Rice pudding is one of those desserts you want to come home to. Creamy and comforting—it’s just the thing to reward yourself with at the end of a day. This classic dessert has many shortcuts, but don’t fall into those traps. Really great rice pudding is not hard to make, it just takes some time and a little attention. I promise you that if you invest your time into making this dessert, you will be happy you did!

　　

Ingredients

serves 8 to 10

　　4 cups water

　　1/4 cup short-grain rice (such as Arborio or Valencia)

　　4 cups whole milk

　　3/4 cup sugar

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　1/4 teaspoon salt

　　1 cinnamon stick, plus more for garnish

　　Ground cinnamon for garnish

　　

Make the Rice

Step 1

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the rice, stir, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes. It will look as if all the rice grains have melted into a big clump, but they have not. The rice is just overcooked, which is what you want. Using a heatproof silicone spatula, begin stirring the rice to help the remaining water evaporate and prevent the rice and starch from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue until most of the liquid has evaporated. (It is impossible to get it completely dry since the starch has gelled and is holding on to some water.) Total cooking time will be about 1 hour.

　　

Step 2

Turn off the heat.

　　

Boil the Milk

Step 3

Combine the milk, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

　　

Combine the Milk and Rice

Step 4

Pour the boiling milk mixture into the rice, stir well, and turn on the heat to medium. It will seem as if you have added too much milk, but you have not.

　　

Step 5

Cook the rice, stirring every 5 minutes or so to remove the skin that forms and the starch that builds up along the side of the pan, until the liquid is reduced by half. This should take about 45 minutes.

　　

Step 6

This step does require you to stay in close range of the pan because leaving it unattended can cause the milk to boil over. Stirring also helps speed the evaporation process because it prevents a skin from forming on the surface of the pan (which would keep the steam from escaping).

　　

Step 7

The pudding will thicken as it cools, so keep that in mind when judging the consistency.

　　

Garnish and Serve

Step 8

You can serve the rice hot, chilled, or at room temperature. Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon and a cinnamon stick, if you like.

　　

COOKING NOTES

Step 9

INGREDIENTS

　　

Step 10

Short-Grain versus Long-Grain Rice

　　

Step 11

It is best to use short-grain rice for the pudding since it is higher in starch and will produce a creamier pudding. Long-grain rice will work as well, but the texture will be slightly different.

　　

Step 12

Milk

　　

Step 13

Substituting a low-fat milk in the recipe will not produce the same creamy texture. However, feel free to substitute coconut milk (full-fat version) in equal amounts for a nice change.

　　

Step 14

TECHNIQUES

　　

Step 15

Cooking the Rice/Using Leftover Rice

　　

Step 16

In order for rice pudding to come out tender and creamy, you have to overcook the rice in an abundant amount of water. I find that using leftover rice produces a clumpy pudding with hard bits of rice. I suggest you make fresh rice specifically for this pudding and keep your leftover rice for a rice salad.

　　

Step 17

ADVANCE PREPARATION

　　

Step 18

The pudding can be made a few days in advance and kept covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Place the plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding so that a milk skin does not form.

　　Reprinted with permission from Simply Mexican by Lourdes Castro, © April 2009 Ten Speed Press. Buy the full book at Amazon or Bookshop.