Friday, October 17, 2014

Chilled Rice Pudding with Orange, Honey, & Cardamom Syrup: Cool and Creamy Comfort

 
Not everyone loves rice pudding. It's one of those things that I disliked growing up but blogging and trying recipes had made me a fan. It's comforting. And, served chilled topped with a scrumptious syrup of orange, honey, and cardamom, this recipe from Diana Henry makes a wonderful breakfast, snack or dessert for humid weather. We are gearing up for a tropical storm/hurricane hitting (now) passing south of the islands this weekend so the weather is particularly sultry today. Having this pudding and its syrup simmering away this morning and chilling throughout the day to be enjoyed tonight, is definitely a comfort. ;-)


Chilled Rice Pudding with Orange, Honey & Cardamom Syrup
Adapted from Pure Simple Cooking by Diana Henry
(Serves 4)

3/4 cup short-grain rice
4 cups whole milk (I used coconut milk)
3 Tbsp sugar (I used 2 Tbsp raw sugar)
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used coconut creamer)
3 Tbsp Greek-Style yogurt
a couple drops of vanilla extract

Syrup:
6 Tbsp honey 
3 Tbsp water
juice of 2 oranges
crushed seeds from 4 cardamom pods
finely grated zest of one orange

Put rice in saucepan, cover with water and boil for 4 minutes. Drain, put rice back in pan with the milk and sugar and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes (Note: I cooked mine about 35 minutes total), until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is soft. Stir from time to time and add more milk if it has absorbed before the rice is soft. 

Take the pan off the heat. Stir in half the cream and yogurt and all of the vanilla into the rice. Taste to check for sweetness, bearing in mind that the syrup is sweet. Leave to cool, then chill. When chilled, the pudding will be very firm, so before serving, loosen it by stirring in the rest of the cream and yogurt--and maybe even a little milk if needed.

Put everything for the syrup (except the zest) into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil to reduce to a syrup (remember: it will thicken as it cools). Strain to remove the cardamom, then add zest and cook for another minute. Leave to cool. Serve with rice pudding.


Notes/Results: Mmm... sweet and creamy and the syrup is practically drinkable, this rice pudding is simple but sophisticated and delightfully cool and soothing. I made some small changes, subbing in coconut milk as I like what it does for sweetness and texture. Diana Henry gives a couple of other syrup combinations like sour cherries in rose syrup and pomegranate and blood orange sauce--both which sounded tempting. In a tweet (Thanks to an introduction from Foodycat we are talking about doing a live chat with Diana on Twitter for any interested IHCC peeps soon!) she mentioned that with the coconut milk I was using lime marmalade would be good. Definitely trying that at some point And, in case you were wondering, Diana Henry is very gracious and so lovely to offer us the live chat so stay tuned!) I will make this again--trying the other sauces and I think this orange, honey, and cardamom sauce would be a little bit of heaven drizzled on French toast.


We are celebrating 'Icy Cold!' dishes this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs. To see what sweet and savory cold Diana Henry dishes everyone made, check out the picture links on the post. 



Happy Aloha Friday!

9 comments:

  1. A few weeks ago I was craving this kind of Middle Eastern style rice pudding, and I never got it satisfied! I really must make this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gluten Free A-Z BlogOctober 18, 2014 at 2:09 AM

    Deb,
    This has to be one of the most fabulous versions of rice pudding I have ever seen.I am a rice pudding lover and even wilder about cardamom. Pinning this one!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a lovely rice pudding! The honey and orange must make it feel so much lighter and less cloying. It's one of my favorite desserts but I can usually only have a small bowl because of how heavy it is!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Deb,
    Rice pudding is something I have not tried before. Yours looks really good, and using coconut milk with its natural sweetness and creamy taste, sounds really delicious!
    Live chat with Diana on tweeter? Sounds interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love rice pudding. I need to get one of her books, which one do you recommend?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Couscous & ConsciousnessOctober 18, 2014 at 7:41 PM

    I have to admit that I'm in the "not a fan" camp, but this looks utterly gorgeous and I could just about be tempted by this version.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't say I'm that familiar with rice pudding but yours certainly looks very inviting. I love the idea of using the syrup on French toast.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We love rice pudding, also with coconut milk, icy cold and hot!

    ReplyDelete

Mahalo for visiting and for leaving a comment. I love reading them and they mean a lot!

All advertising, spam, inappropriate (or just plain rude) comments will be promptly deleted. I do appreciate your right to free speech and to your opinion but I'm not into mean, rude, or mean snarky (non-mean snarky is just fine!) ;-)