Pudding on the Rice

Remember Pudding on the Rice? That eclectic little place just off I-15 on University Parkway in Orem? They had the most incredible concoctions available that they called rice pudding, but really were unlike any other rice pudding I had tried! Their amazingly creamy, cold, almost-like-ice-cream desserts in a huge variety of flavors were so fun! 

I'm sad to say that a few years ago the owners moved to Portland, which meant the restaurant did as well. (Not that I could have taken advantage of it anyway, seeing as how Houston isn't exactly close to Orem...) But I was excited to find a recipe online from Studio 5 that the owner herself submitted. Then I found another recipe, quite a bit different, that also seemed to be from the owner. So I tried them both to see which was the rice pudding I remembered. The first seemed far more fluffy than I had experienced in the past, and the second wasn't what I remembered at all. So I tweaked the first recipe just a tiny bit (I used only half of the cream it called for) and then, in my opinion, it was perfect. Below is my adaptation.

4 cups whole milk
2 cups cooked white rice
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large sauce pan, mix together milk, rice, sugar, and salt. In a seperate bowl crack the egg and let sit at room temperature. Stir mixture in saucepan slowly with a flat wooden spoon at medium heat for 45-60 minutes until the mixture has evenly thickened (I didn't stir continually).

Take pan off heat. Take the room temperature egg and whisk it thoroughly, adding a tablespoon at a time of the hot pudding to tempur the eggs. When you have added equal amounts of pudding to the eggs, slowly incorporate the eggs back into the pudding. Return the pudding to medium heat and slowly stir as you bring the pudding back to a boil.

Take pudding off heat, put in a seperate bowl, cover with saran wrap, and cool in refrigerator for 6-24 hours.

After pudding has cooled, whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with 1 tsp. vanilla. Gently fold whipped cream into the pudding until it is fully enveloped. Keep pudding refrigerated for up to 1 week.



Additional Flavor Ideas
Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Pudding (pictured)--mix melted chocolate chips into pudding before adding whipped cream. Stir in peanut butter chips, and fold in whipped cream.

Raspberry Rice Pudding--Add frozen raspberries and mix into the pudding before folding in whipped cream.

Lemon Poppyseed Rice Pudding--Stir in lemon curd and poppyseeds before folding in whipped cream.

Strawberries 'n Cream Rice Pudding (pictured)--Stir in strawberry jam before folding in whipped cream.

Cookies 'n Cream Rice Pudding--Stir in Oreo crumbs before folding in whipped cream.

Traditional Cinnamon Rice Pudding (pictured)--Stir in cinnamon before folding in whipped cream.



Our favorite that we've tried is the chocolate peanut butter. I also loved the lemon poppyseed and just the plain ol' vanilla mixture. I'd love to hear your flavor ideas as well! Jessica (the owner) says you can put pretty much anything in that you might find in ice cream, as long as it won't break down the dairy ingredients.