April 8, 2010 - Solo Mission: Rice Pudding

Last week I tried out the Rice Pudding recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking. In addition to the recipe, the book provides a sidebar with variations and suggestions. One of the variations was to use jasmine rice, which is the only "normal" rice I had in my pantry (the others being boil-in-a-bag rice, sushi rice, and Spanish rice).

I was a little unsure about the flavors (spices, etc.) that would go with jasmine, so I searched online for Jasmine Rice Pudding recipes. Some were savory, and the two I could find seemed similar to the recipe/variation from the book also mentioned vanilla and cinnamon, so I kept to the recipe with the jasmine rice being the only substitution.

The hardest part of the recipe was determining when to take the rice off the stove, the cue being when the rice is tender. I had no baseline concept for what "tender" was, and the 25 minutes the recipe suggested ended up being too long.

Part of the problem was the initial ratio of milk (I used soy) to rice, 2 ½ cups to 1/3 cup, surprised and overwhelmed me. The grains of rice got lost in all that liquid.

I stirred the rice, milk and salt for 20 minutes and decided the rice was finally tender, at which point I added the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. The recipe said to return the pan to the stove and mix until thickened. I looked at the much-condensed blob in my pot and decided I had probably made it past "tender" and to "thickened" before pulling it off the heat to add the rest of the ingredients. Afraid it would be too dry, I added a splash more soy milk (about two tablespoons, maybe?) And finished the recipe.

I did not sprinkle extra cinnamon on the pudding, guessed about how much raisins to add, since I had already put my measuring cups away, and transferred the rice pudding into one large bowl instead of six serving dishes (I'd have had to use the cups my tea set if I wanted to do this)

It went in the fridge to cool.

My sister proclaimed the dessert tasted like an oatmeal cookie, and I couldn't argue with that. I think I lost the additional flavor the jasmine rice would have added by sticking to the vanilla and amount of cinnamon listed in the recipe.

I'm eager to mix it up and try some of the variations – different milk, spice and flavoring options – to see what kind of tasty treats I can come up with, though the constant stirring I did while the rice was simmering did leave my arm tired, so I'll probably space the out these trials to give my arm break.