Something happened last night-
It involved me, my space heater, a few comforters, season one of Pushing Daisies, a spoon, and an entire container of chilled rice pudding.
I realized two things last night. One: while Pushing Daisies is beautiful and charming, it’s almost too sweet. It is still, however, an effective way to wish away three hours of a Sunday evening. Two: Yes, my stomach does have the capacity to hold about 8 cups of rice pudding. How awesome is that!?
I ate the whole thing. Fact. Every last creamy, soft, raisin studded, vanilla bite. And the truth? I’d do it all again tonight if I could… and I can… but I won’t. Does that make sense?
This Rice Pudding might be best shared with your family. It’s Super Comfort. If comfort became a super hero and came to save the day, it would come in the form of this rice pudding.
If you do have to eat the entire thing by yourself, under your covers on a cold night, well…that’s not such a hard cross to bear, is it?
The Best Rice Pudding
The Gourmet Cookbook
serves 4 to 6
2 cups water
1cup long grain rice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split open
1 cup golden raisins
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Stir in lemon zest, salt and long grain rice and return to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer the rice, covered, until all of the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Once rice is cooked, place it in a bowl and rise out pan. Add 4 cups of milk, sugar and vanilla bean to the pan. Bring to a low boil, stirring often so the milk doesn’t burn. Add the cooked rice and raisins to the hot milk. Stir often, until the milk cooks down and the rice is creamy, about 20 minutes. Place in a large bowl or serving dishes to cool. Serve cold or at room temperature.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
This looks awesome. For some reason I totally dig rice pudding in winter. It’s so hearty and creamy.
A couple of questions: Can I substitute low-fat milk for whole? Trying to watch my wasteline after the holidays, as you can imagine….
Also, can I use Arborio rice instead of long-grain. It seems I remember seeing a rice pudding recipe with arborio a few years back. Although I’ve never made the dish before!
January 5th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Hmms that looks just as gooey as I feel inside whenever I see the pie maker and his sweet red cheekbones
January 5th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
This sounds divine! I am wondering if you have made this sans the actual vanilla bean and just added extract? I am thinking of whipping some of this up for dessert and don’t have a vanilla bean in the kitchen today. Any thoughts? Thanks for another great recipe
January 5th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
After the day I’ve had, comfort food like this would be very nice indeed. This looks delicious. Beautiful photos too.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Mandy- I totally understand the waist line issue. The recipe stresses that you use whole milk. I’m not exactly sure why though. I suppose you could give it a go with lower fat milk. Let me know how it turns out. Also, using Arborio rice might change the cooking times and liquid amounts. I’m not sure you could just switch it in this recipe with complete success. Good question though!
Juleske- Huh?
Bridgett- Sure, you could totally use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean. Enjoy it!
January 5th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I’m officially no longer a lurker. It took a rice pudding recipe to get me out of lurk-dom. I had such a craving for it the other night…and just needed a recipe to fall into my lap. Thank you! Love your blog, by the way.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I’m going to have to make this for my lunches when I head back to school! I always end up buying some in the student union when I need a treat.
Thanks!
January 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Mmm, this looks so good! I’ve been craving rice pudding lately. I might have to try this out tonight…
January 5th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Definitely a great recipe. My favorite variation of the classic is to substitute coconut milk, along with lime zest (instead of vanilla).
BTW, I’m a big fan of your website, Joy. I check it almost daily.
January 5th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Sounds like the perfect night to me! The pudding looks awesome!!
January 5th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Yeah, you definitely won me over with this. Your writing…so persuasive…and the pictures…ugh! Need to make this pronto!!
January 5th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Oh wow. I could use some comfort after the day I’ve had. Don’t tell my trainer at the gym.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Very comforting, indeed. What a great recipe. My favorite variation of rice pudding has the addition of ginger and cardamom. This sounds like a delicious classic.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Mmmmm - I grew up on rice pudding - sounds wonderful!
January 5th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
…golden raisins are better than candy : )
January 5th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
yum. i love rice pudding and pure comfort is right.
your sunday sounds like mine…except i had cake and watched the entire 2nd season of secret diary of a call girl (one of many guilty secrets…)
January 6th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Ooh I can see the black specks from the vanilla bean. I’m gonna bet the pudding was really good.
January 6th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Oooooooh…I am sooooooo looking forward to making this…minus the lemon zest (love lemon, but not in desserts for some odd reason). I also have to think about the raisins. Everything else sounds divine.
Hopefully I can get to the store before our upcoming ice storm later today. It seems like a perfect thing to have while holed up at home.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Ooh lovely. Nothing wrong with a night like that.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Looks delicious! Definitely not sharing this one.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:32 am
We’ve both been thinking ‘vanilla.’ I just posted a vanilla bean bar recipe this AM. Of course, this looks amazing to me. I’m a Vanilla Gal!
January 6th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Juleske was referring to pushing daisies! The pie maker. I love that show and i love rice pudding. This recipe sounds like it may taste like the same stuff i had as a kid. I will have to try this, thanks joy.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
This look great although I am not a raisin fan, can I leave them out?
January 6th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Ended up trying this last night with the lowfat milk (think it was 1%) and it worked pretty good. Although I doubt it’s as creamy as this one and I had to let it simmer during the last part for quite some time (more than 20 minutes) to get the runny-ness out of it.
I’m willing to bet the whole milk makes it absolutely delicious but the lower fat version was still decent, FYI.
Thanks again for an amazing recipe Joy! Love your blog.
Oh and BTW, I used your banana cranberry bread recipe over Christmas and my family went nuts. I ended up making a simple bourbon glaze to go over the top of the bread and it added such a nice touch! This is definitely one I’ll keep in my file for years!
January 6th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
The pudding looks so creamy and satisfying. I love it nice and warm, and I too could eat the entire thing, no guilt involved.
January 6th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Joy,
This looks dreamy. Do you think I could utilize my rice cooker for the 1st part? Any rice I’ve tried to cook via stovetop hasn’t turned out (I’m cursed).
Thanks!
January 6th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Pushing Daisies is such a great show! I’m so sad they canceled it!
I’ve never been a rice pudding fan, but I’d certainly be willing to give it another try!
January 7th, 2009 at 7:17 am
I grew up on rice pudding - it was on every holiday table. I could see eating 8 cups of pudding in one sitting with no problem. I may give it a try today. Thanks for the recipe.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:01 am
I love Pushing Daisies, saccharine and all. I’m not a huge fan of rice pudding, but I’m making your cranberry coffee cake today, and I can’t wait!!
January 7th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I am making this Rice pudding right now and it smells so good, I love your blog,
January 7th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I’m in awe of your stomach and must find out if mine can do the same. I’ve never seen Pushing Daisies, but I hear it’s cute.
We honk for rice pudding around here.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Rice pudding is such comfort. I only discovered it recently and feel robbed I didn’t get it growing up.
Yours looks delish.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I just had one of the worst days of my life and this was exactly what I needed to cheer me up a bit. Thank you so much for the recipe.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Long time lurker. I tried this recipe out with brown long grain rice and 2% milk, and amazingly, it was gooey, creamy and nutty. Delicious and semi-healthy. Thanks Joy!
January 9th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
oh, man. my popo (grandpa) just turned 87. a few months ago i wrote him a letter - yea… hand written/old school. i wanted his rice pudding recipe. every time he would visit when i was a child he’d make rice pudding. i’m still waiting for popo to give me the recipe - they are still too busy dancing at the italian-america club every night. but i’m sure this recipe is a close second to his. but i’ll let you know when i get the freaking recipe!
January 14th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I made this for my grandparents and they loved it!
January 14th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Wow - this brings back memories! When I was a kid my mom would make rice pudding and it was my favorite…this one looks lovely!
One question - does it matter what type of rice you use? Can you use regular white rice or would something like jasmine rice or basmati work better??
Thanks again for continuously offering enticing recipes!
-Georgia
January 15th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
rice pudding sucks
January 18th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
[...] more inspiration? Check out Cafe Fernando’s Lavender Rice Pudding, and Joy’s Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding. If you really want to try something new, check out Celine’s Molta Cioccolata Tapioca [...]
January 20th, 2009 at 9:19 am
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS TO BUTTER
February 12th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
This recipe works with arborio as well. Just made it that way. Essentially the same recipe is in this month’s Bon Appetit. Uses 3 cups of whole milk and 1 cup whipping cream. The only thing is you need to cook it a bit longer…around 30 to 35 minutes for step 2 instead of 20 minutes. Just a matter of keeping an eye on it to get the consistency you want.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Awesome Nels!! Thanks for the tip!!
February 15th, 2009 at 3:43 am
Joy, this is so much better than the rice pudding I grew up on. The lemon zest absolutely makes it.
March 8th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Joy, I am on my way to the store for ‘whole milk’ and ‘vanilla beans’…..this sound just like my mothers pudding and cant wait to eat it!! Oh you bring us “Joy” ; }
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:03 am
[...] first became enamored with the idea of rice pudding after seeing Joy the Baker post about it. Smitten Kitchen closely followed suit with her own version. Either it was fate, or [...]
May 28th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Wow, looks fabulous. I think I’m going to tinker with a variation using some lavender. If it turns out well, I can forward you the recipe. Or, heck, I’ll be in LA in… um… December some time: maybe we can perfect the recipe together.
Love the blog!
May 28th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Wow, looks fabulous. I think I’m going to tinker with a variation using some lavender. If it turns out well, I can forward you the recipe. Or, heck, I’ll be in LA in… um… December some time: maybe we can perfect the recipe together.
Love the blog!
June 30th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I just got done making this. I tweeked it a bit. Added cinnamon, dark rasins, touch of ground ginger and asprinkle of nut meg! Oh and a tad bit more lemon zest at the very end.And I must say , it rocked my socks off!!!! Thanks for the recipe!