If you’ve been to an Albany event and tried the rice pudding, chances are good it was a variation on this recipe. I call it “Accidentally Vegan” because while I normally have no qualms about exploiting and even eating the tasty animals, this recipe happens to be made completely without dairy as it was created for a dear friend who’s a bit of a lactard. 😉
Accidentally Vegan Rice Pudding
- 3-4 cups (dry) jasmine rice (like this)
- 2 cinnamon sticks (about 1 teaspoon powdered would work but sticks are better!)
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 can coconut cream (like this)
- 1 can coconut milk (like this)
- ½ – 1 tsp. cardamom powder (powder is better here – full pods have unpredictable potency, and this stuff is powerful
- Spices to taste, including additional cinnamon (powder is okay), allspice, clove, nutmeg.
Preparation:
- Prepare rice according to rice cooker instructions. Add the two cinnamon sticks in with the rice/water as well as the salt.
- When rice is done, transfer it to a heavy bottom pot on the stove. Add coconut cream & milk, and spices.
- Simmer over low heat stirring constantly until rice absorbs nearly all of the liquid. Remove from heat and serve warm or cold.
Quantity on the rice isn’t that critical — I’ve done this with 3 or 4 cups, depending on what my rice cooker at the time could make in one batch. Usually you want one cup water more than you have cups of dry rice. Close the lid, start the rice cooker, and walk away. Don’t open the lid to stir or otherwise disturb it until done! You definitely want jasmine long grain rice. Anything else will be lacking. Don’t rinse the rice before adding it to the cooker! You need all that tasty starch attached for the pudding to gel properly.
What if you don’t have a rice cooker? Buy one. Seriously, they’re cheap, and perhaps second only to the food processor, they’re one of the most useful and cost effective kitchen appliances you can buy. You can get an effective one for well under $20 at Walmart. The number of one-dish dinners you can make in a rice cooker boggles the mind…
For the spices, cardamom is the main one that gives it that perfect rice pudding flavor. The stuff is powerful juju, so add with caution. The line between tasty and “OMG what did you do to this!?” is razor thin. Start with a ½ teaspoon or less and add additional to taste. If you over do it, you can’t fix it. The entire batch will be blech!
The other spices (allspice, clove, nutmeg) are optional, and I’ll include or omit them depending on what I’m in the mood for. Clove & nutmeg are also very powerful, so add sparingly and taste before adding more. Nutmeg I’m especially light handed with.
The salt in the rice is NOT optional. If you’re watching your diet so much that you can’t afford a teaspoon of salt in a dessert that serves 6-12 people, just skip the dessert. It’ll be healthier for you… Salt brings out the subtle flavors of the jasmine and the spices, and leaving it out results in a flat tasting, bland dish. Life’s too short for low-sodium desserts!
You can serve the pudding warm or cold. It’s different but tasty both ways. If you do go cold, put it in a metal tray and into the fridge or even the freezer for a bit to get it cold as quick as possible. All of that coconut and starch in the “danger zone” isn’t good.
(So what’s this got to do with kink you ask? I bring the stuff to kink parties all the time. Some people have threatened to start a FetLife fetish over it…)