Rice Pudding

Cuisine: Scandinavian

Cook Time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

The ultimate comfort food, this rice pudding recipe has been a part of Scandinavian Christmas celebrations for years. Cooked in sweetened milk and spiced with vanilla bean and cinnamon, it is served with a topping of rich cranberry sauce. Learn how to make rice pudding and enjoy this delicacy at home.

Rice
Whole milk
Cream
Sugar
Vanilla bean/extract
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Fresh cranberries

Scandinavian treat filled with love and comfort!

Heat the milk and cream on a heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium flame.
Throw in your vanilla bean seeds or extract along with cardamom, cinnamon, and rice.
Bring the mix to a simmer. Turn down the heat and cook on low flame for around 45 minutes till the rice is cooked. Keep stirring gently so that the cream doesn’t stick to the sides. The pudding will thicken up eventually. The rice pudding will be runny, but it firms upon cooling.
Leave the pot to cool down. You can put the rice pudding into individual containers and refrigerate it to chill.
For the cranberry sauce, take the cranberries with sugar and water. Heat them gently for a while till the cranberries break down. Stir well to avoid burning. Add this sauce on top while serving your special rice pudding delight.

Chef Tip: Make sure that your rice is soft and tender for the creamy texture of your pudding. If you don’t have cranberries, you can add whipped cream on top. In fact, you can add several other condiments to make refreshing flavours of the versatile rice pudding.

Try this quick rice pudding recipe for a heart-warming dollop of comfort and happiness. Whether it’s cold or hot outside, the Scandinavian rice pudding will nourish you from the inside.

Quick Bites

Fun Fact

• Often an almond is hidden in the rice pudding and whoever gets the almond gets a task, like composing thanks in rhyme for the meal. In the old days, if a single young man or woman found the almond, it was a sign that the coming year would bring true love.

Historical Fact

• The Rice porridge/pudding has been an important dish in Sweden for centuries. The first record of rice porridge being served in Sweden was in 1328, at the funeral wake for the father of St. Bridget of Sweden. In the 1700s, rice pudding was considered to be fashionable and was served at all the finest parties.

• Rice pudding can be served at any time of year, but it is nearly always included as part of a julbord (Christmas buffet). It is important to put a dish of rice pudding outside the front door for the Christmas elf because otherwise he will get annoyed and cause mischief.

Nutrition Fact

• A single serving of 4 oz contains 119.8 calories of which 31.5 are from fat. It consists of 3.5g of fat, 94.9mg sodium, 17g of carbohydrates, and 5g of protein.

• While this is a desert, it does offer some nutritional benefits, including almost 10 grams of protein and 15 percent of the daily recommendation for bone-building calcium per cup.