadent Sweet Cream Rice Pudding: Serving and reheating
Because it’s so thick, I recommend making this the day that you want to serve it.
When you refrigerate it, it gets positively solid. To loosen it up, leave it on the counter to bring it up to room temperature. Thin it out with a little cream if need be.
Whatever you do, don’t microwave it, as it will separate into an oily mess. If you want to reheat it, do it in a double boiler.
Decadent Sweet Cream Rice Pudding: A note on ingredients
I make this recipe with sushi rice, which is medium-grained milled rice.
My favorite brand is Kokuho Rose.
Depending on what you have on hand, you could also substitute short-grained Arborio rice.
If you can’t find whipping cream (30%-36% fat), you can try using heavy cream (36%+ fat) instead. If you do this, increase the cream by maybe a half a cup, then keep a good eye on it as it cooks. If it gets too thick before the rice is cooked, thin it out with a little more cream or some whole milk.
Decadent Sweet Cream Rice Pudding: A note on cooking equipment
If you have a large double boiler, use that. If you don’t, here’s how to improvise one.
My old double boiler isn’t big enough to handle this recipe, so I make my own by filling a pot a third full with water, bringing it up to a simmer, then setting a heat-proof bowl on top with my ingredients.
You’ll want a bowl that fits well in the pan without touching the bottom. Mine looks like this:
Pot with simmering water (bottom), bowl with rice pudding mixture (middle), lid large enough to cover the bowl (top)
(If you haven’t used a double boiler before, the idea here is that the pudding slow cooks, heated by the steam from the boiling water. This way, the pudding never comes in contact with direct heat, so it won’t scorch or stick.)
Decadent Sweet Cream Rice Pudding
1 cup sushi rice
6 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbls. honey
1 Tbls. vanilla extract
cinnamon or nutmeg
Fill a pan a third full with water. Set it on the stove over high heat to bring it up to a simmer. In the meantime, whip together your rice pudding.
Add the rice to a large, heatproof mixing bowl.
Pour in the cream.
Add the sugar.
Drizzle in the vanilla and the honey.
Whisk the ingredients together really well. Be sure to break up any clumps of rice.
By now, your water should be simmering.
Turn the heat down to low. Place your bowl on top of the pot.
Cap it off with a lid that fits the bowl well. If you don’t have a lid that fits your bowl, you can totally use aluminum foil instead. The idea is to keep the pudding moist and prevent it from forming a skin as it cooks.
Simmer covered for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
When you take the lid off to stir it, the condensation that’s formed on the underside of the lid will drip into the pudding. That’s just fine. Stir it right back in.
After about an hour, you’ll notice that the rice is starting to expand and thicken the pudding. There should still be a fair amount of liquid, like this:
After about 2 hours, your pudding should be nice and thick. The rice should be completely cooked, and the cream should have thickened to a custard-y texture. It should look about like this:
When it’s done, turn the heat off and leave it on the stove, covered until it’s dessert time.
When you’re ready to serve it, spoon the pudding out into dishes or thicker martini or wine glasses for a fancier presentation. Garnish with a little cinnamon or nutmeg (or a drizzle of honey, my personal favorite).
Serve and enjoy!
***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse�/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.
22 Comments on “Decadent Sweet Cream Rice Pudding”
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Fabulous picture of the rice pudding (I’ve never considered it a very photogenic food) but your pic makes it look as good as I’m sure it tastes! Well done!
another winner Jessie! I’m not big on rice pudding… but I can tell I would totally dig this
So creamy, yum!
I am so sad I don’t have any of this for dessert tonight! It looks so creamy and delicious!
I have to agree with you about rice – what isn’t wonderful about it? Pilafs, rice salads – I can even eat a bowlful of plain white rice and feel completely happy. But this rice pudding – oh my! I may have to make this as a holiday treat for my Thanksgiving get-together. Delicious!
That looks absolutely wonderful. I wish I could have some on this cold dreary DC night.
This would be perfect for a winter treat. Thanks Jessie!
Cheers,
Nick
http://www.macheesmo.com
ohh my gosh! i want this right now!! it looks so good
i love the slow cooking!
The creaminess of this pudding looks fabulous. Great stuff Jessie
zesty
Looks and sounds absolutely delicious!
It sounds like one of our local desserts made of glutinous rice and brown sugar except yours are creamier. I’m not much of a rice person (I know, that’s a bit weird for someone coming from a country where everyone live on rice) but this sure do look tempting…
This is so rich and decadent looking. I like to use the leftover rice from ordering Chinese food. We always have extra and it’s one of my Mom’s favorites. I wish I had some now, yummy!
This looks so good! Well done Jessie!
I’ve never made rice pudding. This looks amazing, and now I want to try it!
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Wow, I’ve never seen such a decadent-looking rice pudding!
The title is just right for this dessert. Whipping cream instead of milk? Now, I can imagine the taste!! At a first I thought “two hours cooking, no way”, as I thought I had to stir it all the time but if it cooked in a baine Marie then I can handle that.
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My father used to make rice pudding all the time. Reminds me of him. Yours is so easy to make and looks great.
Oh wow! That looks absolutely delicious, I love how you took an old favorite and added your own twist. You also did an amazing job with the pictures, I will definitely try this recipe over the weekend.
This sounds awesome! My only suggestion (as a Japanese fanatic) would be that you make sure you tell people to wash their rice, especially if they’re using sushi rice. No one wants to eat that icky dust! But really, the pictures are beautiful. It took my brain a few tries to remind my mouth that it can’t eat my computer screen.
Made this this afternoon. I didn’t have heavy cream so I ended up using 2c half+half and 4c milk. After 2 hours it was still quite watery, so I cooked it for another 45 minutes. After which it was perfect, creamy, delicious. Will definitely make it again, maybe with a bit of saffron and rose water in the mix (I’m a huge fan of Indian kheer).
Made this today and have to say it’s delicious. It had an almost caramel taste, which I loved. I’ve never used honey or vanilla in rice pudding before, but i will use this recipe in future. Fab.
This is the centuries old national dessert of Kerala, India! A delicacy served for important occasions. This is the wedding/birthday cake if you will, called the ‘Rice Payasam’. By using cardamom and unsalted butter (no honey/eggs/cinnamon/vanilla). Cook directly on low fire in a heavy bottom large sauce pan. Towards the end of cooking, the caramelized sugar and milk gives it a pinkish beige hue. Garnished with crushed cashews, pistachios and almonds toasted in butter.
I also tried this subsistuted with ‘Cream of Rice’ powder, half and half, condensed milk, butter, sugar all mixed in a bowl in the microwave… what a luscious silky treat while watching the Saturday nidnight movie.