Rice Custard
Rice Custard
My husband learned to make this when he was 12. I think the recipe originally came from an old Fannie Farmer cookbook. I’ve now been making it for 25 years and it’s absolutely to die for and so quick. It’s fantastic as is but if you have some fruit compote or not-very-thick jam you can top it with a little of that or sliced fresh fruit.
Ingredients
Serves 4 +/-
2 cups milk
3 cups cooked rice, from 1 1/4 cups uncooked rice (long or short grain white or brown rice all work) It’s best to use leftover rice that’s a little dried out
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or zest of about 1/4 of a lemon
2 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar (a little more if you like sweeter desserts)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Put the milk, rice and vanilla or lemon zest in a double boiler or any heat proof bowl over a pan of gently boiling water.
In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks, sugar and salt until smooth. When the milk and rice mixture is hot, add a ladleful of hot milk and rice to the egg yolks and whisk well. Add another ladle or two, whisking all along. Then add this mixture back into the remaining milk and rice and whisk well. Cook until thickened, about 10-15 minutes, gently whisking every few minutes. Covering the pan will speed things up.
Meanwhile beat the egg whites until stiff. When custard has thickened remove the bowl from the heat. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Serve warm though (cold) leftovers are lovely for breakfast!
Chris says:
This rice pudding sounds yummy. Great comfort food. Small correction – last instruction should be to beat the egg whites, not yolks 🙂
cookwithwhatyouhave says:
Oh my goodness, yes! Fixed that!:)
Alicia says:
This sounds so good but just didn’t work for me. The pudding never thickened and when I added the egg whites they didn’t incorporate and just floated on top. What a disappointment!
cookwithwhatyouhave says:
I’m so, so sorry to hear this. I’m puzzled too since I make it practically weekly and it always thickens though sometimes it takes a while. And I fold the beaten egg whites in pretty thoroughly and the heat of the pudding cooks them a bit. But I guess if yours didn’t thicken I could see how the “floating” might happen. Again, so sorry. It’s such a disappointment to not have things turn out.