Old-Fashioned Creamy Rice Pudding

I once requested rice pudding in place of birthday cake.

My aunt had asked me what kind of cake I wanted her to make for my birthday, and not wanting her to bother making me a gluten-free, dairy-free cake, I asked for the most comforting, easy-to-make dessert I knew — rice pudding. I love the creamy texture. I love it served warm or cold. I love the little hits of sweetness that come from the raisins or cranberries I like to add.

But she exploded, “Rice pudding??”

In not-so-nice words, she basically told me I was a special kind of idiot. Who wants rice pudding on her birthday?

Turns out she grew up on rice pudding. As one of seven kids growing up in Saskatchewan, boring every-day dessert meant fruit cocktail, tapioca pudding or rice pudding. The family ate it all the time — so often, in fact, that she hated it.

But on birthdays, my grandma let the birthday girl or boy choose the kind of cake he or she wanted. Cake was special. Cake was a celebration.

Pudding was boring.

So when my birthday came around and the main course plates had been cleared, out came a dense, flourless chocolate cake, followed by a giant bowl of rice pudding. She rolled her eyes as I blew out my candles (on the cake, not the pudding) and thanked her for the pudding. I had at least two servings, partly to let her know how much I appreciated it. She and her sisters enjoyed the cake, while a couple of the younger generation tested the pudding. None of them seemed to think there was anything wrong with it. But maybe if I’d grown up on rice pudding, I’d be sick of it too.

Thank goodness I didn’t. Because this recipe is pure, sweet, creamy comfort meant for a large bowl and a large spoon. Have a slice of cake on the side, if you so need.

Old-Fashioned Creamy Rice Pudding
adapted from Bonnie Stern’s HeartSmart: The Best of HeartSmart Cooking. If you use Basmati rice, don’t wash it. The starch will help thicken the pudding. 

1 cup water
1/2 cup Basmati rice
1/3 cup organic cane sugar or palm sugar
1/16 tsp salt (or a pinch)
5 cups almond milk
1/8 tsp freshly grated (or dried) nutmeg
1/4 to 1/2 cup raisins (I like more rather than less. But as a kid, I hated them)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or one vanilla bean, slit open and seeds scraped. Toss the scraped pod in a bag of sugar)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon to garnish (or add 1 two-inch cinnamon stick to the rice while cooking with the milk, if desired)

Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the rice. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Add the sugar, salt, milk, nutmeg and raisins to the pot. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible heat, cover and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cook up to 30 minutes more, if necessary, until desired thickness is reached but the mixture isn’t burning or sticking too much to the pot (keep stirring more frequently near the end so this doesn’t happen).

Stir in the vanilla. Serve hot or let cool (it will thicken more as it cools). Sprinkle individual servings with cinnamon to serve.