Recipe: Rice Pudding

My Grandmother made the most wonderful rice pudding…. the entire family loved it…. then my Grandparents retired to Florida and gone were the days of my Grandmother’s fantastic rice pudding. Oh we had it when we visited…. but that was not nearly enough. So we had to “settle” for the deli rice pudding we could get at our neighborhood German deli. I know… poor us. Well… we did feel like “poor us”….. but we figured it was good…. a close second to my Grandmother’s.

Now you might ask…. so why didn’t we get the recipe?….. well, we did…. but it never came out the same as hers… in fact… we thought she was holding out on us…. so on one visit, we made her make it … my Mother and I watched over her…. I took notes…. making sure I got every detail right. After it was was made….. we devoured it….. yes… this was her wonderful rice pudding.

When we got back to New York… we made it…. it was good…. but it wasn’t my Grandmother’s. My Mother and I were totally frustrated….. so we ate the deli’s rice pudding. My guess is …. it’s the magic of a Grandmother’s cooking. I can only hope to someday have some of that magic.

I have long since lost that recipe my Mother and I deemed not quite right…. and I stilled yearned for homemade rice pudding. So I went on a quest to come up with a recipe for rice pudding. My Father had pointed out that my Grandmother’s wasn’t that sweet…. and over the years, eating the deli rice pudding, which was much sweeter, became what we were used to….. I tend to agree. Tastes change over time and something new or slightly different becomes what you like.

This recipe for rice pudding is combination of some things I remember from my Grandmother’s and parts of a number of recipes that were good… but not quite right. Call me the Goldilocks of rice pudding…. I wanted to get it just right. I think I did….. and hope you enjoy it!



Rice Pudding Recipe:

All you need:

1 cup rice
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups skim (fat free) milk (plus slim milk to cook rice in), divided
½ cup sugar
1-1½ teaspoons cornstarch
1 egg, beaten
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup raisins (optional)
1 ½ teaspoons Brown Sugar Cinnamon (optional)

All you need to do:

Cook rice as directed on package EXCEPT instead of cooking it in water, cook it in milk (the same amount as you would if you were cooking in water) and add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon butter and ¼ teaspoon salt.

Combine the cooked rice, 1 ½ cups milk, ½ cup sugar and cornstarch* and cook over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until thick and creamy (about 15-20 minutes). *you need to use your judgment on the amount of cornstarch…. if you like it thicker…use 1 ½ teaspoons… a little runnier…use 1 teaspoon.

Remove from heat.

In a small bowl beat egg, egg yolk and ½ cup milk.

When rice mixture is thick, add the egg mixture…. stirring constantly and vigorously.

Add the raisins and brown sugar cinnamon (if using).

Return to heat (medium heat) and continue stirring for about 2 minutes.

Add the vanilla and butter…. stir thoroughly.

Serve warm.