| Time: 4
hours or overnight to soak the rice, 15 or 20 minutes
to cook it, and about 20 minutes to prepare the pudding
Created in the style of the French classic, riz à l'Impératrice, this ethereal dessert has none of the stodgy, pitted
egginess of baked rice puddings, and it doesn't slump
in a dish like a starchy-sweet cafeteria comeback either.
Rather, meltingly soft individual grains succumb to a
chilled custard base lightened with chantilly whipped
cream—in fashion terms, pure silk charmeuse. Impossibly
light, impossibly rich, irresistible.
Equipment Mise en Place
For this recipe you will need a 5 1/2-cup electric rice
cooker and a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan (or two
medium saucepans), a wooden spoon, one medium and two
large mixing bowls, a fine stainless strainer, an electric
mixer or balloon whisk to whip the cream, a rubber
spatula, and a quart of ice cubes to chill the pudding.
Ingredients
For the rice:
3/4 cup (5.7 ounces) Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup spring or filtered water
1/4 cup (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons currants (optional)
For the custard:
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and pulp
scraped, or
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
To finish:
3/4 cup unsweetened heavy cream, lightly whipped Directions
1. For the rice: Place the rice, milk, and water in
an electric 5 1/2-cup rice cooker insert or medium
heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir once. Cover and refrigerate
4 hours or overnight.
2. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt to the milk
and rice. If you are using an electric cooker, stir the mixture, cover the insert, lower it onto
the coil, and flip the steamer to the "on" position.
When the milk boils move the lid slightly off center
until the rice has absorbed some of the milk. Replace
the lid and cook, stirring occasionally. When the
cooker indicates the rice is done, sprinkle the currants on top of
the hot rice to plump them and replace the lid.
Begin step 3. If you are using a saucepan, set it over medium-high heat, cover most of the
way, and bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring
once or twice. Reduce the heat to low and cook
gently, stirring from time to time, until the rice
has absorbed the milk, about 15 minutes. Remove
the saucepan from the heat, sprinkle the currants
on the rice, and replace the lid.
3. For the custard: Whisk the egg yolks and sugar
together in a medium bowl. Bring the milk, salt, and vanilla
bean, if using, to a simmer in a medium
saucepan. Add a ladle of hot milk to the yolk mixture
and whisk to warm the yolks. Pour the yolks back
into the simmering milk and stir the custard over
low heat with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens
enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
Do not boil. Remove from the heat and pour the
sauce immediately through a fine stainless strainer
into a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla extract,
if using. Stir in the cooked rice. (If the rice
is sticky, use a whisk to separate the grains in
the sauce.) Place the mixing bowl over a larger
bowl filled with ice and water and stir the pudding until it is cold.
4. To finish: Fold in the whipped cream. Cover
and chill until ready to serve. (You may spoon
the pudding into wine glasses first before chilling.)
Serves 6 to 8 |
