Christmas milk rice pudding

Christmas milk rice pudding will not only warm your heart but also make your Holidays fantastic. Soft and sweet rice, cinnamon, vanilla, walnuts, pears and a crispy crust are a great combination either for a dessert or as a lovely sweet main dish. Also, this simple and kind of an old-school recipe is easy to make and just perfect to bring back some childhood memories.

When I was little, my mother used to make milk rice pudding. She made it quite often. In fact, I still remember that she always used some toppings, to add even more flavour. For example, she used either cinnamon, cocoa powder or home-made marmalade. Yummy!

Furthermore, I was now fixed with the idea of making a milk rice recipe. However, I wanted to give a personal touch to the dish by giving it more texture and flavour. And, since December is knocking on our doors, I find the combination of walnuts, pears and cinnamon a perfect choice. Consequently, the Christmas milk rice pudding was born.

What is milk rice?

Milk rice is nothing more than rice cooked in milk. Moreover, by using the short-grain rice you’ll get the best result. When cooked in milk, the short-grain rice transforms in a really creamy consistency. However, you can still use any other rice. Arborio rice, basmati rice or long grain regular rice, for instance, would be a great choice as well.

Moreover, just like my mother, I used normal milk to cook the rice. However, for a different flavour, you can pick coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk or any other milk. Personally, I find soy milk too bitter. But hey, that’s just my opinion.

In addition, I always think fruits bring so much moist to the baked goods. Therefore, I picked some lovely pears. They are not too sweet yet moist. However, you can also use apples, Nashi, bananas or plums instead.

If you are interested in some more Christmas recipes, keep following me or also check these recipes from last year: Christmas gingerbread brownies, a light spinach roll, a lovely crispy duck breast, fun and delicious sausage pastry bites or this vegan chickpea burger.

Ingredients for 4-6 portion of Christmas milk rice pudding:

• 250 g rice (short grain rice)
• 800 ml of milk
• lemon zest (some in a whole piece, some grated)
• 2 packages of vanilla sugar (ca 16 g)
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp butter (plus some for greasing the baking dish)
• 1 egg (separated)
• 1-2 pears (peeled)
• ground walnuts
• ground almonds
• 2 Tbsp date syrup
• whole mixed nuts

Since the rice needs to be cooked before baking it, let’s start with that. Pour the milk in a medium pot and add one to two pieces of lemon zest (simply peel a piece of lemon). Just before it starts boiling, remove the lemon zest, add the rice, butter, one package of vanilla sugar and one spoon of cinnamon.

Cook and stir

Moreover, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until you reach a creamy consistency. Also, in order to prevent the rice from sticking at the bottom of the pan (and this can happen really quickly), remember to stir the whole time.

Once the rice reaches the desired creaminess, transfer it into a bowl to cool down a little. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 190º C and prepare the rest of the ingredients. Divide the egg, whisk the egg white until you get stiff peaks while keeping the egg yolk aside.

Then, wash and peel the pear and either grate it or cut into small pieces. After the rice has room temperature, stir in the egg yolk, grated lemon zest, one spoon of cinnamon and vanilla sugar. At this point, mix in the grated pear and the ground walnuts. Stir well until combined. In the end, stir in the egg white, adding a little at a time.

Baking the rice pudding

Furthermore, butter the baking dish and pour the rice mixture in it. For the first 10 minutes, bake it just like that. After that, drizzle it with some date syrup, sprinkle with a mixture of ground walnuts, ground almonds and a spoon of vanilla sugar and last but not least, add the whole nuts.

Put it back to bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Once the milk rice pudding is ready and has a lovely crust on top, let it sit for a few minutes.

Set your table, place some marmalade jars, sour cream or yoghurt in the middle of the table and then serve the fabulous Christmas milk rice pudding. Oh, the whole house will smell like Christmas. Wink. Serve it with your favourite topping or eat it just as it is.

Enjoy!

PS

If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)