While I was staring mindlessly off into the distance, stirring this rice pudding for the necessary 15-18 minutes, it dawned on me that rice pudding is nothing more than dessert risotto.
It's basically the exact same process with slightly altered ingredients. I wonder which came first? I also wondered if anyone has ever served both, back to back. That would require an awful lot of stirring.
To me, rice pudding seems like a summer-month treat. Probably because it does not require turning on the oven to complete. And everyone knows that turning on an oven completely negates air conditioning and makes your electric bill one million dollars.
Okay. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration. That's just what my dad led me to believe when I lived with my parents growing up. Oven baking was strictly forbidden once the air conditioner was turned on for the summer. I give my dad a hard time about this from time to time, but the truth is I'm just as frugal.
Dad says we are "Cheap-mans." Which is a play off our last name, Chapman. 🙂
Brown Sugar Rice Pudding, serves 2-3.
1/2 cup arborio rice
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low/medium heat. Add in the rice and cook for a couple minutes until the rice grains become somewhat translucent.
In a small pot, combine the milk and cream, and warm over low heat.
Once the rice is ready, stir in the milk, half a cup at a time, stirring until most of the liquid has dissolved before adding more. It will take about 15-18 minutes of stirring for all the milk to become incorporated into the rice.
Then add the brown sugar and vanilla extract. These will both add additional moisture to the pudding, so continue stirring and cooking for another 2 minutes so some of the liquid can reduce.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool. If you plan to store your pudding in the refrigerator overnight, press some plastic wrap over the top of the pudding (unless you are one of those weirdos you really likes pudding skin; then just cover like you normally would).
I'm just kidding. You're not a weirdo.
Serve with some sliced fresh fruit (I had figs) and a little honey. Enjoy! xo. Emma
Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.
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This went down extremely well on a wintry night in Melbourne, Australia. A great year-round comfort food. YUM!
emma, i got 2 words for your dad about the summer oven situation. those words are: toaster oven. since we live in texas, where summer seems to be the season most of the year, that’s what we use instead of our regular oven. we got a whole lot of counter space though. rice pudding reminds me of the story “the pokey little puppy.”
Just made this only using skimmed milk and it taste so creamy its a brilliant pudding, I’ll so be making this again 🙂
Yum! I love brown sugar…I’ve taken to using it in my breakfast tea rather than white sugar. It gives it a nice depth of flavor. This looks great!
ohhh this looks so good. haven’t had rice pudding in such a long time!
xo, cheyenne
I had never thought of it as a sweetened risotto, I feel kinda silly for never making that connection before! haha. This sounds great, though!
wow, this looks AMAZE!!
haha “dessert risotto :)”
This sounds straight up DECADENT! LOVING IT! Is there anything more summery and delicious than a fig? I mean, come on now. Same with the air conditioning- living in LA’s valley is so $$$ in summertime! Eeek, ovens = bad, no! Thanks for the recipe, I never have actually tried rice pudding, let alone a homemade version of it- bookmarking this! – Kathryne :0)
Just made this and I’m waiting for it to cool. The suspense is killing me, it smells so good!
Cheap-mans, lol!!! We make something similar in Southern part of India..its called Payasam in Tamil language, there are lotsa varieties with dhal, vermicelli, etc. Its a must in all the traditional weddings as ONE of the desserts (had it in ours), also we make it on special occasions or festivals as well. We all love it! 🙂
xo
#omnomnomnom as usual!
x Courtney
http://nikitaandvesper.com/
I love that he calls you guys “Cheap-mans”. ha! I think I’m the only frugal one in my family (and maybe my step-dad too). Also, I can’t think of any play on the last name, Reyes, that would have to do with frugality. As much as I love cooking and baking, I really try to avoid the oven as often as possible during the summer months, until it’s cooled down a lot. Therefore: rice pudding it is!
xoxo
Taylor
When you talked about the air conditioning, I was wondering if you guys do something for saving this planet. I mean, you obviously use a lot of materials for the diy’s, but do you have an ‘ecological plan’ as well, or some tricks for using recycled objects, or some things you really pay attention to? I think climate change is a really important issue and I would love to hear how you cope with it!
My Grandma comes from Northumberland in England and we’ve always oven cooked our rice puddings. 1pint milk (preferably full fat) two handfuls of pudding rice, one handful of sugar (whichever kind you like best). You can put cream in if you want, just add more rice. Never, ever add more sugar because it’s way too sweet and you can always ‘season to taste’ afterwards. Bash in the oven for 4 hours at a medium temperature and voila!
I’ve never heard of this before but it sounds yummy and healthy! CAN’T wait to try it then! 🙂
http://everydayingrace.blogspot.ca/
I love rice pudding. It has always been one of my favorite desserts and this brown sugar / honey is a wonderful addition.
I’m a little meh about rice pudding – it’s a consistency thing – but I’m going to try this anyway. Looks too good not to!
My issue with rice pudding is the texture—any suggestions how to differentiate the texture (figs and pudding, both slimy/gooey/runny)?
yum!!!
xxoo,
nikki
www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com